About 3 ½ months ago, I wrote an article about the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate in basketball between Michael Jordan and LeBron James. I concluded that in my personal opinion, it was still Jordan. The fun part of debating GOATs in sports is that arguments can go on interminably.
But there are other sports, both team and individual, in which GOATs are constantly debated. So without further ado, I will proceed to list some of my own GOATs, with a brief explanation attached. Of course, debate is always encouraged so I invite readers to state your own cases.
Football: Tom Brady
Granted, football is a much more position-dependent sport than basketball. But for my money, Brady is the undisputed GOAT of pro football. Seven Super Bowl rings and a slew of personal records. Having won for two decades with the New England Patriots with an ever-changing supporting cast. Changing teams at the ripe old age of 43, and taking that team (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) to a Super Bowl victory. Even the most hardened deniers are finally having to admit what has been true for some time.
Soccer: Pelé
This one is sure to bring about an intense debate including three other players: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Diego Maradona. It is possible that one or more of these players might have had a higher level of skill in some facet of the game than Pelé. But in most statistical comparisons of their respective records, Pelé comes out ahead.
Hockey: Wayne Gretsky
I’m not a big hockey fan, but have followed the sport well enough to conclude that Gretsky (“The Great One”) is the GOAT of that sport. Old timers might argue for the likes of Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. Others might mention Mario Lemieux. But I believe hockey is one of those sports where the general consensus on GOAT is Wayne Gretsky.
Baseball: Willie Mays
I’ll probably catch a lot of flak on this one for not picking Roberto Clemente, and frankly… I would have him second on my list. Also, baseball is heavily individualized and position-dependent as well. But Mays had the complete set of tools that are talked about in baseball: hitting for power, fielding, base-running, batting average. Clemente matched Mays in all of those categories, except maybe for power hitting. A special mention to Hank Aaron, who passed away recently. But he was mostly a power hitter.
Men’s Tennis: Roger Federer
Unfortunately this selection may change in a few years, but for now it’s Roger. Arguments will be made for Rafael Nadal, but for all his greatness, I honestly cannot pick someone who I consider a “specialist” of a particular surface (clay). Although both men have won twenty (20) major championships, Federer has won an evenly spread number of Wimbledon, US Opens, and Australian Opens, with one French Open. Nadal has won 13 of his 20 championships in the clay surface of the French Open. Sorry… Federer is the GOAT for me.
Golf: Jack Nicklaus
Most people automatically say Tiger Woods. For them, I recommend reading of my blog article “Tiger will Never Catch the Bear” (April 2019). In it you will find every single argument I have made in favor of Jack Nicklaus being the GOAT over Woods.
So this is my list. What is undeniable is that GOAT lists have a strong dependency on age. For example, those too young to have seen Michael Jordan in his wonderful career with the Chicago Bulls, will naturally only talk about LeBron or Kobe Bryant when discussing GOAT status. Soccer fans too young to remember Pelé or Maradona, will only talk about Messi vs. Ronaldo.
But you are invited and encouraged to submit your own GOATs, and/or dispute those on my own list.
The term “Goat” is thrown around too loosely. Mainly because sport “fans” have a short memory. You can’t say because athlete A or B you weren’t able to see perform because today you can find any highlights of any athlete of any era on the internet. With that said, to define 1 athlete as a “Goat” is disrespectful to many others that played the same game under different circumstances and set of rules. For example fans nowadays say with extreme confidence that Lebron is the Goat and MJ on the far distance. In my opinion that’s plain ignorance. Not an educated answer. But that’s part of having a short memory. My expertise is mainly on 3 sports ( basketball, boxing and baseball). And I can have my opinions on goat status. And I dare to say that I would be in the top 5 of each sport. There accomplishments that doesn’t matter what era you played are untouchable. You put today’s athletes in past eras and most likely they would struggle as the rules were much more difficult than today’s. But you put yesterday’s athletes in today’s game and they will most likely struggle with the athleticism and speed of the game. It evens out. With that said, GOAT is a compliment for a VERY FEW select group.
Thank you for your very insightful comments, Martin. Personally, I wouldn’t go as far as saying it is “disrespectful” to consider one athlete as GOAT above others of different eras. Especially if your opinion is based on having watched games, or video clips on the Internet. That is the fun part of the argument. It is strictly based on personal opinion, and is in fact for the most part an unwinnable argument.
However, that being said, some cases seem more clear-cut than others. I mentioned Gretsky in hockey. This is one of those sports where any barroom argument is going to be relatively quiet, because there really aren’t very many past greats who can compete with Gretsky on that level… regardless of era played. Even veteran old timers give the nod to Gretsky.
We concur on Jordan vs. LeBron. That is why I added the clarification in the article where age/generations have a lot to do with it. Unbelievably, many young fans today do not bother to look up MJ and his legendary career. They just see LeBron and “roll with it.”
But I was hoping to see your own personal choices. I mentioned my picks in basketball (Jordan) and baseball (Mays). Boxing I missed… but if asked for my own personal choice, I’d probably have to go with someone like Sugar Ray Leonard.
Point taken. Very valid points. Picks I would say MJ is basketball, Babe Ruth in baseball and boxing it’s a toss up between Ali and Joe Louis.
Excellent choices, Martin. Most people forget that Babe Ruth was actually a tremendous pitcher as well. That’s where GOAT conversations become interesting. With Ali and Joe Louis in boxing you’d also get very little argument in many circles. Ali’s impact on boxing remains unmatched… and Joe Louis is considered by many to be the greatest of all time. I still like Willie Mays and SRL as respective GOATs… but it would be fun arguing the merits of all of these.