Which Athlete Defined Your Lifetime/Generaton?

[Trueblue25]

Derek Jeter.

Grew up despising the Yankees, they were the ultimate super villains in baseball to me, as I was a Delgado/Jays fan, from '98 up through the 2000s. But theres never been an athlete that more so represented class, being a captain and just downright 'cool' such as Derek Jeter. The guys was the perfect role model and always had what it took to lead champions.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Basketball - Michael Jordan
Baseball - Don Mattingly
Football - Dan Marino

 

[cuseattle]

Cal. I probably only misses a handful of boxscores over his 20 years.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Larry Legend.

 

[Toga]

Mantle & Mattingly
Arnie
Ali

 

[OburgOrange]

Bobby Orr. The greatest. Not even an argument

 

[orange79]

Carmelo Anthony

 

[Fireball Jr.]

 

[Fireball Jr.]

 

[br801]

Chamberlain/West/Erving/Anthony
Nicklaus/Mickelson
Simpson/Brady
Seaver/Jeter
Ali
Cordero

 

[Briancuse]

Football- Emmitt Smith
Baseball Ken Griffey Jr, Mike Piazza
Bball- Magic, Melo
Hockey- Mark Messier

 

[bpo57]

Either Jim Thorpe or Honus Wagner.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Either Jim Thorpe or Honus Wagner.

I thought you might go with Shoeless Joe Jackson or Francis Ouiment.

 

[Melancer46]

Overall, and going with the post-Jordan era time frame because while I grew up idolizing Jordan the last few years of his career, my memories really began with the 1997 finals team.

Overall:
NBA: I'd say Kobe even though IMO, Duncan was the better player.
MLB: Jeter
NFL: Peyton

As for the players I personally loved growing up:
NBA: Steve Nash
MLB: Kerry Wood
NFL: Derrick Brooks

 

[Shawn91111]

Jordan, Jeter, Tiger

 

[bpo57]

I thought you might go with Shoeless Joe Jackson or Francis Ouiment.

That's Francis Ouimet you young whippersnapper.

 

[ssbriefcase]

Pearl
Jordan
Elway

 

[OrangeFoo]

Wow not one person has said LeBron... I'm 40 so I have multiple generations but I'd go with:
hoops: Lebron and Jordan
soccer: Messi, Messi, Messi! and Mia Hamm
football: it pains me to say this as a Bills fan but Tom Brady, before him Barry Sanders
baseball: Bonds, Rivera, Randy Johnson
Tennis: Federer, Sampras, Steffi Graf

 

[KaiserUEO]

tough question.

is this my guys??

then the answer is:

Simms & LT
Munson, Nettles & Mattingly
Messier & Leetch
Dr J & Starks
Nicklaus & Mickelson

or is it the sport??

then it would be:

Favre and/or Peyton
Junior
Michael
Gretzky

tigger

but Muhammad Ali is above everyone, despite him being at the end of his career for me.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

View attachment 84189

Cal. I probably only misses a handful of boxscores over his 20 years.

I named my first dog after him and he's my favorite player of all time. He wasn't even on my favorite team but he was and still is my baseball idol.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I should have mentioned Tyson was a big part of my teens/20s. He was the beast.

 

[OrangeDW]

Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey Jr.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Jeter
Melo
Brees
Brady
John Starks!
Paul O'Neill
Tino

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Jordan, Jeter, Tiger

Those are the three that came to my mind but growing up I would have said Dollar Bill or Clyde. I would have been happy to trade lives with any of the five.

 

[MikeSU02]

The big ones are: Jordan, Tiger and Lebron, with the latter two being in the spotlight when they were kids and fulfilling their greatness.

Would argue that the second tier for me would be: Tyson, Carl Lewis, LT, Bird/Magic, Gretzky.

Personally it was LT, Doc/Darryl, Messier, Melo, Eli.