May 16, 2020 18:30:42 GMT Shootist said:

I had Mike Bossy at 5. He was the best pure goal scorer in the history of the NHL (challenged now by Ovechkin) and was the quickest in history to 300, 400 and 500 goals. @ck hit the nail on the head, Bossy was the catalyst for that potent Islanders offense. He always found the right spot on the ice to get open and he had a lethal shot. It wasn't so much his velocity but his quick release and pinpoint accuracy that ravaged goalies. He had 50 goals in every season he played (a since broken record of 53 as a rookie) except for his last when his back was too far gone. He might have had some of Gretzky's records if he had stayed healthy.

Bossy was the quickest to 300,400 and 500...then, you know Gretzky.

7. Gale Sayers 

Seasons 

7 

Team 

Chicago Bears 

Rushing Yards 

4956 

Rushing Touchdowns 

39 

Rushing Average 

5.0

Receiving Yards 

1307 

Receiving Touchdowns 

9 

Return Touchdowns 

9 

Accolades 

- 4th overall pick in NFL Draft 

- 4x Pro Bowl Selection 

- 5x First Team All Pro Selection 

- 1965 Rookie of the Year 

- 1969 Comeback Player of the Year 

- 2x Rushing Champion 

- 1960s All Decade Team 

- 50th , 75th & 100th Anniversary Team 

- #40 Retired by Chicago Bears

Sayers is another one who is awesome to go back and watch , dude seemed SO ahead of his time with the versatility he provided not only on the offense and lining up a ton of spots but also with being a great returner as well. Like of all the old time running backs who could come in and succeed I would have to believe Sayers would crush it.

He technically played 7 seasons , but really it was only 5 as the last two seasons he only played two games a piece. Sucks that such a revolutionary talent wasn't able to stick around.

The front page has Penny Hardaway at the 7 spot.


I guess Luck is a good shout. My only problem with Luck is he CHOSE to end his career. There was no medical issue that kept him from playing, he just got sick of rehabbing injuries. Compare that with someone like Sterling Sharpe who would have given his left nut to be able to play again.

Bossy and Sayers on the other hand are exactly what I think of with this category.

Disagree with Penny Hardaway, he seems more of the KGJR example of injuries stopping him from reaching continuing to hit his peak, he just never got to duplicate his Magic days due to injuries and the Suns and Knicks saw a lousy player on an awful contract. Still had a 15 year NBA career and 3 years at Memphis.

Assuming Penny is 6th and next, I’m going to defend putting him on my list as well.

Penny was THE MAN and was supposed to be the future face of the NBA. His commercials were huge and along with Shaq they were able to get past the Bulls to get to the Finals. Unfortunately for them they ran into a better Houston team. Penny was the man when I was a kid and his cool nickname will always be legendary.

I don’t care what people say. When an injury hits a superstar early in their career and they can’t play at that level again then they had their career cut short.

May 17, 2020 14:35:55 GMT Blindy said:

Disagree with Penny Hardaway, he seems more of the KGJR example of injuries stopping him from reaching continuing to hit his peak, he just never got to duplicate his Magic days due to injuries and the Suns and Knicks saw a lousy player on an awful contract. Still had a 15 year NBA career and 3 years at Memphis.

I have to agree, but in fairness Penny's example is far more extreme than Griffey's.    Penny's injury reduced him from first ballot Hall of Famer to just another guy.   So I don't blame anyone who included him.

For me though, career cut short means you can't play anymore.  Period

I had Sayers at #4. The grace and elegance that he had, along with pure speed and elusiveness, made him the most dangerous runner of his time. Still holds many Bears records some 50 or so years later.

Up next, KING KID, defends putting Cal Ripken on his list.

I had Gail Sayers at 8, he was such a different back from the bruising Jim Brown with his speed and grace. The NFL was robbed of having two titans at the position in the 60's.

I still don't mind having guys like Penny included, it just adds more talking points. If some of your peak years are taken away by injury it most definitely counts.

May 17, 2020 21:03:24 GMT Shootist said:

I had Gail Sayers at 8, he was such a different back from the bruising Jim Brown with his speed and grace. The NFL was robbed of having two titans at the position in the 60's.

I still don't mind having guys like Penny included, it just adds more talking points. If some of your peak years are taken away by injury it most definitely counts.

Yeah I think that's fair too. Look at someone like Mario Lemieux, who was on pace to beat Gretzky's single-season goal record when he was diagnosed with cancer. The Penguins had just won back-to-back Stanley Cups and he was about to challenge The Great One in the history books, then that happened. Who knows what Lemieux and the Penguins would have accomplished had that not happened?

May 17, 2020 21:24:08 GMT RT said:

May 17, 2020 21:03:24 GMT Shootist said:

I had Gail Sayers at 8, he was such a different back from the bruising Jim Brown with his speed and grace. The NFL was robbed of having two titans at the position in the 60's.

I still don't mind having guys like Penny included, it just adds more talking points. If some of your peak years are taken away by injury it most definitely counts.

Yeah I think that's fair too. Look at someone like Mario Lemieux, who was on pace to beat Gretzky's single-season goal record when he was diagnosed with cancer. The Penguins had just won back-to-back Stanley Cups and he was about to challenge The Great One in the history books, then that happened. Who knows what Lemieux and the Penguins would have accomplished had that not happened?

And like Bossy, Lemieux also had major back problems, which led to his first retirement.

Well might as well spoil it now, Lemieux was my number 1. His career spanned over 20 years but he had a battle with cancer and the back problems that took around 5 off that total. I couldn't ignore that, especially since he was the heir apparent to Gretzky.

Gale Sayers was #2 on my belated list. By all accounts, he was basically the Marshall Faulk of his day who would have broken all kinds of records had it not been for injuries derailing his career.

I doubt he’d make top 10, but Fast Willie Parker was on his way to being a superstar before he broke his leg in ‘07. Never the same after that.

If you include Lemieux do you also include guys like Larry Bird and Bobby Orr?

Or Lou Gehrig who was 7 home runs shy of the 500 club and was under 300 hits until hitting 3000 until his infamous ALS/soon to be named Lou Gehrig's disease came out and forced his retirement with his death 2 years after.

6. Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway 

Seasons 

15 

Teams 

Orlando Magic 

Phoenix Suns 

New York Knicks 

Miami Heat 

Career Points Per Game 

15.2 

Career Assists Per Game 

6.3 

Accolades 

- 3rd Overall Pick in 1993 NBA Draft 

- 4x NBA All Star 

- 2x 1st Team All NBA 

- 1x Third Team All NBA 

No shock with Penny after my gaffe yesterday but he IMO belongs on this list more than someone like Griffey as someone already said. He was an elite talent who might have been able to crack the Top 5 players in the NBA at one point but that big injuries and following nagging ones completely knocked him off a cliff. It sucks , he was/is one of my favorite players of all time and a huge reason why I ever got into the NBA and started following those fun Magic teams.

Between he , Griffey , McGrady and a few others that might come up on this list - I'm just fucking jinxed when it comes to some athletes. Bah.

May 18, 2020 12:50:35 GMT thereallt said:

If you include Lemieux do you also include guys like Larry Bird and Bobby Orr?

Orr was 30 when he retired because of bad knees, he was my number 2. He would have had close to another 10 years but his somewhat reckless style shortened his career. It's a double edged sword, if he would have been less aggressive on the rush he wouldn't have had the jaw dropping offensive numbers but would have played longer. Still in the end the NHL lost arguably it's greatest player much too soon, no doubt it counts.

Lemieux was hit with the cancer at 27 and lost 1993-1995 basically due to that and back problems. His back flared up again and he lost 1997-1999 as well and he still wouldn't have been 35. Considering his career PPG he would have easily challenged Gretzky's numbers if he never got cancer and had a healthy back, a no doubter for this list.

Bird battled through the back pain for 7 years and retired at 36 which is a bit of a stretch to include on this list. 85-88 he was still in top form despite his back trouble. Bird had a somewhat slower decline and wasn't as abrupt as Lemieux or Orr.

Like I said before, I would not include Penny but I don't blame anyone that did. Penny's injuries reduced him from a first ballot Hall of Famer to a guy who has to buy a ticket to get in

Bobby Orr definitely would have been on my list. I skipped this one because I didn’t feel like doing it. But he would have been top 3 easy, I think.

Still talked about as one of the greatest players of all-time and he retired at 30 because he could barely walk. Insane.

Penny Hardaway is a sad one too. I’m amazed he played 15 seasons, it felt like way less than that due to how often he was hurt.

Penny is similar to Griffey in that even though injuries hurt his career I never even thought about including him since he did play for a long time.

Damn CK is gone

May 19, 2020 0:34:47 GMT Blindy said:

Damn CK is gone

May 19, 2020 0:34:47 GMT Blindy said:

Damn CK is gone

Bye Felicia.

He’ll be back. They always come back.

May 19, 2020 2:07:49 GMT RT said:

He’ll be back. They always come back.

shinobimusashi

Testing, testing...

May 19, 2020 2:36:43 GMT 🤯 said:

May 19, 2020 2:07:49 GMT RT said:

He’ll be back. They always come back.

shinobimusashi

Testing, testing...

The exception that proves the rule. Wait. That makes no sense.

5. Sandy Koufax 

Years Played 

12 

Team 

Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers 

Career Wins 

165 

Career Losses 

87 

Career ERA 

2.76 

Career Strikeouts 

2396 

Accolades 

- 4x World Series Champion 

- 7x All Star 

- 1963 NL MVP 

- 3x Cy Young Award Winner 

- 2x World Series MVP 

- MLB Hall of Famer 

- #32 Retired by Dodgers 

I had Sandy Koufax at 3. I think he had just won his second consecutive Cy Young when the arthritis in his elbow was just too much to overcome. At the time he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the game with some truly crazy stats like the 380 odd strikeouts in 1965 and ERA under 2 those last two years. He had also just worked so hard to become a control pitcher as well after nearly a decade of being a wild flamethrower which probably contributed to his bad elbow.