Bobby Jones, perhaps ahead of Nicklaus. Both ahead of Tiger, who was great, but had setbacks while wrestling with his inner demons. Otherwise Tiger would have achieved even more. In his retirement Jack has contributed so much, to both golf and charity.
Michael Jordan – but Bill Russell won 14 championships in 17 opportunities.
Wayne Gretzky's achievements overshadowed anyone before or after him.
Babe Ruth changed American sports. Started out as a record-breaking pitcher, then re-wrote the offensive record book. DiMaggio may have taken baseball to another level, and Ted Williams even higher still. Mantle's career was cut short by injury. Aaron set marks far beyond Mays (or anyone else). Lou Gehrig had a career full of monster seasons.
Greg Maddux proved to be the best pitcher in the past 50 years, perhaps of all time.
Barry Sanders was the greatest running back I ever saw. Better than Herschel.
Calvin Johnson was the greatest receiver, better than Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, and Don Hutson.
Tom Brady the best QB, better than Montana, Baugh, and Bradshaw.
Mike Tyson was fierce, but he was no Muhammed Ali.
Character figures in to the GOAT conversation. Tiger has done great works, starting a school, etc. but had several lapses in judgement along the way. Not that I am an angel. Yes it is all about the money these days. Eventually a player or coach might have enough money and just want to win. The Colts had moved on from Payton Manning so he signed with the Broncos and won a Super Bowl. Belichek just wants to break the wins record. The coaches wanting the Bama job will get paid, but they want to be in the best position to win. Bama job comes with high expectations and pressure, though most head coaching jobs do.
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