ADSactly Sports: The Greatest Players of All-Time

ADSactly Sports: The Greatest Players of All-Time - Who is the G.O.A.T? (Part 1)

Sports have long been a topic for water cooler banter. From last night game to the latest and greatest play, sports fans revel in the opportunity to boast about their favourite teams or players. There are even some that are so passionate about their favourite sport or team that they take pride in the amount of knowledge they have about them. Sports discussions can be light-hearted and joyful and they can also be heated and full of distaste and anger. Emotions can run high as a fan's passion for his or her team is challenged. I am sure if you think hard enough you will remember a time when a sports discussion got a little more heated than it should and tempers even flared. With the end of the NBA finals and all the water cooler chat about Lebron James, I started to think about how often these conversations happen.

The thing about sports is that everyone has their own opinion about things. What the best sport is, who the best players are, what the best teams are and even down to certain specific plays. I have seen two grown men get into such a spirited argument about a hockey hit that it looked like it was going to turn into a fight right there in the bar. It was as if they had forgotten that they were merely fans and not the players themselves. I got to thinking about all the things that are argued about by sports fans and with all the Lebron James talk I realized just how much time we spent on one topic. A topic that comes up all the time and has been argued for as long as sports have existed. The all-important question that every fan thinks they have the answer to, Who is the G.O.A.T?

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The Greatest Player of All Time has long been argued by fans from all sports. It is an interesting debate for so many reasons. How does one determine who is the best player that ever played a sport? Is it their statistics? How many points or touchdowns or home runs can be used as a way to argue your opinion for sure. Is it the number of championships they have won? The way a player is appreciated could depend on the era in which they played. In lots of sports, the game has seen changes over time that could have an impact on players statistics. This leads to further discussion and comparison of the players and arguments over the interpretation of these differences. I have been involved in and listened to hundreds of these conversations and the only thing I can say with any certainty is that there will always be differences of opinion when it comes to the topic of the G.O.A.T in sports.

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I thought it would be fun to take a look at some sports and have a discussion about who the G.O.A.T is in each sport. The discussions can vary at times based on positions depending on the sports. For example in American Football quarterbacks are often talked about as the greatest but then there are separate discussions about the greatest running back or wide receiver. I will try to keep this discussion as impartial as possible and keep my personal opinion to myself. So gather around the water cooler and let's talk about the greatest players of all time.

NFL Football

This is a debate that I have personally spent many an hour discussing with friends and enemies alike. There are several players that always get brought up during these arguments. Names like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are regularly tossed into the ring when discussing the greatest of all time. Then you get the generational gap coming into play as people suggest Dan Marino or even Joe Montana or Terry Bradshaw. Each of these players has an impressive resume and an argument for their spot atop the rest of can be made. Marino for the longest time was the greatest statistical quarterback of all time but people would argue that he wasn’t the best because he failed to win a championship. Manning has now become the best statistical QB with the most yards passing and most touchdown passes and he has three championships to his credit. Then there is Brady who has been to a record 8 Super Bowls and won 5 of them.

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The QB will often be debated most because they have such a big impact on games but there are many other positional players who deserve to have their names brought up when discussing the best of all time in the NFL. Wide receiver Jerry Rice set the gold standard for all WR. He owns all the major statistical records at his position and it isn’t even close. Running backs Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders have all been brought up for consideration and there are many defensive players that come to mind as well. Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White just to name a couple.

Soccer

The crown of greatest of all time when it comes to soccer is a tough debate. As you might expect, the strikers get all the glory when it comes to soccer and when the discussion of best player comes up it is no different. Soccer fans can be some of the most passionate fans in the world and when asked who they think the best of all time is the debate can get feverishly intense. What makes you the best in this sport? Is it your statistics in league play with your club team or is it how you perform on the world stage in the World Cup? We might very well be witnessing some of the greatest soccer players of all time right now in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two players have taken the game to a whole new level and have become dominant forces both with their club teams and in World Cup play. Messi has been to one final but lost while Ronaldo has taken World Cup scoring to new heights this time around.

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Then there are those who will say that the question of the G.O.A.T in soccer is a non-discussion and that there are only two players that deserve to be in the discussion. Diego Maradona from Argentina and Pele from Brazil. Both players played in different eras and were considered to be the dominant players of their time. Their goal scoring prowess was second to none and they have the World Cup accolades to go along with it. Maradona with one championship while Pele won three times. There are so many players that have had an impact on the game of soccer. I am sure that I am only touching the tip of the iceberg with these four names and that there are so many other players that fans would nominate for this prestigious recognition.

Pelé played professionally in Brazil for two decades, winning three World Cups along the way, before joining the New York Cosmos late in his career. Named FIFA co-Player of the Century in 1999
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Basketball

This year the battle for king of the castle in the NBA and acknowledgement in the eyes of fans as the greatest of all time came to the forefront. Lebron James has now accomplished something that no other player in the NBA has ever done. This year marked the 8th consecutive time and 9th in his career that he has led his team to the NBA finals. This feat on its own has many people calling him the G.O.A.T. However, although he is the most dominant player in the game today and has reached all those finals, he has only won three times. The player that most people hold above Lebron is Michael Jordan. Jordan is considered by many to be the most dominant player to ever play the game. He was capable of taking over games and winning them all on his own and he proved to be one of the most clutch players ever. When the chips were down and the game was on the line, he was able to take his game to a whole different level and make unthinkable shots. He made it to the finals 6 times winning every single time he was there and being named MVP in each of those championship final series.

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However, there is a list of names from another generation that people would argue deserve their name in the conversation. During the 1980’s, the argument about who was the greatest NBA player had two names. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. During their primes, they were the two most dominant players and the Magic vs Bird discussion burned strong. There are those who would even include Wilt Chamberlain who held many scoring records including most points in a game.

This is just the beginning of the discussion as there are so many more sports to work through. Stay tuned for part two of this series coming soon. Who are the greatest players in your opinion? Are there any names that I have missed from these sports? What do you think are the most important factors in deciding who the G.O.A.T are? I look forward to hearing your thoughts so step on up to the water cooler and join the conversation and let both your passion and knowledge show.