Favourite Athletes

[FGM13]

This is a thread to post your favourite athletes in, if the title didn't tell you that.

NHL: Jordan Eberle (best Oiler, slick and has a good shot)

MLB: Brett Lawrie (3B, number 13, Canadian, does everything well)

CFL: Fred Stamps (best Eskie, plays his heart out)

[BLUELANDbeliever]

NHL: Was until recently Ilya Kovalchuk but now it's Brooks Orpik (hard hitter, friendly guy, and a good defensive player)

MLB: Craig Kimbrel: Best closer in the league

NFL: Roddy White: can make spectacular catches in traffic and is quick on his feet. Also wrestled in high school like me.

NBA: none

CFL: Rennie Curran (Edmonton Eskimos), personal friend of mine, grew up in my town and I feel he got overlooked during his time in the NFL. Never given a legit shot, he's young so he could still come back.

Wrestling: Kyle Dake. Kid is a MONSTER. 4 straight NCAA Division 1 titles, numerous Fargo National titles (folkstyle and freestyle)

All time:

MLB: Chipper Jones

NHL: Mario

NFL: Jamal Anderson

[Shumway]

Current

MLB: Howie Kendrick. Mike Trout's obviously up there too, but Kendrick's been my favorite player for several years now.

NFL: Matthew Stafford. I'm partial to the #9 (you'll see why below), and he's the first Lions QB I've cared for, although I'll admit, I supported Joey Harrington for far too long.

NHL: Pavel Datsyuk. He's ing magical.

NBA: Nobody, really. I probably can't even name my team's starting lineup.

All-Time

MLB: Jim Edmonds. I'm a sucker for defense in baseball. He made routine plays look [at times unnecessarily] spectacular. Vlad and Tim Salmon are up there, too.

NFL: Barry Sanders. I feel like an explanation here is unnecessary.

NHL: Darren McCarty. I loved his hard-nosed style. That goal against Philly (my "hometown" team, meaning the team all my friends liked) in the '97 finals didn't hurt, either.

NBA: Dan Majerle. I always wanted to be a 3-point shooter as a kid. I still wear #9 for just about every sport.

[fouhy12]

NFL: Tom Brady

NHL: Patrice Begeron

MLB: Jacoby Ellsbury

[GriffinM6]

Current

MLB - Andrew McCutchen: He's a 5-tool all-star player with MVP potential.

Giancarlo Stanton: He has raw power, and plays for my favorite team.

NFL - Troy Polamalu: Future HoF safety, and just goes all out on every play.

Roddy White: He's a great receiver in the league's best receiving core.

NBA - Kenneth Faried: The guy is a monster, hence the nickname "The Manimal". He has loads of all-star potential.

NCAA Football - Duke Johnson - Miami: The dude is only a sophomore, and had an amazing season as a freshman. He will definitely be a Heisman candidate and All-American in the future.

NHL - Sidney Crosby: Future HoF, MVP, all around great player.

All-Time

MLB - Roberto Clemente: An amazing ball payer and person. He was arguably the best right fielder ever.

NFL - Hines Ward: The guy was a true champion, and broke all of Pitt's receiving records. He also was a great blocker too.

NHL - Mario Lemiuex: He was the best players to ever step on the ice in Pittsburgh.

[sportstar1212]

NHL: Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos

MLB: Will Middlebrooks, Brett Lawrie, Justin Verlander, Joey Votto

NFL: Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick

NBA: Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin

Soccer: Stephan El Shaarawy, Bastian Schweinsteiger

[FGM13]

I guess I should add my favourite all-time

NHL: Ryan Smyth (the lone bright spot for so many years in Edmonton)

MLB: I haven't been a baseball fan for long enough to really have one, but Roy Halladay would be a good choice, after being the ace in TO and I'm partial to Philly(don't know why)

CFL: Ricky Ray

[OnWis97]

LOCAL

• MLB: Kirby Puckett. He had everything going for him that you should like (except for off the field as it turned out)
  
• NBA: KG, but who else would it be?
  
• NFL: Robert Smith
  
• NHL: Neal Broten
  
• NCAA F: Ron Dayne
  
• NCAA B: Michael Finley
  
• NCAA H: Brian Elliot
  

OTHER

• MLB: Paul Molitor (before he was a Twin)
  
• NBA: David Robinson
  
• NFL: Barry Sanders
  
• NHL: I suppose Gretzy
  

Bold indicates favorite all time athlete

[BelfourThibault]

Current:

NHL - Nikolai Khabibulin

MLB- Yadier Molina

NFL- Steven Jackson, London Fletcher, or Janoris Jenkins

All-Time:

NHL - Ed Belfour, Bob Probert, Steve Smith, Steve Larmer

MLB - Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Tommy Herr, Tony Gwynn

NFL - Torri Holt, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Rod Woodson

Edit: To take from 'infrared41', bold is my all-time favorite.

[infrared41]

Current:

MLB: Andrew McCutchen

NHL: Sergei Bobrovsky

NBA: LeBron James

NFL: Randall Cobb

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson

All-Time

MLB: Reggie Jackson

NHL: Tie: Mark Messier and Mike Richter

NBA: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

NFL: Joe Montana

NASCAR: Darrel Waltrip

I like OnWis97's local idea so here's my version

MLB: Joe Carter

NHL: "Bobs" again

NBA: "Bingo" Bobby Smith, Brad Daughtery

NFL: Brian Sipe, Hanford Dixon, Ozzie Newsome, Mike Pruitt, Bernie Kosar, Chip Banks, Reggie Langhorne, Kevin Mack, Earnest Byner...I could go on and on... (yeah, I liked the original Browns a little more than I do the current version)

Bold indicates favorite all time athlete

[Kramerica Industries]

Current:

MLB: Mariano Rivera
NFL: Doug Martin, Ahmad Bradshaw, Aaron Hernandez*
NHL: Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier

Retired:

MLB: Bernie Williams
NFL: Mike Alstott, LaDainian Tomlinson
NHL: Mario Lemieux

*no , he really was a favourite of mine until recently.

[CS85]

MLB

Jeff Bagwell

Jim Thome

Sammy Sosa

Kerry Wood

NBA

Reggie Miller

Steph Curry

Vince Carter

Kevin Garnett

NHL

Patrick Kane

Jeremy Roenick

Alexander Ovechkin (when he gives a crap)

Braden Holtby (for laughs)

Corey Crawford (when drunk)

NFL

Jim Miller

Mike Brown

Brandon Marshall/Jay Cutler

Mike Alstott

[FGM13]

I guess I should add my favourite all-time

NHL: Ryan Smyth (the lone bright spot for so many years in Edmonton)

MLB: I haven't been a baseball fan for long enough to really have one, but Roy Halladay would be a good choice, after being the ace in TO and I'm partial to Philly(don't know why)

CFL: Ricky Ray

Oh, and Ricky Ray is my favourite all-time athlete.

[Funky Bunky]

NHL:

Corey Perry

Scott Niedermayer

Teemu Selanne

Ryan Getzlaf

Alex Ovechkin

Evgeni Malkin

MLB:

Jered Weaver

Mike Trout

Torii Hunter

Vlad Guerrero

Shawn Green

NFL:

LaDainian Tomlinson

Philip Rivers

Larry Fitzgerald

Brian Cushing

Other:

Landon Donovan

Petr Cech

David Luiz

Kobe Bryant

Mainly current guys.

[Sport]

MLB

Barry Larkin

Sean Casey

Joey Votto (the only athlete who began play when I was an adult that I have anything close to a child-like affection for. He's a really good player and a really nice person)

NFL

Boomer Esiason

Anthony Munoz

Junior Seau

Barry Sanders

NHL

Mario Lemieux

Joe Sakic

Ray Bourque

John Vandbiesbrouck

Dominik Hasek

John Leclair

Geoff Sanderson

Tyler Wright

Kevin Dineen

David Vyborny

Sergei Bobrovsky

NCAAF:

Eddie George, Bobby Hoying, Shawn Springs, Orlando Pace, David Boston, Andy Katzenmoyer, Matt Finkes, Mike Vrabel

I worshipped the mid90's Ohio State football players. Those guys were my heroes when I was 8, 9, 10 years old. Looking at it now they were only college kids. I wish I could like college football as much now as I did then.

[flasah]

MLB - Dale Murphy

NFL - Troy Aikman

NBA - David Robinson

College - Fred Hoiberg

Current

MLB - Evan Gatis

NFL - Jason Witten

NBA - Tim Duncan

[FGM13]

MLB

Barry Larkin

Sean Casey

Joey Votto (the only athlete who began play when I was an adult that I have anything close to a child-like affection for. He's a really good player and a really nice person)

NFL

Boomer Esiason

Anthony Munoz

Junior Seau

Barry Sanders

NHL

Mario Lemieux

Joe Sakic

Ray Bourque

John Vandbiesbrouck

Dominik Hasek

John Leclair

Geoff Sanderson

Tyler Wright

Kevin Dineen

David Vyborny

Sergei Bobrovsky

NCAAF:

Eddie George, Bobby Hoying, Shawn Springs, Orlando Pace, David Boston, Andy Katzenmoyer, Matt Finkes, Mike Vrabel

I worshipped the mid90's Ohio State football players. Those guys were my heroes when I was 8, 9, 10 years old. Looking at it now they were only college kids. I wish I could like college football as much now as I did then.

And Canadian!

[ninersdd]

NHL: Owen Nolan, Jeff Friesen, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau

NBA: Mike Bibby

MLB: Barry Bonds, Tim Lincecum, Cody Ross

NFL: Frank Gore, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Jamaal Charles

NCAAB: Derrick Williams(when he played at Arizona)

[Pens7637]

Current

NHL- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin

MLB- Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez

NFL- Ben Roethlisberger, Larry Fitzgerald

Retired

NHL- Mario Lemieux

MLB- Roberto Clemente

NFL- Hinez Ward

[FiddySicks]

Current:

MLB:

Nick Swisher - I worked with him for awhile when he was with the A's. He's halarious.

Paul Goldschmidt - The dude can RAKE.

Buster Posey - Best thing to ever happen to the Giants.

NHL:

Alexander Ovechkin - even though he's tailed off a bit, he's still so entertaining to watch.

NFL:

Colin Kaepernick - I watched him a LOT at UNR, and even predicted he'd be as good as he is.

Doug Martin - Probably the most electric running back the Bucs have ever had.

Peyton Manning - He's a Tennessee guy, so I've watched him his whole career.

NBA:

Lebron James - do I really need to even explain this one?

Andre Miller - His cousin is one of my good buddies.

All Time:

MLB:

Barry Bonds - Roids or not, there hasn't been a player since who's stopped everyone from doing whatever it is they were doing to watch his at bats.

NHL:

Sean Avery: the guy was such a monumental douche and such a charicter. I just love the way he pissed EVERYONE off.

NFL:

Mike Alstott: He'll never be a HOfer, but I'd run down the street streaking if he ever made it. This guy shaped my childhood. I've never seen a more punishing running back than Alstott in his prime.

NBA:

Lebron James - Nuff said

Jon Stockton - I'm still pissed about those Finals losses to the Bulls.