I hope whatever CK has happening in his life gets straightened out. He’s obviously going through something with the way he’s been acting lately. Wish him the best.

Koufax was #5 on my belated list and that's probably too low. It took him a while to figure it out, but he quickly went from mediocre to good to otherworldly once he finally found his mojo. The stats he put up during his last few seasons are ridiculous. I'm not sure they've been matched since. Pretty crazy to think he did all that with a wrecked elbow.

Koufax definitely belongs. My uncle to this day swears that Koufax is the greatest pitcher of all-time and he'll die on that hill.

May 20, 2020 0:03:28 GMT Baker said:

Koufax was #5 on my belated list and that's probably too low. It took him a while to figure it out, but he quickly went from mediocre to good to otherworldly once he finally found his mojo. The stats he put up during his last few seasons are ridiculous. I'm not sure they've been matched since. Pretty crazy to think he did all that with a wrecked elbow.

Also due to the wrecked elbow the change in his delivery was more pronounced between the fastball and curveball. Even when the hitters knew what was coming they still couldn't get to him, insane.

4. Sterling Sharpe 

Seasons 

7 

Team

Green Bay Packers 

Career Receptions 

595 

Career Receiving Yards 

8134 

Career Receiving Touchdowns 

65 

Accolades 

- 7th overall pick in 1988 NFL Draft 

- 5x Pro Bowl Selection 

- 3x First Team All Pro 

- 3x Reception Leader 

- 2x Touchdown Leader 

Sharpe was my #1 with a bullet , I still truly believe that had he been able to continue his career he would have went down as one of the greatest ever and even chased some records. My first favorite football player and he was just a blast to watch and take over from the receiver position - his career becomes even more impressive when you realize he did most of it with less that mediocre quarterback play. It sucks that his career couldn't overlap more with Favre's because you seen his last year in the league take off with 18 touchdown catches and then he retired. Ugh. It still pisses me off to this day to think what could have been.

I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. I don't think he will get the support though.

Sterling Sharpe is literally the first person I though of when this list came up. At his best he was breathing the same air as Jerry Rice and the end of his career was heart-breaking. Before Ron Wolf cut him he said if there was even a 1% chance that Sterling could have came back he would have kept him. But in the end he just couldn't past the physical.

When his brother Shannon made the Hall of Fame, he said he was probably the only Hall of Famer that was the second best football player in his family. He wasn't being modest when he said that.

Yeah he was , and people almost seem to forget how good he was.

You think about the guys who were the best receivers not named Rice around that time.

Guys like Tim Brown , Herman Moore , Irvin , Carter ....:

Sharpe was better than them all.

I had golden Sterling at #4 on my belated list and am inclined to agree with UT on Sharpe being the 2nd best receiver of his era. Just imagine the numbers he would have put up playing with Favre for 5+ more years.

Had no idea he wasn't in the Hall of Fame yet. I just assumed he had long been in. I think it's fair to call him the Terrell Davis of wide receivers and TD is in...

I should have had Sterling on my list but I figured he would get plenty of support from others. No denying he belongs on this list.

Terrrell is in because of the Super Bowl rings (using team accomplishments to rate individuals is so bullshit) and MVP. I think Sterling will get in eventually.

3. Sean Taylor 

Seasons 

4

Team 

Washington Redskins 

Career Tackles 

305 

Career Interceptions 

12 

Career Forced Fumbles 

8 

Accolades 

- 5th Overall Pick in 2004 NFL Draft 

- 2x Pro Bowl Selection 

- 1x All Pro Selection 

I love Sean Taylor , I loved him in college and thought he had a chance to be a truly one of a kind safety with his combination of size and speed. Like the closest thing to Ronnie Lott we'd ever see only possibly more athletic. I love watching safety play in general and naturally drift to them as my favorite players and Taylor was definitely no different.

It sucks that such a tragedy had to happen , not only ending his career but obviously his life too. Robbed of such a unique talent entering his prime.

Sean Taylor completely slipped my mind when I was coming up with my belated list. He definitely belongs though.

Sean Taylor would have made my list near the bottom, but he is grossly overrated by his fanboys. I've seen many of them say he was better than Ronnie Lott or Ed Reed which is just laughable. Even when he was alive and active I don't think he was better than Dawkins or Polomalu either.

May 21, 2020 21:46:48 GMT UT said:

May 21, 2020 21:35:07 GMT thereallt said:

Sean Taylor would have made my list near the bottom, but he is grossly overrated by his fanboys. I've seen many of them say he was better than Ronnie Lott or Ed Reed which is just laughable. Even when he was alive and active I don't think he was better than Dawkins or Polomalu either.

He was com

He was coming into it though , he didn’t have a monster start to his career but once he started putting it together you could see the all world potential he had. Did he reach their level? No way ... but he could have.

Sean Taylor's death WRECKED my Redskins friends

2. Bobby Orr 

Years Played 

12 

Goals 

264 

Assists 

624 

Total Points 

888 

Accolades 

- 8x NHL All Star 

- 2x Stanley Cup Winner 

- 1970 SI Sportsman of the Year 

- Calder Memorial Trophy Winner 

- Lester B. Pearson Award Winner 

- Youngest Member ever voted in Hall of Fame 

Don Cherry called Bobby Orr, the greatest player that ever lived. But man, all those injuries to his knee. Imagine what a 100% healthy Bobby Orr could do.

Bobby Orr is considered by most hockey fans to be the greatest defenseman of all-time, and is also considered by many to be in the short running for the GOAT conversation. All the more impressive considering he had to retire at the age of 30 due to his knees. The NHL also lifted the waiting period for HOF eligibility for Orr and he became the youngest Hall of Famer in NHL history at 31. That is simply an incredible legacy for a shortened career.

As I said earlier my number 2, he lived by the sword and died by the sword. He revolutionized the rushing defenseman but it cost him his health. 1974-75 he posted his career best totals and had an all world performance in the  1976 Canada Cup, two years later he was done.

I don't know a ton about hockey. I did know Bobby Orr is considered the greatest defenseman of all time. But I did not know his career ended early due to injuries. Therefore I did not even consider him for my belated list.

1. Bo Jackson 

NFL Seasons 

4 

MLB Seasons 

8 

Career Rushing Yards 

2782 

Career Rushing Touchdowns 

16 

Career Rushing Average 

5.2 

Career Batting Average 

.250 

Career Home Runs 

141 

Career RBI's 

415 

NFL Accolades 

- 1990 Pro Bowl Selection 

- 1985 Heisman Trophy Winner 

MLB Accolades 

- 1989 AL All Star 

- 1989 All Star Game MVP 

- 1993 Comeback Player of the Year

 

Really the obvious choice to finish #1 , Bo is one of the greatest athletes of all time and his peak was surreal. Making the all star games of multiple sports in back to back years which is just crazy. Imagine if he would have focused on one sport , and obviously imagine if he never got hurt. 5.2 rushing average is no joke.

Also the greatest video game football player ever. Which holds weight.

Bo was my number 6, he was a modern day folk legend. Climbing the wall to make a snag in the outfield, trucking The Boz for a touchdown, reportedly being able to jump clear out of knee deep water, breaking bats over his knee. He was must see TV whenever he took the field. His 30 for 30 episode is one of the best of the series as it was revealed he now lives as a recluse bow hunter. Too bad modern medicine wasn't quite up to snuff to save his career.

1. Mario Lemieux
2. Bobby Orr
3. Sandy Koufax
4. Ayrton Senna
5. Mike Bossy
6. Bo Jackson
7. Monica Seles
8. Gale Sayers
9. Yao Ming
10. Terrell Davis

Surprised Yao didn't make the list, he acclimated well to the NBA but typical big man injuries took him down much too soon. Monica Seles was never the same after the fan attack while the death of Ayrton Senna at 34 shook Formula 1 to it's foundation.

I can’t believe I left Bo off my list. Smh. Happy he got the top spot though.

No love for Nestrovic, Yao and Jay Will though.

Let’s focus on Jay Williams. Dude was like the GOAT in college basketball, minus missing the crucial FTs against Maryland and I absolutely despised this little POS being a UNC fan. Was so pumped when Maryland beat them. Let’s go Juan Dixon!

But I thought Jay was going to be the new superstar in Chicago. The Rose before Rose. I thought I was going to have to hate him his whole career and then the motorcycle crash happened and I kind of felt bad. Almost like I had a love to hate relationship with him. He was really the first college player I ever hated and was ready to continue hating him through his NBA career. Then when his career ended prematurely it just kind of hurt me. I felt bad for him. As a sports broadcaster I can’t help but feel bad for the dude knowing that he’s obviously in mental pain and living a life of ‘what ifs’. I feel bad for the dude and am very happy he landed on his feet. Dudes got heart and has a great supporting cast in his life.

I considered Jay Williams and I know he showed flashes and a ton of people liked his future but I wasn’t quite convinced he would have been something special or face of the franchise. Wouldn’t have argued him on the list though and I also hate Duke.

Yao played a long time. Not so much in the NBA and he qualifies more than someone like Griffey but I had other guys that I felt stronger about.

I had Brandon Roy on my list. Dude was awesome. Also had Patrick Willis ranked high.

Bo knows winning countdowns. He was an easy choice for #1 on my belated list. Bo is one of the most over athletes of my lifetime. He got a massive push to where he was on par with Jordan in terms of notoriety. Bo was probably one of the most famous people in all of America for a few years.

His big claim to fame was being a two sport athlete who excelled in both sports. He was an all star baseball player, an even better running back, and as UT mentioned the greatest video game football player of all time. Shootist calling him a modern day folk hero is also spot on. His exploits are the stuff of legends.

My Belated List

1. Bo Jackson (#1)
2. Gale Sayers (#7)
3. Terrell Davis
4. Sterling Sharpe (#4)
5. Sandy Koufax (#5)
6. Andrew Luck (#9)
7. Billy Sims
8. Mark Fidrych
9. Ralph Sampson
10. Brad Daugherty

Surprised at the lack of TD love in this countdown. One of my personal favorite football players of all time is fairly modern and is basically the Sterling Sharpe of running backs.

Billy Sims was another talented running back whose career was derailed by injuries. He only played 5 years with the Lions in the early-mid 80s but rushed for over 1000 yards in 3 of those years and was on pace to easily break 1000 in two other seasons cut short by injuries.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych was a pitcher who had a phenomenal rookie season with the Tigers in the 70s, winning AL Rookie of the Year honors. He pitched in 31 games that year. He only played 27 for the rest of his career. Bonus points for being one of the few old school non-Oriole baseball players my mom knew. That one season also made him a cult hero due to his eccentric behavior on the mound. He was basically an even better baseball version of Ickey Woods (another guy I considered) in that he had an over gimmick, a great rookie season, and then nothing due to injuries.

Ralph Sampson was just before my time, but he was always hyped as THE "what could have been" basketball guy when I was growing up. He played with Akeem Olajuwon on the Houston Rockets. The two 7 footers were dubbed "The Twin Towers" and if not for Sampson's injuries the Rockets probably would have been to that era what the Duncan/Robinson lead Spurs were to their era.

Brad Daugherty was another solid #1 draft pick center who consistently put up 20 points/10 rebounds for the Cavs until injuries ended his career after only 8 seasons.