Your Five Favorite Athletes of All Time

[KevinMcD]

I was working and I noticed Steve Tasker across the aisle, a former Bills Special Teams Ace and WR. I thought to myself, he has to be one of my favorite athletes of all time. I came up with my favorite athletes of all time (below) and started asking all my friends this question. I believe it is a very interesting question, and some of my friends have surprsied me with their responses. So...

Who are your favorite 5 athletes of all time?

My list....

#5-Patrick Kaleta-tough gritty forward, local product, draws many penalties.

#4-Steve Tasker-tough gritty Special Teamer for the Bills in their glory years, he has stayed in Buffalo and is very vocal now.

#3-Brian Moorman-before you rip on me for having a punter on my team, he has a slew of trick plays, can run as fast as anybody in the league, and is a great punter. He also helps out in the community around here with charities and hospitals.

#2-Jim Kelly-Best Bills player of all time, is trying to keep the Bills in Buffalo, has a large charity in Buffalo in his son's name.

#1-Cal Ripken Jr-Do I need a reason. One of the best ballplayers of all time, stand up class act, the face of my favorite team.

[infrared41]

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2. Reggie Jackson

3. Joe Montana

4. Magic Johnson

5. Julius Erving

Considering how little use I have for The NBA these days numbers 1, 4, and 5 may surprise some people.

[TFoA]

In no particular order...

Ken Griffey Jr. (This dude right here was my sports IDOL as a kid. When I played little league, I modeled my swing after his & whenever I played baseball video games, I was always the Mariners. ALWAYS. Griffey was awesome.)

Ichiro (I dare you to watch him play & not be entertained. That man makes a grounder up the middle seem ridiculously exciting, & his fielding skills are magnanimous. I love outfielders, & he's one of my favorites ever.)

Hank Aaron (The Home Run King, & he did it as a Brave. Duh.)

Michael Jordan (This is the man that got me into the NBA. The first game I remember watching was Game 6 of the 93 NBA Finals against the Suns. I was a Hawks fan, but I also didn't mind MJ winning everything in sight. He was that good, & played the game that beautifully.)

Emmitt Smith (My favorite NFL player of all-time. Just admire everything about this guy on-the-field (except for his public speaking/TV skills. )

[Sport]

1 Barry Larkin

2 Boomer Esiason

3 Mario Lemieux

4 Junior Seau

5 Rick Nash

[JayJaxon]

1. Greg Maddux (I feel so lucky I got to witness this guy's brilliance first hand)

2. Ken Griffey Jr. (The greatest hitter I ever had the pleasure to see play)

3. Hank Aaron (The true Home run champ)

4. Warrick Dunn (I'm a huge Florida State fan)

5. Peyton Manning (This guy has it all and I love watching him play)

Honorable mention:

Michael Jordan. I don't even care about the NBA anymore because he's no longer in it. I know a lot of people feel that way.

Ichiro. After looking at the list TFoA put out, I wanted to mention him because I love seeing him play. (But when I was in Cooperstown this past November everyone there says he is an A-hole)

[Brendan]

1. Trevor Linden(captain Canuck and a great person off the ice)

2. Jerome Iginla (hate his team but I love the way he plays and how he leads both on and off the ice)

3. Alex Ovechkin (Most exciting player I've seen and his interviews make me laugh)

4. Ryan Kesler (favorite Canuck from my generation, plays hard at both ends of the ice and has speed that lifts you from your seat)

5. Lofa Tatupu (Great tackler and passionate player)

My age shows in my list, but I didn't wanna pick players I had never watched.

[gingerbreadmann]

Michael Jordan (This is the man that got me into the NBA. The first game I remember watching was Game 6 of the 93 NBA Finals against the Suns. I was a Hawks fan, but I also didn't mind MJ winning everything in sight. He was that good, & played the game that beautifully.)

I was hoping you'd say Game 5 because I was born during that game

My top 5: Wow, it's hard to choose... (From 5 to 1)

No one will ever beat Troy in my heart. He did everything and was good at it too. Plus, he was just The Man, especially during the first Super Bowl run. Also, I'm sure I'm forgetting many guys, but I just love all of those 5. I didn't even get to witness most of Griffey's golden age but no one will ever look so good in a backwards hat and smile, and no one had a prettier swing. Manny is Manny is Manny, and nothing will ever make me stop loving him, not even our cruel divorce. Milan is sort of a future pick; he is so awesome and thinking about watching him for a looong time in the future makes me jubilant.

Again, there are a lot of guys I left off. I could make a whole list of NBA players but not a single one cracked this list (Actually I would probably put Pierce above Griffey but I wanted to include him and Mueller here).

[MDC]

1. Michael Jordan.

I dont think i'm forgetting anyone

[NJTank]

1. Mike Piazza

2. Dan Marino

3. Howard Johnson

4. Martin Brodeur

5. Danny Ainge

[charger77]

These guys are my big 3.

1. Wayne Gretzky

2. Mike Modano

3. Patrick Roy

[Thad]

1. Chipper Jones (my absolute favorite athlete when I was growing up)

2. Brodie Croyle

3. John Stockton

4. Shaun Alexander

5. Steve Nash (the basketball player, not the hockey)

[epper]

In no particular order:

Roy Halladay - Best Pitcher in Jays history

Doug Flutie - Last good memories I have of the Bills are with him at QB

Roberto Alomar - Best Player in Jays history

Robby Gordon - One of the best pure racers in the world. Has won in Indycar, CART, NASCAR, SportsCars, Baja

Travis Pastrana - The Craziest action-sports sumbitch on the planet

[Shumway]

5. Steve Yzerman

4. Darren McCarty

3. Jim Edmonds

2. Dan Majerle

1. Barry Sanders

[Don]

1. Peter Bondra

2. Cal Ripken Jr

3. Darrell Green

4. Gus Frerotte (he was my favorite Redskins QB growing up, leave me be!)

5. Alex Ovechkin

[crashcarson15]

5. Jody Shelley (plays hockey in an enjoyable way for a fan)

4. Josh Cribbs (electric.)

3. LeBron James (god-like)

2. Rusty Klesla (the senior member of the CBJ, I mean why the hell would you have wanted to play in Columbus?)

...and of course,

1. Grady Sizemore

Honorable Mentions: Jim Thome (my favorite player as a kid, was devastated when he went to the Phils ), Rick Nash

[Stormo]

1) Patrick Roy

2) Bo Jackson

3) Brett Favre (pre-2005)...now I can't even look at the mofo

4) Alan Trammell

5) Reggie White

[Sguse1]

1. Randy Moss (Watching this guy live in his prime was absolutely ridiculous. No one will ever match that speed he possessed)

2. Eddie George (I just loved his workhorse style. He was a true blue-collar player and such an upstanding humble guy)

3. Michael Jordan (I feel lucky to have lived in the be-like-Mike era. The things this guy did every night make LeBron look pedestrian.)

4. Daunte Culpepper (Was a family friend and a coach of mine. He was a really nice guy and I feel bad about the way he fizzled out.)

5. Barry Sanders (Another player I feel lucky to have witnessed. His jukes make Reggie Bush look sluggish.)

[aci]

5. Chipper Jones

4. Anton Volchenkov

3. Dennis Rodman

2. Damian Rhodes

1. Ray Emery

[NEW.ERA]

5. Hakan Loob

4. David Robinson

3. Brett Favre

2. Cal Ripken Jr.

1. Adrian Peterson

[Saintsfan]

My top 5

1st Jackie Robinson (Purely because its so rare for a sportsman to be truly historically relevant in the wider world, and Jackie is so relevant because he was so good at his game. He integrated Baseball and proved that he was every bit as good as any white player playing)

2nd [Homer pick alert] Matt LeTissier (Southampton football player) almost single handedly kept Southampton in the Premier League during the 90s!

3rd Robin Smith (England cricket player) Just brilliantly gutsy batsman and genuinely nice bloke!

4th Andrew Flintoff (England cricket player)fantastically spirited cricket player, both with bat and ball

5th Brian O'Driscoll (Irish Rugby player) just fantastic running player, with good defence as well.