BEST OF THE BEST
Before you close the door on the GOAT discussion, consider this
Feb 9, 2021, 12:24 pm
Football is a team sport. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.
The final seconds of Super Bowl LV were still ticking when the coronation began.
Tom Brady is the GOAT, the greatest football player of all time. Don't stop there, Tom Brady is the greatest player in a team sport of all time. Aw, why not just say Tom Brady is the greatest athlete of all time, period?
Wouldn't it be fairer and more accurate to leave it at Tom Brady is the most successful football player of all time? There's no arguing seven Super Bowls and five Super Bowl MVP Awards.
Brady was 21 for 29 with three touchdowns and no interceptions, an excellent game for sure. He also threw a pick that was called back because of a defensive holding call.
Because the "P" in MVP is a singular noun, Brady got the trophy. But really, wasn't it the Tampa Bay defense that won the Super Bowl?
Football is a team sport, so any argument of "the greatest" is subjective with many factors involved that have nothing or little to do with individual skill. Brady won his seventh Super Bowl this year, but the 2021 MVP went to Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Three players received votes for MVP this season and Brady wasn't one of them. The others were quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Josh Allen of the Bills.
Often the argument of "The Greatest" comes down to championship rings, and there's no argument that Brady has seven of them. You hear about rings when Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James is debated. MJ has six, while LeBron has "only" four, so that makes Jordan the GOAT, right? Well, Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics dynasty teams has 11 rings. So he's the greatest. But wasn't Russ outplayed individually by Wilt Chamberlain most of the time in their head-to-head battles? You can look it up.
Russell and Chamberlain played in an era when basketball wasn't nearly the dynamic international sport it is today. So let's leave those two statistical and physical giants aside.
Robert Horry played from 1992 to 2007, years overlapping both Jordan and James' careers, so apples to apples. Horry has seven championship rings. So maybe number of titles isn't the best criterion for the greatest of all time.
It's odd that championship rings are front and center in GOAT arguments for basketball and football, but titles rarely are mentioned when debating the greatest baseball player ever. The consensus best player today is Mike Trout. He's played 10 seasons in the big leagues and won three MVP Awards. But his team has made the playoffs only once, back in 2014, and the Angels were swept 3-0 in the first round.
The baseball player with the most World Series titles is Yogi Berra, a great Yankees catcher, Hall of Famer, three MVP Awards. He played on 10 World Series winners. It used to be, if you played on the Yankees, especially during the '30s (5 titles), '40s (4) and '50s (6), you won a lot of jewelry.
It's much easier, and no more accurate, to find the greatest athlete of all time in individual sports. Historically, whoever won the Olympics decathlon was pronounced the greatest athlete in the world. You know how that started? In 1912, the Olympics were held in Stockholm and Jim Thorpe won the decathlon. King Gustav V told Thorpe, "You are the world's greatest athlete." It stuck. That Gustav V could coin a phrase.
I dare American sports fans to name the winner of the 2016 decathlon. It was Ashton Eaton, and he happens to be an American. He also won the decathlon gold medal in 2012.
That's Ashton Eaton, the world's greatest athlete, not Adam Eaton of the Washington Nationals who's probably better known around here for his devastating home run against the Astros in Game 6 of the 2019 World Series.
It's hard to argue against Michael Phelps as the greatest athlete of all time, unless you don't take swimming seriously as a major sport. True, it's hard to find swimming on TV unless it's the Olympics every four years. Phelps has won 23 Olympic gold medals. Nobody's close. The next gold collectors are Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finnish long distance runner Paavo Nurmi, American swimmer Mark Spitz and American track star Carl Lewis. They each have nine gold medals.
How about tennis superstar Serena Williams with 23 Grand Slam singles titles and counting? She looks in terrific form at the Australian Open currently underway in Melbourne. If Serena wins she will tie Margaret Court for the all-time record. But this is America, and tennis ain't football, basketball or baseball.
The real problem with debating who's the greatest athlete of all time is … does being great at one sport mean you're the single most talented athlete all things considered? Tom Brady doesn't look like a basketball player. He's too slow to survive in the NBA. Michael Jordan might be the basketball GOAT, but he batted .202 in his one year of minor league baseball.
If you're looking for multiple excellence on the highest level of professional sports, Bo Jackson is your man. He is the only player to play in an NFL Pro Bowl and a baseball All-Star Game. He could hit a 475-foot home run and climb the center field wall to rob an opponent's homer. In high school, he was the Alabama state decathlon champion. He won a Heisman Trophy while at Auburn.
Deion Sanders played 14 years in the NFL and nine years in Major League Baseball. Nobody but Prime Time has played in a Super Bowl and World Series.
You know, back in the '70s ABC Sports had a gimmick series called Superstars, where pro athletes competed head-to-head against each other in a range of contests that proved absolutely nothing. The events included bowling, bicycle racing (on a 3-speed Columbia bike from Kmart), ping-pong, swimming and hitting a baseball off a batting tee. Joe Frazier almost drowned in the swimming pool – he neglected to tell producers that he couldn't swim. Pete Maravich won the bowling competition with a 168 game.
The Superstars series ran in various forms from 1973 to 1990. Among the winners: soccer player Kyle Rote Jr., decathlete Dave Johnson, football receiver Willie Gault, running back Herschel Walker and defensive back Jason Sehorn. The series proved nothing except you might not want to enter a swimming race if you don't know how to swim.
My pick for the greatest athlete of all time? Or let's make that most talented athlete ever, taking into account speed, strength, eye-hand coordination, making instant decisions and pure guts.
It's whoever plays third base for a big league baseball team. A third baseman has to charge the plate to catch a bunt with one hand while bent over and throw out a speedy runner, grab a screeching line drive backhanded down the line, crash into the stands trying to catch a foul ball, then come to bat and try to hit a 105-mph fastball that could be coming right at his head. And then you have to answer Julia Morales' questions after the game. Those things are hard to do.
Or it's LeBron James.
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How Houston Rockets hold the cards for a franchise-changing summer
May 8, 2025, 5:45 pm
In Houston, the winning standard has been set so high that anything short of World Series contention now feels like failure. And yet, the 2025 Astros find themselves at an unfamiliar crossroads—caught between the fading brilliance of past stars and the uncertain promise of what comes next.
Jose Altuve is at the center of this issue. His early struggles (-0.5 WAR) may indicate more than just a temporary slump. And when he swung at the first pitch after Lance McCullers had just endured a grueling 33-pitch inning on Sunday, it raised a bigger question: who has the influence to talk to Altuve?
The Astros’ culture has long been praised for its accountability, but who inside the clubhouse has the standing to challenge or counsel Altuve or other vets when needed? With so many veteran voices gone, there’s a growing sense that no one does—and that’s a problem. That’s why the idea of bringing back Michael Brantley—not as a player, but as a respected voice—could make some sense. Brantley was always viewed as a quiet leader, and his presence could restore some of the guidance this roster desperately needs.
Batter up?
While the Astros have built a reputation for reviving pitchers' careers, their track record with hitters is far less impressive. There are few, if any, examples of a bat joining Houston and unlocking a new level. That failure in development becomes especially stark when considering how much they’re currently leaning on homegrown youth.
Which brings us to Zach Dezenzo. The 24-year-old rookie is showing he belongs—his .737 OPS makes him one of the more productive bats in a lineup that desperately needs stability while Yordan Alvarez nurses an injury. While Victor Caratini provides the Astros with the ability to switch hit, he's hitting just .217. Dezenzo should be starting every day in left, with Yordan out. Jose Altuve, who has already played too many innings this year, should be shifted to DH duties to ease his physical burden. The Astros should go with Cam Smith in right and keep Jake Meyers in center to round out the outfield.
GM Dana Brown has made clear that he views Dezenzo as a first baseman or left fielder for the future. So why not get him in the lineup while Yordan's out and see what he can do with consistent playing time?
Of course, losing Yordan Alvarez is always going to hurt. But the numbers tell a surprising story. Yordan currently holds a -0.4 WAR, right there alongside Altuve and Christian Walker as the only Astros with negative marks. On paper, the team hasn’t lost much production. But let’s not kid ourselves—Yordan’s mere presence alters how opponents pitch to this team. The lineup without him lacks fear factor, and the margins get razor-thin.
Speaking of margins, one move that may haunt this front office is the decision to sign Christian Walker. The veteran first baseman is hitting just .205 with a .617 OPS—far below the level expected from a player earning $20 million annually through 2027. Compare that to Jon Singleton, who posted better numbers in 2024 and currently boasts an .880 OPS in Triple-A with the Mets organization. Walker's defense is strong, but it's hard to argue that justifies the price tag. Singleton might not be a Gold Glover, or anything close, but he came much cheaper and was quietly more productive with the bat.
No regrets?
There’s also a broader question looming: if fans had known that Altuve’s massive contract extension would potentially cost the team the ability to re-sign current MVP candidates Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, would they still have supported the deal? Hindsight is cruel, but with Altuve’s decline and Tucker and Bregman thriving, it’s a fair debate. Houston might have paid for the past instead of securing its future.
Big deals on the horizon?
All eyes now turn to owner Jim Crane. This winter, Houston's payroll will have considerable room to maneuver. But will Crane commit to restocking the lineup with All-Star-caliber bats, or will his reluctance to offer long-term deals keep the Astros stuck in a holding pattern? It’s one thing to let players walk. It’s another to fail to replace them.
The Astros still have the bones of a contender, but the road back to dominance is getting steeper. The team can’t simply rely on what used to work. It’s time for difficult conversations, bold lineup changes, and a rethinking of how this organization develops—and retains—offensive talent.
We have so much more to get to. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
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