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."

[Doctor Don]

How about some other Oklahomans to go with Largent whom I know......Jim Thorpe and Mickey Mantle! Mohammed Ali was a draft dodger and Billy Jean King was a __________! Really a politically correct list it seems to me!!!!

[Puzzler]

Bobby Orr, for cryin' out loud.

[AsYouAre]

LOU GEHRIG IS # 1 IN MY BOOKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!! All others are a far second.

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

[Congressman Billybob]

The living proof of the American work ethic, the man who pulled his cleats on and did his job, longer and better than anyone else, and who was, every step of the way, a gentleman and a decent human being -- Cal Ripkin, Jr.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, not yet up on UPI or FR, "All-American Arrogance"

Latest book(let), "to Restore Trust in America."

[varon]

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

Can't think of any HEROES, idols maybe but no heroes.

[mwyounce]

In Georgia, it's Herschel Walker.... For all the right reasons.

"Oh, you Herschel Walker!... My God, A FRESHMAN!"
-- Larry Munson

Bill Bates may disagree with your choice, though!

[July 4th]

Bump up the hockey team a few spots, drop BJK for Gehrig, otherwise, not bad.

[yarddog]

I don't think I would put any of those on my list.

I once read a book by Rod Laver in which he plain out said the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs was purposely thrown by Riggs. If you think about it, it does not make sense that Billie Jean would challenge Bobby after he demolished Margaret Court who was ranked higher than King at the time.

Some who should be on the list are Jim Thorpe, Bart Starr, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Ty Cobb who was not the person portrayed in the movie, Bear Bryant, I might put Michael Jordan on the list simply because of his athletic ability, Don Hutson, and Roger Staubach.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

And the winner is Seabiscuit! He's my hero.

[Arpege92]

What about Rudy from Notre Dame?

[Migraine]

Dominators like

Nolan Ryan

Christy Mathewson

Pete Maravich in college

Roberto Clemente

Sandy Koufax

Bob Gibson

These are some of my main sports heroes from the past.

[L`enn]

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.

[Willie Green]

Roberto Clemente.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

We should keep in mind that this is from ESPN and remember what yo yos are on that channel.

Joe Dimaggio and not Lou Gerig or Micky Mantle?

Billy Jean King whose biggest claim to fame was being an early feminist who beat a washed up old guy like Bobby Riggs in an over-hyped tv extravaganza? She is better than Babe Zaharris?

Lombardi was just a bully who got lots of hype for being politically incorrect. Despite the 1967 Ice Bowl, Tom Landry was superior both as a coach and a gentleman.

How about Dr. J? He set the stage for Jordan and was a perfect role model.

What about Red Grange, Willy Shoemaker, Joe Lewis, etc., etc.?

This is a poor effort on the part of ESPN.

[isthisnickcool]

Just about as many "hero qualities" as I would expect from any athlete, none.

I'll second that. Some people may admire athletes because they can do the things they do but "heros"? They are no more heros than actors or singers or anyone else in the entertainment business. If playing baseball, football, hockey or basketball can make someone a "hero" then why don't you ever see anyone point to a professional bowler and say "that's my hero". Bowling is a sport too.

Maybe it's just me but I've never see anyone in any sport that I'd get excited about or gush over.

[AlGone2001]

Ali was a draft dodger. Billy Jean King may have won the battle of the sexes match, but she didn't exactly beat a real competor. Althogh this list includes some good names, it is basically PC.

When speaking of sports heroes, how can anyone with a brain not have Ted Williams at the top? He gave up the prime of his caree to fight in WWII and Korea? How can Ali be chosen over him?

Jackie Robinson was a true hero and helped make the game more competetive, but if we list Bird and Magic together, why not Branch Rickey, who took the real risk? He had everything to lose, while Robinson had only to gain.

How about Roberto Clemente? He lost his life providing humanitirian aid. Thisis just baseball. I am certain that there are many many more who desrve to be on this list above these names, just from baseball alone. I can't speak of other sports, but I think this list is extremely weak.

A person should be a hero based on what they do outside of the sport, or by the unnecessay risk they take, not based on how they make me FEEL.

[Founding Father]

get rid of the politically correct entries--#s 1, 4 and 9, then you have room for Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens and THE GREAT ONE.

[MotleyGirl70]

Billy Jean King

I would have put Steffi Graf before Billy Jean King. Just my humble opinion.

[Ax]

How about "Yogi" Berra? In addition to being the standard by which all other catchers (wearing of "The Tools of Ignornace") are judged,Yogi was a gunner on an LST at Normandy. A good St. Louis boy...

[U S Army EOD]

My sports "HERO" would have to be Ted Williams, one of baseball's greatest who sacraficed his sports career to fight in two wars.