Calling all heroes (Top 10 sports heroes of all time)

ESPN ^ | April 26, 2003

[Mr. Mulliner]

Calling all heroes

They're the best of the best, exemplifying all the courage and nobility and genius and hard work and modesty and ambition and humility and grace that can be displayed in modern American sports. They're the ones we really want to be like when the going gets tough, they're the ones we want to show our sons and daughters and say, "See? See?" They all had flaws, we know -- they were, despite some signs to the contrary, human. And they're Page 2's greatest sports heroes of all time.

1. Jackie Robinson

It wasn't what Jackie did as much as the way Jackie did it -- bearing up under the pressure of breaking baseball's color barrier with dignity and class and some damn great ballplaying. And, like few others before or since, he became bigger than the game itself, an American treasure in his own right. Said AL President Gene Budig in 1997, "He led America by example. He reminded our people of what was right and he reminded them of what was wrong. I think it can be safely said today that Jackie Robinson made the United States a better nation."

2. Babe Ruth

Babe was, quite simply the American sports icon of The American Century, a mythic hero who would have had to be invented had he not been flesh and blood. Out of the mouth of Pete Rose, in 1992, came the truth: "If Babe Ruth had been a soccer player, soccer would be our national pastime."

3. Vince Lombardi

Lombardi was voted the greatest coach of all time by ESPN's SportsCentury panel, but he was so much more. During the turbulent 1960s, he became a symbol of all that was right with the old-fashioned, "square" ways. A tough guy, an emotional man, one who inspired great loyalty among his players. Quite simply, the best boss there ever was.

4. Muhammad Ali

Ali was "The Greatest" during his boxing career, but it was after his boxing days were done that he secured his legend as a great American man. Was there ever a more moving moment in sports than when he lit the flame to open the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta? Ailing with Parkinson's, Ali has faced his long physical decline with the kind of courage and grace and humor that have made him not just admired, but truly beloved. Said Pres. Bill Clinton to Ali after the torch-lighting ceremony, "They didn't tell me who would light the flame, but when I saw it was you, I cried.'"

5. Johnny Unitas

A great quarterback, we all know. The greatest ever, probably. But more simply, an admirable man who honored the sports world by being part of it. "He was the kind of man," said Cardinal William H. Keeler at Unitas' funeral, "who would shake the hand of a homeless person and say to that person it was an honor to shake his hand."

6. Nile Kinnick

We're reminded of the legacy of a young man who died too young at the start of every Big 10 football game. The coin that's tossed bears Kinnick's likeness, and it's only one of many tributes to the great Iowa football star and war hero that are scattered around his home state. When he won the Heisman in 1939, he said, famously, "I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest and not on the battlefields of Europe." A few years later, Kinnick was killed on a training flight, serving his country in that same war. He had turned down a lucrative pro contract from the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers to attend law school, and many expected him to eventually become president.

"This country is O.K. as long as it produces Nile Kinnicks," wrote Bill Cunningham in the Boston Globe, shortly after Kinnick took home the Heisman. "The football part is incidental."

7. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

These men made their pro basketball homes on opposite coasts -- one in glamorous L.A., the other in old, work-a-day Beantown, but the 3,000 miles didn't separate them in our minds. Take your pick -- Magic's infectious good humor and enthusiasm and, when it all came crashing down, courage. Larry's hard-scrabble, Midwest, get-it-done can-do everyman attitude. It's impossible. They're heroes bound together by time, and by a sport, and by exhibiting complementary qualities that added up to greatness both on and off the court.

8. Joe DiMaggio

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you … " Would any other player, in any sport, have worked in that great line from Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"? No way. Even though lots of ugly things about Joe's life have come out lately, his fame and heroic stature may be equaled, but never topped. DiMaggio, wrote Page 2's David Halberstam in "Summer of '49, " was "the perfect Hemingway hero, for Hemingway in his novels romanticized the man who exhibited grace under pressure, who withheld any emotion lest it soil the purer statement of his deeds."

9. Billie Jean King

She was the best tennis player of her time, and one of the all-time greats. She fought for equal prize money -- and got it. She created an entirely new format for tennis competition -- World Team Tennis -- and it worked. And she creamed Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," a more important event than the circus-like atmosphere surrounding it foretold. Wrote Neil Amdur of the New York Times after King defeated Riggs, "Most important perhaps for women everywhere, she convinced skeptics that a female athlete can survive pressure-filled situations."

10. 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

At a time when things looked pretty bleak for the U.S. -- mind-boggling inflation, hostages in Iran, a seemingly endless "energy crisis," and a president who spoke of a "national malaise" -- this team made everything look brighter, at least for a while. By beating the Soviets in the "Miracle on Ice" and going on to win the Gold Medal against the longest odds, the young team of amateurs reminded lots of folks what the best of America was all about.

"It made you want to pick up your television set and take it to bed with you," wrote E.M. Swift in SI, of the team's medal run. "It really made you feel good."

[Fred Mertz]

I always put Julius Erving (Dr. J) above Michael Jordan any day of the week.

[cherry]

I don't consider Ali to be a draft dodger.....he claimed he was a conscientious objector or something similar and he paid the price...

IIRC.....wasn't he prohibited from boxing for 2 years or so....

its admirable when a person actually suffers the consequences of his decision.....without bitterness...

[cherry]

..and just to add that I would consider a draft dodger someone who ran off to Canada or faked injuries or paid off the draft board....none of which Ali did...(.and I am not a big Ali fan)

[Mr. Mulliner]

Thank you for that comment. I don't think Ali deserves to be considered a draft dodger. Even if he was, his circumstances are different from those who did it. He did it for a principle he believed in and, like you said, he paid the price.

I have a friend I work with, a black guy about Ali's age, who was a draft dodger. I've talked to him about it and have come to understand why he did it, although I don't agree with it.

[shred]

If the qualifications for this are courage and nobility the #1 person, even above Jackie R has got to be Jesse Owen, and I'm kind of amazed no one has mentioned him.

Jesse Owen stood up to Hitler long before Europe did and long before his own country did. He was a solitary figure of courage, sportsmanship and mankind's indomitable spirit.

He is, without a doubt, the greatest sports hero of the last century.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Lombardi was voted the greatest coach of all time by ESPN's SportsCentury panel, but he was so much more. During the turbulent 1960s, he became a symbol of all that was right with the old-fashioned, "square" ways. A tough guy, an emotional man, one who inspired great loyalty among his players. Quite simply, the best boss there ever was.

A check signed by this man graces my wall, and one of my favorite books of all-time is When Pride Still Mattered, the biography written by David Marannis. Vince Lombardi gave me so many great childhood memories, growing up during the Packers' glory years - what a man.

[Consort]

Tanya Harding.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

If the qualifications for this are courage and nobility the #1 person, even above Jackie R has got to be Jesse Owen, and I'm kind of amazed no one has mentioned him.

Jesse Owens WAS a hero - absolutely.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I got to sit in on an interview with Archie Manning the day Peyton was chosen #1 in the NFL Draft...he is a humble man with a great work ethic, and he taught his son well. Just hearing Peyton give his press conference that day, there was no doubt in my mind he would succeed, and it was clear where his terrific attitude came from.

[americafirst]

Hero? Ted Williams: fighter pilot in two wars during the prime of his career. Ali and King heroes? Give me a break.

[raybbr]

How in the world does Lou Gehrig not make it on this list?!! What were they thinking?

Gotta make room for diversity!!!!!!

[leprechaun9]

HEROS?

From the 10 listed, I believe IDOLS would be a better description. Of the 10 named, what was HEROIC about their careers?

How about Ted Williams who not only excelled in his baseball career, but also served several years (WWII & Korea) in the midst of his prime? There are many others I would consider as HEROS other than those listed!

[merak]

Ali never really had any sort of a punch with his left hand which he could hurt anybody with. Your truly great prizefighters like Joe Louis or Roberto Duran all had lethal power in both hands. Joe Louis was just as quick as Ali and had major-league punching power.

[KSCITYBOY]

"LOU GEHRIG IS # 1" I agree! I would add guys like Ted Williams who gave up six years to defend his country.

[wi jd]

I believe they wanted to list mostly "clean" people (Magic and Ali not-withstanding) who had a social twist to their careers. If you throw the "transcends sports" caveat you would have to add Bobby Orr, Wilt Chamberlain and Jim Brown , as they only changed dramatically their respective sports.

Do you see no irony in your allegation that Magic is not "clean" (apparently for contracting HIV) but overlook Wilt's uncleanliness (he stated he slept with 20,000 women), and Jim Brown's (who has a history of domestic violence)??

[metesky]

Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!"

"Thanks, King."

[L`enn]

No I was saying some people were saying this one and that one were not on the list. I believe the author did in fact leave Wilt and Jim Brown off the list for the reasons you said. I believe that the irony is the authors, that they put Magic on but left Wilt off because Magic having HIV trumps him being a sleep-around.
I was just pointing out that this list is not really a "heroes" nor a greatest athletes list but a "great athlete with a social twist with a couple of near-heroes on it" list.

[squirt]

Ken Stabler

[cardinal4]

Darrel Green, whom Ive met, for being his age and still keeping up with rookies out of college, and for his charity work off the field.