Poll

Of the 4 American sports, who is the greatest G.O.A.T?

Michael Jordan - NBA
4 (13.3%)
Tom Brady - NFL
11 (36.7%)
Babe Ruth - MLB
8 (26.7%)
Wayne Gretzky - NHL
7 (23.3%)

Total Members Voted: 29

Author Topic: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?  (Read 21869 times)

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Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« on: October 10, 2021, 12:14:03 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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Have seen a lot of Tom Brady stuff in the media, especially the local Tampa media and Brady is always called The GOAT. And he is for the NFL. But of the 4 major American pro sports, in comparison to their peers, who is The GOAT of the 4 GOATs?

If I had to list them I would probably go:

1. Tom Brady
2. Babe Ruth
3. Michael Jordan
4. Wayne Gretzky

But if I am being honest, I am not sure I feel good about that order. There are 16 combos of the 4 GOATs and I think an argument could be made that all 16 combos are the right one.

What do you think?

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2021, 12:28:47 PM »

Online Roy H.

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I wouldn’t have Brady first.  He may be the best QB ever, but it’s hard to compare across positions.  Is Brady better as a QB than Jim Brown as a RB, LT at linebacker, Jerry Rice at WR?

I think the two most dominant relative to their peers were Ruth and Gretzky.  Both did unprecedented things.


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Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2021, 12:44:00 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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I wouldn’t have Brady first.  He may be the best QB ever, but it’s hard to compare across positions.  Is Brady better as a QB than Jim Brown as a RB, LT at linebacker, Jerry Rice at WR?

I think the two most dominant relative to their peers were Ruth and Gretzky.  Both did unprecedented things.
Yes, Brady is better than any other player at their respective positions in the NFL and has done unprecedented stuff. In my opinion, that's unquestionable.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2021, 12:48:21 PM »

Online Neurotic Guy

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Babe is the GOAT OF GOATs

Revolutionized the game after going 94-46 with a 2.28 era as a pitcher.

I didn’t watch much hockey in Gretzky’s era — was he really better than Bobby Orr?

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2021, 12:55:05 PM »

Online Roy H.

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Babe is the GOAT OF GOATs

Revolutionized the game after going 94-46 with a 2.28 era as a pitcher.

I didn’t watch much hockey in Gretzky’s era — was he really better than Bobby Orr?

Gretzky set something ridiculous like 70 NHL records.  Orr was the greatest defenseman and was revolutionary himself, but Gretzky is unprecedented.


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Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2021, 12:55:43 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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Babe is the GOAT OF GOATs

Revolutionized the game after going 94-46 with a 2.28 era as a pitcher.

I didn’t watch much hockey in Gretzky’s era — was he really better than Bobby Orr?
But, are his accomplishments lessened by the fact that black, Latino and Asian players weren't allowed to play in the league?

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2021, 12:58:31 PM »

Online Roy H.

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Babe is the GOAT OF GOATs

Revolutionized the game after going 94-46 with a 2.28 era as a pitcher.

I didn’t watch much hockey in Gretzky’s era — was he really better than Bobby Orr?
But, are his accomplishments lessened by the fact that black, Latino and Asian players weren't allowed to play in the league?

Are Brady’s lessened by the pro-offense rules, particularly the coddling that barely allows contact with the QB?  What about the two Patriots’ cheating scandals?

Are Hank Aaron’s (and those of Mays, Mantle, etc) accomplishments lessened by the use of “greenies”?

Players are judged against their competition.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2021, 01:08:30 PM by Roy H. »


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Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2021, 01:02:49 PM »

Online Neurotic Guy

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Babe is the GOAT OF GOATs

Revolutionized the game after going 94-46 with a 2.28 era as a pitcher.

I didn’t watch much hockey in Gretzky’s era — was he really better than Bobby Orr?
But, are his accomplishments lessened by the fact that black, Latino and Asian players weren't allowed to play in the league?

Yeah, probably.  We'll never know what Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and others would have done if the leagues were integrated.  I think the segregation and lack of opportunity does lessen Babe’s accomplishments.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2021, 01:04:52 PM »

Online liam

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Russell.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2021, 01:10:26 PM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Russell in terms of winning at all levels it is not even debatable.

Jordan was the best I 've ever seen at forcing his will on a game in basketball.  The same is true of Brady in football.

Babe dominated his sports for sure, but I never seen him and don't follow baseball to the same extent.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2021, 01:51:21 PM »

Offline Csfan1984

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Seeing what TB has done feels it's the hardest to accomplish. The records and titles with so many different teammates. He is the all time Goat

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2021, 02:01:09 PM »

Online liam

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Russell in terms of winning at all levels it is not even debatable.

Jordan was the best I 've ever seen at forcing his will on a game in basketball.  The same is true of Brady in football.

Babe dominated his sports for sure, but I never seen him and don't follow baseball to the same extent.

I think the 3 years of MVP Bird was the most dominant play I've ever seen in the NBA.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #12 on: October 10, 2021, 02:01:15 PM »

Offline 18isGREATERthan72

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Hockey is probably my least favorite of all the four major sports, but I don't think anyone was as good relative to their competition as The Great One.  Maybe Babe Ruth, but I still put Gretzky ahead of the other four when you compare him to his relative competition at the time.  I also have very little to go in with Ruth, other than looking at statistics.  I can very visibly see Gretzky playing hockey against professional players and making it look effortless.

Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2021, 02:48:51 PM »

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Because it was so long ago, it's easy to forget what an amazing football player Jimmy Brown was during his career.  I was not a Browns fan back then, nor now, but every team he played against had to adjust their game plan because of his impact on the game.  He was bigger and faster than pretty much everyone else he played against except for lineman.  Before Brady dominated the game, in 2002 the Sporting News named Brown as the greatest professional football player ever.  Also, in 2020 ESPN named Brown the greatest college football player of all time.  In NFL history he is the only player to average rushing over 100 yards per game for his career.  And finally, he led the league in rushing 8 of his 9 years that he played.  I'm not saying he is the football GOAT, but he has to be in the conversation when discussing Brady.  They both dominated their time as players.
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Re: Who is The Greatest G.O.A.T?
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2021, 02:53:41 PM »

Offline Moranis

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I wouldn’t have Brady first.  He may be the best QB ever, but it’s hard to compare across positions.  Is Brady better as a QB than Jim Brown as a RB, LT at linebacker, Jerry Rice at WR?

I think the two most dominant relative to their peers were Ruth and Gretzky.  Both did unprecedented things.
Yes, Brady is better than any other player at their respective positions in the NFL and has done unprecedented stuff. In my opinion, that's unquestionable.
I think Brady is the QB GOAT as well, but Brady's winning actually isn't unprecendented.  Otto Graham played for 10 years and won 7 Championships and was the runner-up the other 3 years he played.  He won 3 MVP's.  He led the league in passing 5 of his 10 seasons.  Obviously a much different sport in the early days, but the guy led his team to the championship game all 10 years he played.

And Roy is right, the positions in football make it so much different.  I mean Brown played 9 years and led the league in rushing 8 of those years.  His level of excellence and dominance was remained unmatched by other RB's. 

In 2019, USA Today put out their list of the greatest players in NFL history.  Jerry Rice was #1.  Brady was 2.  LT was 3 and Brown was 4.  So this notion that Brady is the unquestioned best player in NFL history just isn't all that clear or decided.  QB, yes, but player not so much.
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