The long time classic sports debate will always be who is the GOAT of each sport. The true answer to this question is no one. It basically just comes down to who is the greatest player that you have ever seen play. It is extremely difficult to truly decide who is the greatest player to have ever played a particular sport. Rule changes have greatly changed sports over the years, as have the advancements in technology. Today we can watch way more sporting events from all over the globe than we were able to ten to fifteen years ago. This creates more fire to the debate and people constantly wanting to figure out who the greatest player of all time is.
Who’s the GOAT? There Isn’t One
Let’s start with the NBA where Michael Jordan leads the debate while names like LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and more are thrown into the discussion as well. They each have their merits and those players have an amazing amount of combined rings, but is there a reason this GOAT debate seems to start after 1955. This could be due to the fact that the NBA was founded in the 1940s but still. People like to throw Russell’s name into it because he has 11 championships but, as most sports fans will tell you, championships are a team victory and no one singular player’s efforts are responsible for a victory. If this is the case though why do we try so hard to figure out who is the GOAT? People obsess over Jordan now but it is mostly because of his brand and from a player aspect. The former Chicago Bulls great would be much more harshly criticized nowadays if he had to deal with the pain of social media like LeBron James does. Jordan, just like every other player in the NBA, did not win his championships by himself. He had some great players on his team as well as a Hall of Fame coach.
Now we will discuss the NFL where the debate is really heating up, especially since New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was incredibly close to appearing in his seventh Super Bowl, and having a shot a fifth ring. I am not entirely sure why this GOAT debate seems to only focus on quarterbacks who played in the 80’s and present day. There are quarterbacks who seem to get left out of the GOAT discussion, like Sonny Jurgenson, Johnny Unitas, and Bart Starr, Len Dawson and Joe Namath, to name a few. Of course people will point to their statistics and say they aren’t that impressive, but numbers lie sometimes. Let’s also remember that NFL rules have changed a whole lot since the 50’s and 60’s, and even the 80’s. When Dan Marino threw for over 5,000 yards in 1984 that record held for almost 30 years. The league now has rules in place that benefit the offense and allows for these insane numbers to be put up.
Another interesting questions to ponder is why does the NFL debate just focus on quarterbacks? I realize that it is the top position in the sport, but why can’t the greatest player of all time be a cornerback, running back, wide receiver, or even a middle linebacker. Many people always say Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver ever, and he was great, but he also played in the NFL forever. Steve Largent, Randy Moss, Cris Carter and Terrell Owens, were all also incredibly impressive during their respective careers. Who someone believes to be the GOAT can largely be a function of the era that fan grew up watching. Many players are great in their own right, especially in the era in which they played. Some players, particularly on offense, might have even been able to put up much better numbers if they played in the modern era NFL, particularly because of rule changes that have taken place.
I am not naïve enough to believe that by writing this article people will stop having the debate of who they believe to be the GOAT. Debating who is the best is one of the most crucial parts about sports talking that there is. People will constantly debate with their buddies about who is the GOAT, and it will never end because there is no answer. This is a topic that an be discussed day after day. However, instead of having this debate just sit back and admire certain players and what it is that made them great. Every era has had great players who people want to cheer and celebrate. Simply admire and appreciate those players because they won’t be playing forever.
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