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Greatest Athlete from Each State

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  • Wisconsin- Eric Heiden, might be 100 speed skaters in the World(99 in Wisconsin). Joe Thomas over JJ Watt.. NC honorary mention to Rick Flair WHHooo!

    @gumby73 said:

    Wisconsin- Eric Heiden, might be 100 speed skaters in the World(99 in Wisconsin). Joe Thomas over JJ Watt.. NC honorary mention to Rick Flair WHHooo!

    No way Thomas over Watt.

  • @gumby73 said:

    Wisconsin- Eric Heiden, might be 100 speed skaters in the World(99 in Wisconsin). Joe Thomas over JJ Watt.. NC honorary mention to Rick Flair WHHooo!

    No way Thomas over Watt.

    @stinkhole said:

    No way Thomas over Watt.

    All day JT. count the pro bowls. Watt still in puberty 😉.

  • @tiamat63 said:

    Athlete? Sorry, as much as I love golf... that just wouldn't qualify.

    Jesse Owens or Lebron would be my pick.

    Here. Educate yourself. She was great at basketball, baseball, softball, pocket billiards, javelin, high jump, hurdles, diving, roller skating and bowling. She just made her living in golf because back then it was the only one that paid worth a damn for a woman. She was a phenomenal athlete.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias

    @texasag1969 said:

    Here. Educate yourself. She was great at basketball, baseball, softball, pocket billiards, javelin, high jump, hurdles, diving, roller skating and bowling. She just made her living in golf because back then it was the only one that paid worth a damn for a woman. She was a phenomenal athlete.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias

    Again, I'm well aware its possible to be an athlete yet play golf. However if you're listed as being the best 'athlete' in your state based on dominating a single game - and that game being golf... then I just can't acknowledge that.

  • Allen Iverson gives Lawrence Taylor a run for his money, Iverson was the pound for pound (barely 6 foot, 160 lbs) the greatest of all time.

  • It's gotta be lebron if you base this off pure athleticism.

  • It's gotta be lebron if you base this off pure athleticism.

    @blowe said:

    It's gotta be lebron if you base this off pure athleticism.

    Greatest athlete from Ohio? I think it's LBJ too.

    Mike

  • Earl Campbell here, probably.

  • @texasag1969 said:

    Here. Educate yourself. She was great at basketball, baseball, softball, pocket billiards, javelin, high jump, hurdles, diving, roller skating and bowling. She just made her living in golf because back then it was the only one that paid worth a damn for a woman. She was a phenomenal athlete.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias

    Again, I'm well aware its possible to be an athlete yet play golf. However if you're listed as being the best 'athlete' in your state based on dominating a single game - and that game being golf... then I just can't acknowledge that.

    @tiamat63 said:

    Again, I'm well aware its possible to be an athlete yet play golf. However if you're listed as being the best 'athlete' in your state based on dominating a single game - and that game being golf... then I just can't acknowledge that.

    She dominated every damn sport she ever played at the highest level available at that time. I'd say that is a far greater athlete than one who only has one sport. We have two very different definitions of "athlete". Yours is far more restrictive and IMHO far less accurate.

  • Utah- I have to go with Cael Sanderson over Steve Young. Sanderson won 4 national titles in wrestling and finished his college career with a record of 159-0. He went on to win an Olympic gold medal too.

  • The truth is, an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Based on this, a golfer cannot be on this list, golf is not a sport but rather a game as it does not require rigorous physical activity, and can be played professionally by people who are overweight, injured, and especially non-athletic.

  • The truth is, an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Based on this, a golfer cannot be on this list, golf is not a sport but rather a game as it does not require rigorous physical activity, and can be played professionally by people who are overweight, injured, and especially non-athletic.

    @columbusking said:

    The truth is, an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Based on this, a golfer cannot be on this list, golf is not a sport but rather a game as it does not require rigorous physical activity, and can be played professionally by people who are overweight, injured, and especially non-athletic.

    So Babe Ruth was not an athlete. Right!

  • @stinkhole said:

    No way Thomas over Watt.

    All day JT. count the pro bowls. Watt still in puberty 😉.

    @gumby73 said:

    All day JT. count the pro bowls. Watt still in puberty 😉.

    Interior O linemen are grunts. Watt has a much greater skill set than JT. But if you want to crown a grunt as the "greatest athlete" to ever come out of a certain state then you have to go with the man many consider the best center to ever play the game...Wisconsin native and former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster.

    But you're right about Watt being young, hence it seems we are only projecting that Watt COULD BE the greatest ever to come out Wisconsin, but as a 9 time pro bowler, 4 time SB winner that paved the way for Franco Harris, I would have to go with Mike Webster as the greatest athlete to come out of Wisconsin...ahead of Watt or JT.

    By light years.

  • @columbusking said:

    The truth is, an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Based on this, a golfer cannot be on this list, golf is not a sport but rather a game as it does not require rigorous physical activity, and can be played professionally by people who are overweight, injured, and especially non-athletic.

    So Babe Ruth was not an athlete. Right!

    @texasag1969 said:

    So Babe Ruth was not an athlete. Right!

    Right.

    "Im not an athlete, I'm a professional baseball player." - John Kruck Phillies

    "We're not athletes, we're baseball players." - Tom Selleck in the movie Mr. Baseball

    Baseball players are like race car drivers and golfers...they have a great skill, but aren't really all that athletic.

    Kruck was similar to Babe Ruth in that he was a slow fat slob like Babe Ruth.

  • @texasag1969 said:

    So Babe Ruth was not an athlete. Right!

    Right.

    "Im not an athlete, I'm a professional baseball player." - John Kruck Phillies

    "We're not athletes, we're baseball players." - Tom Selleck in the movie Mr. Baseball

    Baseball players are like race car drivers and golfers...they have a great skill, but aren't really all that athletic.

    Kruck was similar to Babe Ruth in that he was a slow fat slob like Babe Ruth.

    @stinkhole said:

    Right."Im not an athlete, I'm a professional baseball player." - John Kruck Phillies

    "We're not athletes, we're baseball players." - Tom Selleck in the movie Mr. Baseball

    Baseball players are like race car drivers and golfers...they have a great skill, but aren't really all that athletic.

    Kruck was similar to Babe Ruth in that he was a slow fat slob like Babe Ruth.

    So if a 6ft 5 guy can throw a baseball 99mph...he's not an athlete?..smh
  • @stinkhole said:

    Right."Im not an athlete, I'm a professional baseball player." - John Kruck Phillies

    "We're not athletes, we're baseball players." - Tom Selleck in the movie Mr. Baseball

    Baseball players are like race car drivers and golfers...they have a great skill, but aren't really all that athletic.

    Kruck was similar to Babe Ruth in that he was a slow fat slob like Babe Ruth.

    So if a 6ft 5 guy can throw a baseball 99mph...he's not an athlete?..smh

    @flyingfooldoug said:

    So if a 6ft 5 guy can throw a baseball 99mph...he's not an athlete?..smh

    Being good at one thing doesn't make you an athlete, it makes you good at one thing. Being able to do a bunch of things that cover across different sports - throw well, run well, jump well, kick well, be strong, run for a long time - these are things that make you an athlete.

  • @flyingfooldoug said:

    So if a 6ft 5 guy can throw a baseball 99mph...he's not an athlete?..smh

    Being good at one thing doesn't make you an athlete, it makes you good at one thing. Being able to do a bunch of things that cover across different sports - throw well, run well, jump well, kick well, be strong, run for a long time - these are things that make you an athlete.

    @gftchris said:

    Being good at one thing doesn't make you an athlete, it makes you good at one thing. Being able to do a bunch of things that cover across different sports - throw well, run well, jump well, kick well, be strong, run for a long time - these are things that make you an athlete.

    Thanks for reinforcing my case for the other Babe Chris. A great athlete at multiple sports just like Jim Thorp and the great lacrosse player, Jim Brown.

  • Great topic.

    I think you gotta go Jim Brown over Ty Cobb from Georgia.

    Joe Montana is debatable. Athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Johnny Unitas, Arnold Palmer came out of Pa.

    There really is no right or wrong IMO.

    Although golf isn't really an athletic event.

    @stinkhole said:

    Great topic.

    I think you gotta go Jim Brown over Ty Cobb from Georgia.

    Joe Montana is debatable. Athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Johnny Unitas, Arnold Palmer came out of Pa.

    There really is no right or wrong IMO.

    Although golf isn't really an athletic event.

    Good arguments there on PA and GA.....certainly debatable.

  • Minnesota = Dave Winfield

    Alabama = Bo Jackson

    @richiswhere said:

    Minnesota = Dave Winfield

    Arguable, yes.

    Alabama = Bo Jackson

    Not arguable. As a speciman, sure, Bo would rank....but for actual accomplishment on the field (as a pro)....he can't touch Hank Aaron.

    That brings up an interesting point....what about a great athlete that was injured and had to leave the game early.

    I mean, Marcus Dupree may have been a greater pure athlete...even pure runner... than Walter Payton....but Payton endured and played at a high level for a long time. Dupree got injured badly and could not continue his career. So who gets the nod for the state of Mississippi? Payton would

    (But Hell, the alternate answer to that could actually be: Brett Favre)

  • @gumby73 said:

    All day JT. count the pro bowls. Watt still in puberty 😉.

    Interior O linemen are grunts. Watt has a much greater skill set than JT. But if you want to crown a grunt as the "greatest athlete" to ever come out of a certain state then you have to go with the man many consider the best center to ever play the game...Wisconsin native and former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster.

    But you're right about Watt being young, hence it seems we are only projecting that Watt COULD BE the greatest ever to come out Wisconsin, but as a 9 time pro bowler, 4 time SB winner that paved the way for Franco Harris, I would have to go with Mike Webster as the greatest athlete to come out of Wisconsin...ahead of Watt or JT.

    By light years.

    @stinkhole said:

    Interior O linemen are grunts. Watt has a much greater skill set than JT. But if you want to crown a grunt as the "greatest athlete" to ever come out of a certain state then you have to go with the man many consider the best center to ever play the game...Wisconsin native and former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster.

    But you're right about Watt being young, hence it seems we are only projecting that Watt COULD BE the greatest ever to come out Wisconsin, but as a 9 time pro bowler, 4 time SB winner that paved the way for Franco Harris, I would have to go with Mike Webster as the greatest athlete to come out of Wisconsin...ahead of Watt or JT.

    By light years.

    Hardly by light years. As noted, Webster went to 9 PBs....JT already has 8 (don't know if he will make it this year)....and he is just now in the prime of his career.

    And Watt has a long way to go too. If you are arguing skill set...then you have to say that if Watt has a greater skill set than JT, then he certainly has a greater skill set over Webster. OTs are generally considered more "skilled" than OCs (How many OTs were picked in the Top 5 drafts the last few years vs. the number of OCs.

  • Just FYI, since 2000: 16 OTs have been taken with the first 5 picks of the first round. No centers have been chosen that high.

    And here is the funny thing: Only 8 players listed as centers have been selected in the first round since 2000 and three of them are:

    Jeff Faine

    Alex Mack

    Cameron Erving all taken by the Browns.

    the others were: Chris Spencer, Seattle. Nick Mangold Jets, Eric Wood Bills, Maurkice Pouncey Steelers and Travis Frederick, Cowboys

    And Pouncey was the highest pick at #18....but Erving was next at #19