Greatest raw athlete ever?

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smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
Childs said:
No one really remembers Jim Thorpe anymore.

Deon Sanders was also a great athlete. I think he is the only pro athlete to hit a home run and score a TD in the same week.
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Also, only athlete to win championships in multiple sports. However, Bo Jackson was the only athlete to be named to two all star teams in different sports.


Also, Bo Jackson can shoot a bow using only his feet.
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,015
138
106
Anubis said:
This or Jim Thorpe
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Came in to mention Jim Thorpe, glad to see you already did.

Major league baseball player
Major league football player
Olympic gold and record-setter - pentathlon and decathlon
Also an Olympian in high jump and long jump
 
Sho'Nuff

Sho'Nuff

Diamond Member
Jul 12, 2007
6,211
121
106
kranky said:
Came in to mention Jim Thorpe, glad to see you already did.

Major league baseball player
Major league football player
Olympic gold and record-setter - pentathlon and decathlon
Also an Olympian in high jump and long jump
Click to expand...

Not to take anything away from Thorpe as he was clearly a great athlete. But should his performance be discounted a little because of the era he played in?
 
S

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
Sho'Nuff said:
Not to take anything away from Thorpe as he was clearly a great athlete. But should his performance be discounted a little because of the era he played in?
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I think that is why he isn't considered the greatest athlete. He played in an era of "regular Joes" and amateurs (Olympics). Not that he wasn't amazing, just that he was in a completely different time.
 
J

jayzds

Senior member
Nov 21, 2006
291
7
81
Childs said:
No one really remembers Jim Thorpe anymore.

Deon Sanders was also a great athlete. I think he is the only pro athlete to hit a home run and score a TD in the same week.
Click to expand...


I agree that Deon was a great athlete.

But, I still would put Bo in front of Deon. He was a beast, faster, stronger and played football as a hobby. At least that is what he claimed :-D

The ESPN Doc on him was good and it shows how amazing he really was. That being said I do not like him because he is a douche for reasons I can't really say. I do not know him but I know people who work/worked with him.
 
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stlc8tr

Golden Member
Jan 5, 2011
1,106
4
76
futurefields said:
That doesn't mean anything. Browns athleticism was superior dont care how many sports BJ signed up to play...
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Jim Brown was pretty good at several sports as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Brown

Perhaps more impressive was his success as a multi-sport athlete. In addition to his football accomplishments, he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse. As a sophomore, he was the second leading scorer for the basketball team (15 ppg), and earned a letter on the track team. His junior year, he averaged 11.3 points in basketball, and was named a second-team All-American in lacrosse. His senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse (43 goals in 10 games to rank second in scoring nationally).
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S

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
futurefields said:
That doesn't mean anything. Browns athleticism was superior dont care how many sports BJ signed up to play...
Click to expand...

Bo Jackson was faster, stronger, and did this without lifting weights or working out. He missed all of training camp, preseason and the first couple games of the LA Raiders and still walked on to a start position over a Hall of Fame running back (Marcus Allen). He was a superior athlete.
 
C

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
jayzds said:
I agree that Deon was a great athlete.

But, I still would put Bo in front of Deon. He was a beast, faster, stronger and played football as a hobby. At least that is what he claimed :-D

The ESPN Doc on him was good and it shows how amazing he really was. That being said I do not like him because he is a douche for reasons I can't really say. I do not know him but I know people who work/worked with him.
Click to expand...

Legend has it that Deon ran a 4.4 40 in Timberland boots... :biggrin:
 
N

NoStateofMind

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2005
9,711
6
76
Theres no question in my mind who it is....

171886.jpg



TMZ

Herschel Walker
I STILL DO 1,500 PUSH-UPS
... Every, Single Day
Click to expand...
 
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smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
Childs said:
Whats sad is he would be in the conversation if it wasn't for the plastic surgery and his association with the Kardashians.
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40 years later, he is still in the top 25 in terms of scorers in the Decathlon. I don't think he shouldn't be in contention for top 100 greatest athletes, but he sure isn't in the top 3. I'd even say putting up with the Kardashians makes him even more of an athlete! Keeping up with that level of crazy?

And, don't forget, he is an American hero! He beat those dirty commies after they stole our medals!

He was also a fairly successful race car driver! Okay, I revise that, he might be up there in terms of top 10.
 
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Miramonti

Miramonti

Lifer
Aug 26, 2000
28,651
100
91
Hershal Walker and Bo Jackson were about as raw as one can get, certainly very rare, careers well done now but in their prime were...uhm, yeah.
 
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