Brady ranked 4th Top Athlete of 1995 - 2015 by ESPN

OhExaulted1 said:

Any dude in this forum who thinks for 1 second you could beat her, she would smoke you and laugh in your face. You'd be puking and be getting a liquid IV by the 3rd set in a match.

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What a truly bizarre thing to say.

AzorianPats said:

Armstrong deserves to be on that list over Bonds.

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Lance Armstrong is a pathological liar, who ruined the careers of several people around him. He also undermined his own charitable work by doing unthinkable things in the course of cheating. The damage he did doesn't come anywhere near close to Barry Bonds, who lied only to protect himself. I'm honestly surprise that man isn't in jail right now.

Galeb said:

What a truly bizarre thing to say.

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Think you could beat her?

Brady should be #1. 4 SuperBowl victories, 6 appearances, over a decade of dominance in the AFC…. in a salary cap era, in the most competitive sport on Earth. AND he has done it throughout a good part of the 1995-2015 era, winning SuperBowls 10 years apart. He is the epitome of greatness throughout this time period.


Most of Jordan's career and accomplishments were before this time period. He only had 3 good seasons after '95, and they weren't close to being his best. In fact he slightly diminished his legacy by making his comeback in Washington during the 1995-2015 time period. One could argue that Kobe Bryant was a better athlete during this era.

LeBron? What a joke. 2 rings in a sport where Champions are often known before the season even begins. Sorry but basketball today is full of the laziness, most overpaid athletes alive. Players barely even play defense anymore. Plus he had to go to Miami to make a "dream team" with Wade and Bosh just to get a ring. Brady always did it with less talent than his competitors. LeBron had to team up with all-stars to get it done.

resdubwhite said:

Lionel Messi too.

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ESPN only remembers soccer exists once every 4 years and this seems heavily tilted towards players who are still active, but Messi's on there at #13. He's sort of the face of soccer right now when it's becoming popular in the US, but I'm not sure if he's the best for the entire period of 1995-2015. Zidane, Ronaldo, and Cristiano Ronaldo all have a claim on that as well.

Shaq should be slightly higher, though Serena's a solid choice to round out the top 5. **** Lance Armstrong. Better hockey players than Crosby in this period too: Hasek, Brodeur, Lemieux, Gretzky, Roy, Lidstrom, even Ovechkin.

I wouldn't have put Jordan #1. If we're going to go with 'the best all-time at their sport but with the majority of their accomplishments prior to 1995' then I don't understand why Jordan is on the list but Jerry Rice isn't.

OhExaulted1 said:

Barry Bonds hit 503 HR's from 1995-2007. How come he didn't make the list.

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Bonds did make the list.

I thought that was a American Sports list.

If its Global my list is:

1. Brady
2. Ronaldo ( Brazilian, Messi doesnt have any WC)
3. Phelps
4. MJ
5. Usain Bolt
6. Ken Griffey Jr
7. Mark Messier
8. Michael Schumacher
9. Federer
10. Tiger Woods (I hate golf, but he is amazing) or
Floyd Mayweather Jr. ( Pacquiao is really close IMO)

primetime said:

ESPN only remembers soccer exists once every 4 years and this seems heavily tilted towards players who are still active, but Messi's on there at #13. He's sort of the face of soccer right now when it's becoming popular in the US, but I'm not sure if he's the best for the entire period of 1995-2015. Zidane, Ronaldo, and Cristiano Ronaldo all have a claim on that as well.

Shaq should be slightly higher, though Serena's a solid choice to round out the top 5. **** Lance Armstrong. Better hockey players than Crosby in this period too: Hasek, Brodeur, Lemieux, Gretzky, Roy, Lidstrom, even Ovechkin.

I wouldn't have put Jordan #1. If we're going to go with 'the best all-time at their sport but with the majority of their accomplishments prior to 1995' then I don't understand why Jordan is on the list but Jerry Rice isn't.



Bonds did make the list.

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I saw that afterwards. Got me there.. No MMA guys though?

patsbrasilpatriotas said:

I thought that was a American Sports list.

If its Global my list is:

1. Brady
2. Ronaldo ( Brazilian, Messi doesnt have any WC)
3. Phelps
4. MJ
5. Usain Bolt
6. Ken Griffey Jr
7. Mark Messier
8. Michael Schumacher
9. Federer
10. Tiger Woods (I hate golf, but he is amazing) or
Floyd Mayweather Jr. ( Pacquiao is really close IMO)

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Royce Gracie was the man patsbrasil. 175 lbs of you better tap out or you're going to need surgery. Truth.

Im not saying he is juicing, but in my list i like the guys that i know that are clean. And to choose a MMA fighter is really hard using this standard ( Silva, Jones - He likes our Vasco da Gama Patriotas i have pictures of him using our uniform )

Brady is number 1 to me, but I have zero issue giving MJ the number 1 spot. He is the greatest American sports figure of all time. His brand is global.

OhExaulted1 said:

Think you could beat her?

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No. And unless there's a poster or two here who's rigorously trained at tennis for decades, there probably isn't anyone here that would beat her. That said, the fact that you anticipate that some dudes here think they could is beyond strange.

Then again, there's posters here who believe they're far superior at talent evaluation than BB, with just a fraction of the information available to NFL scouts. Perhaps such a post here isn't strange after all. My bad, I take back my initial post.

If I had to rank them...

1) Tom Brady
2) Kobe Bryant
3) Ronaldo
4) Usain Bolt
5) Serena Williams
6) Shaquille O'Neal
7) Roger Federer
8) Tiger Woods
9) Michael Phelps
10) Tim Duncan
11) Dominik Hasek
12) Zinedine Zidane
13) Lisa Leslie
14) LeBron James
15) Lionel Messi
16) Anderson Silva
17) Michael Jordan
18) Peyton Manning
19) Martin Brodeur
20) Derek Jeter

HM: Diana Taurasi, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, Michael Johnson, Ed Reed, Ladainian Tomlinson, Randy Moss, Nik Lidstrom, Manny Pacquiao, Sheryl Swoopes, Annika Sorenstam, Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, Albert Pujols, Pavel Datsyuk, Alex Rodriguez, Justine Henin, Mariano Rivera, Venus Williams, Jerry Rice, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin

My top 5 in the last 30 years would be Rice, Jordan, Gretzky, Brady, and Lemieux.

primetime said:

If I had to rank them...

1) Tom Brady
2) Kobe Bryant
3) Ronaldo
4) Usain Bolt
5) Serena Williams
6) Shaquille O'Neal
7) Roger Federer
8) Tiger Woods
9) Michael Phelps
10) Tim Duncan
11) Dominik Hasek
12) Zinedine Zidane
13) Lisa Leslie
14) LeBron James
15) Lionel Messi
16) Anderson Silva
17) Michael Jordan
18) Peyton Manning
19) Martin Brodeur
20) Derek Jeter

HM: Diana Taurasi, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, Michael Johnson, Ed Reed, Ladainian Tomlinson, Randy Moss, Nik Lidstrom, Manny Pacquiao, Sheryl Swoopes, Annika Sorenstam, Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, Albert Pujols, Pavel Datsyuk, Alex Rodriguez, Justine Henin, Mariano Rivera, Venus Williams, Jerry Rice, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin

My top 5 in the last 30 years would be Rice, Jordan, Gretzky, Brady, and Lemieux.

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Rice Sticktum? No cheaters.

primetime said:

ESPN only remembers soccer exists once every 4 years and this seems heavily tilted towards players who are still active, but Messi's on there at #13. He's sort of the face of soccer right now when it's becoming popular in the US, but I'm not sure if he's the best for the entire period of 1995-2015. Zidane, Ronaldo, and Cristiano Ronaldo all have a claim on that as well.

Shaq should be slightly higher, though Serena's a solid choice to round out the top 5. **** Lance Armstrong. Better hockey players than Crosby in this period too: Hasek, Brodeur, Lemieux, Gretzky, Roy, Lidstrom, even Ovechkin.

I wouldn't have put Jordan #1. If we're going to go with 'the best all-time at their sport but with the majority of their accomplishments prior to 1995' then I don't understand why Jordan is on the list but Jerry Rice isn't.



Bonds did make the list.

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for pure global reach and dominance over a period of the past 8 or so years Messi deserves no 1 from a global persepective.

From a US perspective its got to be Phelps or Brady.

edit: Add Tiger to the list. Whether you agree he's an athlete or not. He flatout dominated one of the biggest sports in the world for a long long time. Its a shame to see his career going the way it is.

My list going by this list. This counts major team sports; BBall, Baseball, Football, Hockey

#1 Brady
#2 Jordan - The key here is time frame. They are starting right in the middle of Jordan's career and including the entirety of Brady's. If you wanna stack career by career and measure how dominate each was in the context of their own sport and position then I would probably say Jordan. However if you actually start at 95 you only count 3 Jordan championships IIRC. Brady's full career is easily superior to Jordan's half.
#3 Bryant - Count the rings. Guy was a punk but his ability is undeniable. Better than Lebron ez

No one else really needs to be discussed. No all time great hockey or baseball players during this time frame that compare with them IMHO.

Also foot notes

Shaq against suffers from his career being partly cut and that he aged badly

Woods? Woods honestly is a little overrated. Yes he is a great but who was he playing against? He has little consistent competition from other all time greats and didn't have the longevity he should have. Maybe top 10 all time. Sure as heck not top 5 IMO.

Galeb said:

No. And unless there's a poster or two here who's rigorously trained at tennis for decades, there probably isn't anyone here that would beat her. That said, the fact that you anticipate that some dudes here think they could is beyond strange.

Then again, there's posters here who believe they're far superior at talent evaluation than BB, with just a fraction of the information available to NFL scouts. Perhaps such a post here isn't strange after all. My bad, I take back my initial post.

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I'm a bad-*** at badminton. I've got a net, rackets and plenty of shuttlecocks (which is a very unfortunate name for a sports-related device).

It's all good. I'm really just taking an oppotunity to blast off on golf. If you go out and golf and get excercise and enjoy the sun and a day with friends or even family that's all good. It's just no-one ever says "hey, lets go out and play a nice cordial light game of tennis". The competeitive juices flow for both, but the amount of exertion isn't any where near compareable.

I'm 43. I can run around a tennis court for an hour. I could walk around a golf course for days on end. Which activity will put me in the ambulance first?

To put things in perspective, it has been noted that the years on here include Jordan's second stint with the Bulls and comeback with the Wizards. That's what, five or six seasons?

Aaron Rodgers has six seasons as a starter under his belt. He should certainly be on the list if the forehead is.

So laughable that the forehead is above Lionel Messi, Rafael Nadal, and Michael Phelps, three guys who have not only dominated their sports more than Manning but are also known as great champions who perform under pressure, whereas Manning is the undisputed king of faltering when the stakes are high.

MrNathanDrake said:

Brady should be #1. 4 SuperBowl victories, 6 appearances, over a decade of dominance in the AFC…. in a salary cap era, in the most competitive sport on Earth. AND he has done it throughout a good part of the 1995-2015 era, winning SuperBowls 10 years apart. He is the epitome of greatness throughout this time period.


Most of Jordan's career and accomplishments were before this time period. He only had 3 good seasons after '95, and they weren't close to being his best. In fact he slightly diminished his legacy by making his comeback in Washington during the 1995-2015 time period. One could argue that Kobe Bryant was a better athlete during this era.

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Couldn't have said it any better. Not only have Brady's achievements encompassed more in that span of time, but he also accomplished more with less. Unlike Jordan, who is a naturally gifted athlete, Brady has had to overcome physical limitations. He's had to face greater personal odds just to get to where he is today (6th round, 199th draft choice, competing for the starting position in college)

I also think when you compare the level of skill involved in football, and what it take to consistently perform as long as Brady has, I would argue that the NFL is a more difficult environment to compete in. It's a lot harder to stay consistent when you're dealing with a strongly-enforced salary cap, injuries and lack of depth, the unpredictable nature of free agency, and constant rule changes - not to mention all the trends that have come and gone in the last 15 years since Brady has played. The playing format is also more high-stakes, since the NFL playoffs do not rely on a seven game format. So there's more pressure to succeed in individual games.

Yet somehow, in spite of all this, Brady has overcome adversity, and rises to the occasion every year, all while facing greater public scrutiny from the media and haters. I agree with you 100%. Tom Brady is the living embodiment of a greatness. No questions asked.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

To put things in perspective, it has been noted that the years on here include Jordan's second stint with the Bulls and comeback with the Wizards. That's what, five or six seasons?

Aaron Rodgers has six seasons as a starter under his belt. He should certainly be on the list if the forehead is.

So laughable that the forehead is above Lionel Messi, Rafael Nadal, and Michael Phelps, three guys who have not only dominated their sports more than Manning but are also known as great champions who perform under pressure, whereas Manning is the undisputed king of faltering when the stakes are high.

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I'm not a big Manning fan, but I gotta say, I was really impressed by his comeback with the Broncos. He had to teach himself to pass and throw footballs after undergoing surgery, after being told that he could never again play in the NFL. But after being let go of by the Colts, he signed with the Broncos and proceeded to have one of the greatest seasons for a quarterback in 2013, before finally choking BIG-TIME in SB 48. Other than that humiliation, I would say that he's earned his dues.

A little overrated? Yes. But there's no denying his skill and talents as a quarterback.

OhExaulted1 said:

Which activity will put me in the ambulance first?

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Golf if there's ex-presidents playing on the course.