School with all-time greats in multiple sports

[Vshukla]

Kirk Gibson has always been interesting to me. I feel like there are people who absolutely love him and I just don't get it. Played 16 seasons. Only played more than 130 games 4 times (half his seasons less than 100 games). Never hit more than 30 home runs, never had more than 100 RBIs (the standards before the steroid/juiced ball eras), never made an all-star team and won NL MVP but Strawberry should have won it in '88. He will always be revered because of 1 play (that play was what won him the MVP). Take away that home run in the World Series and he is nothing more than an average MLB baseball player.

Of course, here the talk is college. Strangely, he was known in college as a All-American WR in football. Baseball was a secondary sport for him.

100% agree on Gibson. Even in his MVP year the guy hit .290 with 25 HR and 76 RBI. His reputation is based on 1 memorable moment. He’s the Bizarro version of Bill Buckner. Buckner was a better player than Gibson, but he is unfairly remembered for 1 bad play rather than the entirety of his career.

 

[miamicuse]

But But But if you are asking which schools have greats in multiple sports who wore the same jersey numbers, our 44 has to be on Mount Rushmore!

Then there is Jim Brown, hall of fame football and lacrosse, all by himself.

 

[Vshukla]

But But But if you are asking which schools have greats in multiple sports who wore the same jersey numbers, our 44 has to be on Mount Rushmore!

Then there is Jim Brown, hall of fame football and lacrosse, all by himself.

Like I said in a previous post, Brown is kind of a category unto himself. He's my go to whenever anyone from another school tries to talk trash about their athletics.
"Uh huh, that's nice. We had Jim Brown."

 

[OrangeDW]

Kirk Gibson has always been interesting to me. I feel like there are people who absolutely love him and I just don't get it. Played 16 seasons. Only played more than 130 games 4 times (half his seasons less than 100 games). Never hit more than 30 home runs, never had more than 100 RBIs (the standards before the steroid/juiced ball eras), never made an all-star team and won NL MVP but Strawberry should have won it in '88. He will always be revered because of 1 play (that play was what won him the MVP). Take away that home run in the World Series and he is nothing more than an average MLB baseball player.

Of course, here the talk is college. Strangely, he was known in college as a All-American WR in football. Baseball was a secondary sport for him.

I pretty much agree. Though he hit TWO of the most memorable home runs in World Series history. Not just one. It’s just that the second one was so unbelievable that it can overshadow this one.

 

[Vshukla]

LSU has Shaq, Bob Pettit and Pete Maravich (I don't think any other school can match those three).

And then obviously their football player pedigree is very deep. Not sure if anyone is Top 10 all-time.

That’s a pretty good big 3. I started to think who could match up with them and struggled.

UCLA had Kareem, Walton and…? Lots of tremendous players but who is at the Shaq/Pete/Pettit level?

UNC had Jordan, Worthy and…? Lots of tremendous players but who is at the Shaq/Pete/Pettit level?

My best answer is Houston - Olajuwan, Elvin Hayes and Drexler. Watching The Diesel and Pettit battle down low with the Dream and the Big E would have been fun. Then we could watch Pistol and the Glide chase each other around. Plus, the nicknames are really cool.

 

[OrangeFair44]

Lots of good replies, but I feel like there is a difference between really good/great and all time great. Looking at the names in this thread I see names that are all time greats like Brady, Durant, Magic, Phelps, Jabbar, Seaver, etc. But names like Garvey, Yount, Larkin, Chris Webber, Dominique, Herschel Walker and others fall outside of all-time great.

I’m not sure I’ve seen a better 1-2 punch than our own Brown-Gait combination. UNC comes closest with Jordan and LT. Possibly the two most dominant and intimidating players in their sport.

Not much to add for or against a particular college, but check out Herschel Walker's college stats. He's in the debate for best college RB of all time. Dude averaged something like 1500 yrds per season for 3 years.

 

[Eric15]

My best answer is Houston - Olajuwan, Elvin Hayes and Drexler. Watching The Diesel and Pettit battle down low with the Dream and the Big E would have been fun. Then we could watch Pistol and the Glide chase each other around. Plus, the nicknames are really cool.

Good call on Houston. Probably not Top 10 all-time but Andre Ware and Ed Oliver are certainly historically great college football players.

 

[mark79]

Gary Gait and Mike Powell are all time great lacrosse players in addition to Jim Brown.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Fun thread. Would be interesting to see a list of every D1 school's best football, basketball, third sport/sport they are known for (like Lacrosse for SU), and "next best".

 

[jordville]

Agreed. Fun thread. Back to the OP though, are we talking greatest player at their sport while in college or greatest player at their sport all-time?

Example..
MJ is not the greatest college basketball player ever but is the GOAT all-time.

On the other hand, Herschel Walker was one of the greatest college football players ever but not as all-time in his pro days.

 

[jordville]

As far as the Steiner brothers and Goldberg, then you must give special credit to University of Minnesota since The Nature Boy Ric Flair attended briefly. Wooooo!

Sure, but who is joining Flair from the Minnesota family? I was trying to come up with a couple other schools who had multiple greats.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I would tend to agree on Melo as he probably wouldn’t be considered a Top 10 all time NBA player but he is in the Top 10 of all time scoring so he’s certainly not completely out of the type of conversation you’re talking about. He’s more accomplished than Bo Jackson (understanding his career was cut short by injury, but still) was in either sport, for example.

JB's roommate says hello.
Bing and Brown

 

[jordville]

University of Michigan - Tom Brady, Chris Webber, Barry Larkin, Rick and Scott Steiner (Rechsteiner). I'm not a hockey guy, but there has to be a great that went to Michigan.

University of Georgia - Dominique Wilkins & Herschel Walker. I thought there might be an all-time baseball player. Bonus points for Bill Goldberg (football player who became a HOF wrestler).
Edit: Bubba Watson for UGA as well.

I'm going to double back to my Michigan greats...
Tom Brady
Michael Phelps (can't believe I forgot him)
Barry Larkin (HOFer) or Derek Jeter
Chris Webber (some may prefer Glen Rice for his NCAA & NBA Championships)
Marty Turco (2 NCAA Championships)
Steiner Bros

 

[721Comstock]

I'm going to double back to my Michigan greats...
Tom Brady
Michael Phelps (can't believe I forgot him)
Barry Larkin (HOFer) or Derek Jeter
Chris Webber (some may prefer Glen Rice for his NCAA & NBA Championships)
Marty Turco (2 NCAA Championships)
Steiner Bros

Those first 2 - yes, clearly.

After that? All-time really, really good.
Being a HOF'er is not remotely the same as being the GOAT.

I mean, if you're calling somebody the GOAT, they have to be at least in the Top 5 ALL TIME for their sport. Not by position, or by era, but EVER.

Larkin, Jeter, Webber, Rice, et al need not apply.

 

[Vshukla]

Those first 2 - yes, clearly.

After that? All-time really, really good.
Being a HOF'er is not remotely the same as being the GOAT.

I mean, if you're calling somebody the GOAT, they have to be at least in the Top 5 ALL TIME for their sport. Not by position, or by era, but EVER.

Larkin, Jeter, Webber, Rice, et al need not apply.

I’m almost entirely in agreement 721. There is a big difference between really good players who are HOFers and the all-time great inner circle.

The only point I disagree (slightly) is by position, especially in football. How can you compare Lawrence Taylor to Jerry Rice to Walter Payton etc.

In baseball pitchers and position players are too different to compare. How can you determine whether Pedro Martinez was better than Ken Griffey Jr.? All those players have legitimate claims to GOAT status in their position.

Fun thread. Thanks.

 

[Vshukla]

Agreed. Fun thread. Back to the OP though, are we talking greatest player at their sport while in college or greatest player at their sport all-time?

Example..
MJ is not the greatest college basketball player ever but is the GOAT all-time.

On the other hand, Herschel Walker was one of the greatest college football players ever but not as all-time in his pro days.

I think if you want to say somebody is an all-time great, you must look at the entirety of their career. That means their professional accomplishments.

As you said Jordan was not the GOAT in college, but his entire career confirms it.

Gary Gait is interesting. I think his status as GOAT was determined in college and his pro career maintained it. When people talk about him, it’s his SU tenure that come up first.

 

[ars88]

Haven't see anyone mention Miami yet. Football - Ray Lewis (could have gone with Ed Reed or Warren Sapp), Baseball - Alex Rodriguez, Basketball - Rick Barry.

 

[MikeSU02]

Ohio State:
Jack Nicklaus-Golf
Jesse Owens-Track

Now we're talkin'

OSU is pretty good in the quoted comment. Along with the U of M with Brady and Phelps.

UCLA with Jackie Robinson and Alcindor is also good. IMO, the only three guys that can be argued for best ever in the nba are MJ, KAJ and Bron.

Fun thread. Is Stanford Elway and Tiger?

And as mentioned already, UNC with MJ and LT.

Kansas has Wilt and Sayers. But, again, I don't consider Wilt vying for #1 in basketball.

 

[Vshukla]

OSU is pretty good in the quoted comment. Along with the U of M with Brady and Phelps.

UCLA with Jackie Robinson and Alcindor is also good. IMO, the only three guys that can be argued for best ever in the nba are MJ, KAJ and Bron.

Fun thread. Is Stanford Elway and Tiger?

And as mentioned already, UNC with MJ and LT.

Kansas has Wilt and Sayers. But, again, I don't consider Wilt vying for #1 in basketball.

No consideration for Russell, Magic or Bird?

 

[MikeSU02]

No consideration for Russell, Magic or Bird?

Aren't we talking about schools with multiple all time greats? Indiana St, San Fran and Mich St.

Or, if you're saying consideration for all time best nba player, then I consider those guys a tick down (but still very high) on the all time ranking.

 

[Vshukla]

Aren't we talking about schools with multiple all time greats? Indiana St, San Fran and Mich St.

Or, if you're saying consideration for all time best nba player, then I consider those guys a tick down (but still very high) on the all time ranking.

I was replying to your comment about MJ, LeBron and Kareem being the only ones you would consider for the best ever. I would include Larry, Magic and Russell in the discussion but I suppose it depends on how big you want the pool of candidates.
Thanks.

 

[Bball44]

OSU is pretty good in the quoted comment. Along with the U of M with Brady and Phelps.

UCLA with Jackie Robinson and Alcindor is also good. IMO, the only three guys that can be argued for best ever in the nba are MJ, KAJ and Bron.

Fun thread. Is Stanford Elway and Tiger?

And as mentioned already, UNC with MJ and LT.

Kansas has Wilt and Sayers. But, again, I don't consider Wilt vying for #1 in basketball.

Wilt's stats are insane.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Kirk Gibson has always been interesting to me. I feel like there are people who absolutely love him and I just don't get it. Played 16 seasons. Only played more than 130 games 4 times (half his seasons less than 100 games). Never hit more than 30 home runs, never had more than 100 RBIs (the standards before the steroid/juiced ball eras), never made an all-star team and won NL MVP but Strawberry should have won it in '88. He will always be revered because of 1 play (that play was what won him the MVP). Take away that home run in the World Series and he is nothing more than an average MLB baseball player.

Of course, here the talk is college. Strangely, he was known in college as a All-American WR in football. Baseball was a secondary sport for him.

From list of worst MVPs

8. Kirk Gibson—1988—Los Angeles Dodgers—OF

Kirk Gibson won the National League MVP award in 1988 with 25 HR, 76 RBI, and batted only .290. He had 157 hits and scored 106 runs.

The Dodgers won the pennant that year. The voting supposedly takes place prior to the World Series, but that would have seemed to be his only redeeming quality that year.

“I can’t believe he won the MVP,” is what Jack Buck should have said.

If I see another video of Kirk doing the “chainsaw,” I think I’ll puke.

Will Clark of the Giants should have won the award. He hit 29 home runs, led the league with 109 RBI, and batted .282. Will also had 162 hits and scored 102 runs. He led the league in walks and intentional walks.
(As an aside, I think Clark had the best LH swing since Teddy Ballgame)

 

[OrangeDW]

From list of worst MVPs

8. Kirk Gibson—1988—Los Angeles Dodgers—OF

Kirk Gibson won the National League MVP award in 1988 with 25 HR, 76 RBI, and batted only .290. He had 157 hits and scored 106 runs.

The Dodgers won the pennant that year. The voting supposedly takes place prior to the World Series, but that would have seemed to be his only redeeming quality that year.

“I can’t believe he won the MVP,” is what Jack Buck should have said.

If I see another video of Kirk doing the “chainsaw,” I think I’ll puke.

Will Clark of the Giants should have won the award. He hit 29 home runs, led the league with 109 RBI, and batted .282. Will also had 162 hits and scored 102 runs. He led the league in walks and intentional walks.
(As an aside, I think Clark had the best LH swing since Teddy Ballgame)

Yeah, but...Gibson scored from 2nd base on a wild pitch to win a game!
Take a look at that 88 Dodger lineup! Gibson was Babe Ruth in comparison! He was the clubhouse leader who inspired a gritty and fiery group of overachievers.

Will Clark was just a jerk.

 

[TampaLaker]

Haven't see anyone mention Miami yet. Football - Ray Lewis (could have gone with Ed Reed or Warren Sapp), Baseball - Alex Rodriguez, Basketball - Rick Barry.

As a former resident of Seattle suburbs, I believe ARod was drafted right out of high school just like Jr. Griffey. Two great players with great numbers, one great cheater.. so while ARod did not go to the U, he was a GOAT in the cheating realm.