Ty's Mount Rushmore of Sports Greats

I was also quite the athlete back in 1760's

Much like my previous Mount Rushmore of Comedians blog I did a few weeks ago, today I'm going to do something similar, but I'm going to talk about my four sports idols. I'm going to do one player from baseball, basketball, football and college football. College basketball, with the lone exception of the Fab five, whom I love, no one single player has left a lasting impression on me. Same with hockey, which I know absolutely nothing about and soccer, which I also know nothing about. I know how to play both sports, but I never really watched hockey or soccer on a regular basis. In fact, I never watched hockey or soccer ever, they just aren't my thing. But, basketball, baseball, football and college football are my thing. I love all four of them and there has definitely been multiple players that have left long lasting impressions on me. It was really tough for me to pick out four single players, but I trudged through and figured it out.

Are you ready? Here it goes. 

Let's start with major league baseball. So, my favorite player of all time is Jackie Robinson, but I never saw him play. I was born in 1982 and all I know about Jackie Robinson is the history and how truly great of a player he was. But I was around and I watched Tony Gwynn play a ton of baseball. I am a Cardinals fan, but I'm a bigger Tony Gwynn fan. He is the best hitter that I have ever watched. His approach at the plate was like no one else. He had 20/10 vision and he could literally see the seams on the ball, making it easy for him to pick what pitch was coming at him. He could spot a 90 mile per hour fast ball as easily as he could spot a 75 mile an hour curveball. He regularly hit .350 to .375 every season he played. He even flirted with .400 many times during his career. You could also mark it down in pen that he would get, at least, 200 hits every season. He was a pretty decent outfielder as well. He was great at tracking fly balls and he had a pretty above average arm. Sure, he played right field, but in the pros, right field is just as tough as any other outfield position. When I got to see Tony Gwynn play live it was always a teaching moment for my father, who was also my little league coach. He had me watch Tony Gwynn more than any other baseball player I can remember. My dad used to tell me how great of a hitter he was and that it was important for me to watch how he played the game. Tony Gwynn was the consummate pro. He never got involved in off field stuff and he was always looked at as a great teammate and a great player. Tony Gwynn is in my personal top ten of all time great baseball players. He doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he is an all time great, no matter what anyone says.

When it comes to basketball, the best player and my favorite player is Charles Barkley. I know this is a departure from the soft spoken and humble Tony Gwynn, but I love Charles Barkley and I've tried to model my game after him since I was 10 years old. He is an undersized, a little overweight power forward that rebounded and scored with the best of them. When he came in the league with the 76ers, when they were actually competent, he got to learn from the great Daryl Dawkins. That was a great mentor for him to have. Then, when he ended up in Phoenix, his career took off. This was when I really started to love the way Barkley played. He was brash, he was arrogant, but he was great. His matchups with the Bulls and Michael Jordan were epic. They would trade points and the games were always close, but he could never get over the hump. That was not for lack of effort, the Bulls were just the better team. Charles Barkley became a legit star when he was in Phoenix. While he was a Sun, that was when he did his whole "I'm not a role model" campaign for Nike. While that commercial made my friends dislike Barkley more than they already did, my love for him grew from there. This was the one time in my life that I can say that I liked the arrogance that an athlete was putting out there, and even though he didn't want to be a role model, he became an even bigger role model to me. I even love him now on his NBA show on TNT. He is the best basketball commentator on the best pre and post game basketball show on TV right now. Not only did I love Barkley as a player, but I like him even more as a TV personality. It gets no better than Charles Barkley for me.

When it comes to NFL football, I'm going to go back to a player with humility and who was/is very humble. The best offensive football player that I have ever watched, and he is one of my all time favorite players, is Barry Sanders. When I was a kid, I was still a Packers fan, but I loved watching Barry Sanders more than any player the Packers threw out there. Barry Sanders was the most athletic and the most graceful athlete, with Bo Jackson maybe being the lone exception and challenger, that I have ever watched. Barry Sanders made a three yard run more exciting than anyone else going for a 90 yard TD run. He would be stopped behind the line for a 6 yard loss, break multiple tackles and make multiple moves, run up field and get 3 yards and it was thrilling. When Sanders was in his prime, he was the Lions offense. Sure, they had Herman Moore and Scott Mitchell, but who really remembers those two guys? That Lions team was all about Barry Sanders. He never had the help he needed, but he made the Lions a perennial playoff team and guided them to at least 10 wins a year. I would stop everything I was doing, be it playing outside or playing video games or playing baseball, basketball or football with my friends, whenever Barry Sanders was on. He was must watch TV. And talk about being a humble pro. He never celebrated or did dances or put the spotlight on himself. He'd get a thirty yard gain and walk back to the huddle and get ready for the next play. He'd score a TD and he'd hand the ball to the officials and high five his teammates. He was the epitome of how to play the game and act like you've been there before. I love Barry Sanders. The day he retired, at the absolute prime of his career, I was shocked. I thought it was a joke or a hoax. He couldn't really be leaving football, he was just about to break the all time rushing record and he was the best in the game. But, he really walked away, never to return. I give him credit now, walking away without any serious injuries and his mind still fully intact, but at the time, I was upset. I felt robbed of seeing, at least, 10 more years of great football from Barry Sanders. But, he did the right thing for himself and his family and I understand that now. Barry Sanders in the greatest running back of all time, in my opinion.

Now, we get to my absolute favorite sport and my absolute, unquestioned favorite player of all time. The sport is college football and the player is Charles Woodson. I've written a whole lot on the site about Woodson, but he is the greatest football player I've ever seen, especially when he was at Michigan. I have a ton of all time favorite Wolverines. Guys like David Harris, Jarret Irons, Anthony Thomas, Tim Biakabutuku, Brian Griese, Marlin Jackson, Mercury Hayes, Tai Streets, I could go on and on and on, but no one is better than Charles Woodson. He was the best. His covering skills are unmatched. Teams purposefully threw away from him because he could pick off anything. Go back and look at that interception he had at Michigan State, the one handed one, it's incredible. While he was a lock down corner, he was also an electrifying kick returner and receiver. He could take a punt to the house at any time, look at the 1996 game against OSU, and he was a great over the middle receiver, look at that 96 OSU game again or earlier that season against PSU. He was just phenomenal. He is also the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman. The day he won the Heisman, Michigan basketball, led by Louis Bullock and Robert Traylor, upset number one Duke and it was my birthday. It was a great birthday and a great day to be a Wolverines fan. Charles Woodson was also just a good guy. He was a great teammate, a great player and a great representative of Michigan football. He is the best defensive football player that I've ever seen and when he was starring at Michigan, that's when my true love for them really, truly started. Charles Woodson was the catalyst. I love absolutely everything about Charles Woodson. Of the four athletes I've mentioned, Woodson is number one and the first face that would get carved into my personal Mount Rushmore.

So there you have it, my Mount Rushmore of pro and college athletes. There's a lot of other people I could have mentioned, but these are the four that stood out to me. These are the four best, and my favorite, athletes in what I consider the four major sports.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Do you like reading about Ty's Mount Rushmore of Athletes, well you can listen to him tell his stories on the X Millennial Man. Make sure you give it a listen and rate us on iTunes. When you are done listening, read more from Ty on twitter @tykulik.