Most Overrated Athlete of this Generation?
Axtell
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With 24 hour a day sports coverage, with everyone looking for the next big deal, who would you say is the most overrated athlete of the last 20 or so years? I'd like to stay away from college kids that never lived up to the hype (i.e. the Ryan Leafs of the world), but more, big time, professional athletes who weren't deserving of the fame they enjoyed.
I'd like to nominate Mike Tyson as my entry.
Reasons:
He never beat anyone good...worse yet, he ducked all the good challengers....and his owning the title seemed largely to be a result of Don King's hype machine. Losing to Buster Douglas (huh? 50-1 odds I think), and when he did battle Evander, well, we all know how that worked out.
Yes he was a monster. Yes he was scary. But he never beat anyone good.
Who's on your list?
I'd like to nominate Mike Tyson as my entry.
Reasons:
He never beat anyone good...worse yet, he ducked all the good challengers....and his owning the title seemed largely to be a result of Don King's hype machine. Losing to Buster Douglas (huh? 50-1 odds I think), and when he did battle Evander, well, we all know how that worked out.
Yes he was a monster. Yes he was scary. But he never beat anyone good.
Who's on your list?
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Comments
Adrian Perez Beltre was the Ove athlete of this generation. Do doubt about it!!!!
<< <i>Adrian Perez Beltre was the Ove athlete of this generation. Do doubt about it!!!! >>
What language is that?
<< <i>Tyson is a knucklehead....but if you know boxing...you know that he was the dominant heavyweight in the class for close to a decade. Youngest fighter to ever win the belt. He never dodged anybody in his prime. He beat every previous champion, every olympic champion and every international champion that wanted to get in the ring with him. He beat Holmes, Spinks, Berbick, Tubbs, Biggs, Bruno, Williams, Tucker, Thomas, Smith, Tillis, Green, et al....Yeah, he went downhill. But all fighters do. His time came. But he was great while he ruled the game. >>
I agree. He didn't duck anyone. Unfortunately he didn't duck any women either, and some of the women should have ducked too.
His downfall was the death of Cus D'Amato and the business manager who also died (his name escapes me). These were his role models and kept him in check.
Don King ran in as soon as the void was created and sucked Tyson dry.
I would say that even though Tyson is an adult and responsible for his actions, his story may be the most tragic of modern times. I grant him no excuses for his behavior and he has reaped that which he has sown.
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Well...most overrated athlete? I'd have to go with Bill Russell. Outstanding player? Of course but a lot of people say he was better than Wilt Chamberlain and that is a total joke. Even RusseLL many times has stated that Chamberlain was better than himself. Russell had an absolutely tremendous cast of players around him which made Russell look better than he was and guided the Celtics to all those titles. Again...Russell was an outstanding player and a Hall of Famer for sure...But better than Chamberlain? No way...and that to me makes him the most overrated.
Yawie - cheers.
Duh.
<< <i>Deion Sanders. He broke out a few great plays, but the 'boys paid wayyyyy too much for him. He was good, but definitely not worth the money. >>
Boy I love that one. My wife went to high school with him and we still live in his hometown. He is a real doo-dah.
Overrated yes, and I really wish he was the most of all time. He is certainly the most overrated if you count his impression of himself.
Brett Favre? Not one I would have mentioned. Let's hear more info.
<< <i>Derek Jeter.
Duh. >>
I'm surprised it took this long!
But, Favre? C'mon man, are you kidding me? I think it's darn near impossible for one football player to "carry" a team anyway, but I have seen him in so many pressure situations and come from behind wins that the last thing I think of for him is overrated.
How about Dan Marino, then? If Favre is overrated, then he must be extremely overrated.
<< <i>
<< <i>Derek Jeter.
Duh. >>
I'm surprised it took this long!
But, Favre? C'mon man, are you kidding me? I think it's darn near impossible for one football player to "carry" a team anyway, but I have seen him in so many pressure situations and come from behind wins that the last thing I think of for him is overrated.
How about Dan Marino, then? If Favre is overrated, then he must be extremely overrated. >>
I was going to go Jeter, but didn't want the yankee 'fans' to think I created this thread just to peeve them.
And Favre overrated? Huh? How many MVPs did he win again?
Not an athlete...but I have to say it.
John Gruden. The man should have an altar to Tony Dungy in his home.
Sure they're unbeaten at the moment, but the wonderful swan dive is about to begin. Empty the pool fast!
I'm going with Gemmy on this one, and say Adrian Beltre on two counts. 1)All we heard about this guy is how great he was going to be, and how young he was
Then 2) He had this Rich Aurilia/Steinbach/Hidalgo type year and then the overrated hype machine really got going. Then reality slapped him in the face this year as any astute evaluator should have seen coming....everyone excpet Seattle people at least.
So he was overrated before he ever did anything. He was overrated while he was bad because he had speed and power and somehow people get all wet over that combination. Then he was overrated because he had a fluke year and everyone thought he really was a god. Then reality came crashing down on him. So I geuss he was overrated on three counts! He parlayed the hype machine into a multi-million dollar contract.
Runer up is Carlos Beltran. Again, the speed/power combo seems to do the trick. But in his case the Post Seaon hitting did it for him. The 'typical' big game guy? Well if he had the ability to turn it on when it counts, the Mets are still waiting for him to do so. Or is it he just got hot at the right time
I do not hold him up there with montana aikman unitas namath etc.. favre = overrated and its showing this year.
Reggie Miller is the ultimate over rated guy is you ask me.
GO ahead and check the defenses of Bradshaw, Montana, Brady, Aikman etc.... Then don't forget to check the other offensive players around them. NONE OF THOSE GUYS WIN WITHOUT THE SUPPORTING CAST. NONE!!! How do I know? Because they never did win when their supporting cast was no longer top tier in all facets, and no QB has won without a supporting cast.
If one still insists on using the the crazy notion of measuring an indiviual based on a TEAM performance and/or titles, then at least get the facts straight.
Kuhlman, you said "he has lost more games then he has won! it shows this year also! he can not carry a team on his own."
1)Where do you get your information? 'He' has won FAR more games than he has lost. I say 'he' because he and his teammates is what is really being measured.
2)'He' has won a Super Bowl and he was the regular season MVP that year and was excellent through that whole playoff run. Yes, his defense played a big part, but so did EVERY Single defense in the history of ALL QB's that have won a Super Bowl.
3)Can't do it by himself? First, nobody can. Aikman was horrible when his supportint cast was bad. And Aikman's backup QB's did jsut as good as him during the Cowboy heyday, because the supporting cast was incredible, so why give all the credit to the QB then? What did Montana do in KC? Both had FAR superior supporting casts than Favre.
4) "favre is good for 2-3 picks every game" OK. I geuss you werent' very good in Math. When did he average 32-48 picks a year?? Yes, he threw more picks than Aikman etc..., but he will also be either first or second in TD's and yardage when he retires. Aikman isn't that far off in INT per attempt than Favre, and he had a FAR superior cast to work with.
He also threw for more TD's than Troy Aikman's passing TD's AND Emmitt Smiths rushing TD's combined!! So I would say he did quite well at carrying an offense. In fact, his supporting cast was far worse throughout his career than Aikman's or Montana's.
The only stud receiver he had was Sharpe(for a short time). The rest have been ho-hum and a product of Favre's ability, not the other way around. So Favre did MORE with LESS to work with.
Namath? You got him on the wrong list. 50% passer completion, and 173-220 TD to INT ratio. It was harder to pass back then, but plenty of QB's back dthen had no problem doing better than those not so lofty numbers. Namath's legend is based on one game.
If somebody says Favre is the best ever, then he is being overrated. If somebody says he is not a Hall of Famer, then they are pretty stupid. Overrated is a vague term, and it depends on who is rating, and how high he is being rated. That is up for debate. However, the rationale you used was first of all not factual, and second of all VERY faulty because you introduced a million variables into the equation(which are out of the players control) with you faulty method.
<< <i>Derek Jeter over rated??? He avergares 120 runs, 200 hits, 18 hrs, 20 sbs and a .314 average, no way is that over rated he also posses that intagible something that makes stars into super stars.
Reggie Miller is the ultimate over rated guy is you ask me. >>
Reggie Miller? Are you kidding me? I'm an indiana boy so pretty biased, but that seems absurd. Skinny kid with fewer physical skills than most and finishes his career with only 11 guys in the history of the game scoring more points? And how many guys hit bigger, clutch shots?
I'd put Vince Carter on the NBA list. There's a guys who is hyped who only seems to do one thing very well, and that's dunk a basketball.
Shawn
<< <i>No question the current most overrated athlete hands down is Anna Kournikova the womens tennis player. Most people probably believe she is or has been one of the top womens tennis players, but she has won virtually nothing. She is so popular only because of her looks and figure - not that I'm complaining about that - LOL. >>
A good pick Steve.
I would overrate her....again, and again, and again.
Actually, I could go with most any basketball player of that era. Have you ever watched footage of those old games? It's almost laughable. I honestly believe that there are only a few of those old time basketball players that could even make an NBA team today. There is no comparison with players of today.
Shane
<< <i>I have to agree with Bill Russell. He gets all the credit for being the greatest winner of all time, when he had 6th and 7th players off the bench in the Hall of Fame. Plus, he played against 6'7" centers with the exception of Wilt. If Bill Russell played today, he would be an average player at best.
Actually, I could go with most any basketball player of that era. Have you ever watched footage of those old games? It's almost laughable. I honestly believe that there are only a few of those old time basketball players that could even make an NBA team today. There is no comparison with players of today. >>
It was a different game then...it was about passing and shooting, where today it's about dunking...and dunking...and dunking. The highlight reel mentality has made the NBA forget the shooting aspect of the game.
I don't think you can compare NBA players from different eras...the game is so different, you can't.
Tyson was made out to be the best ever, after beating the tar out of a bunch of softies. Lost to anyone you've ever heard of.
People just love to love Favre, and I would agree he appeals to many, but he's probably just better than average. Maybe it's just coincidence, every time I watch him play, he blows up.
Would also throw in Scottie Pippen. Never heard a peep out of him after Chicago.
But while he was there the league found it necessary to include him on the NBA's All Time 50 best.
He may not have deserved top 50 though. I thought Dominique got snubbed on that whole thing.
Overrated= All the NFL QB's who have Super Bowl rings and because everyone just falls all over them because their TEAM has rings! They aren't overrated because of their ability, just because of WHY they are exhaulted so much.
They are one piece to the puzzle. Yeah, it is the most important single position, but the offensive line as a unit is just as important. Nobody wins without good play from the O-Line. The defesne as a complete unit is MORE important than the QB. Special teams decide many games. Not to even mention the Running Backs and REceivers. Yet it is the QB who gets the exhaulted praise that shouldn't be pointed in his direction as much as everybody does.
Example, Terry Bradhshaw. He himself promotes his rings. What did he do so well in the '75 playoffs to earn the Super Bowl? Take a look below. They could have won with any QB with that team.
Year Opp Result | CMP ATT PYD PTD INT
---------------------+--------------------------+-----
1975 bal W,28-10 | 8 13 103 0 2
1975 oak W,16-10 | 15 25 215 1 3
Just any QB huh?? Well, in 1974 another Super Bowl year, Joe Gilliam did just as well in the regular season.
Name | G | CMP ATT PCT YARD Y/A TD IN | RSH YARD TD |
+----------------------+----+-------------------------------+-------------+
| Terry Bradshaw | 8 | 67 148 45.3 785 5.3 7 8 | 34 224 2 |
| Joe Gilliam | 9 | 96 212 45.3 1274 6.0 4 8 | 14 41 1 |
Bradshaw didn't do anything special at all in the playoffs. In fact, he was very poor in one of the playoff games, yet they still won the Super Bowl with two great running backs, and a dominating defense. Yet it is Bradshaw who is exahulted for having Four Rings. He was probalby the 8th best player on that team, if that.
Pittsburgh Defensive rank(points allowed) in the four Super Bowls...2,2,1,5. How many tackles did Bradshaw have those years? How many pass defensed? INT's? Defensive Fumble recovories? Plain and simple, if he were on the Saints he wouldn't have a single ring on his finger.
Bradhshaw wasn't near the QB as Staubach, but because of other factors outside their control, Bradshaw has the rings and is exhaulted incorrectly.
There was something about the season that I seem to recall. The Refrig scored a touchdown in the Superbowl... I don't think Walter Peyton did... He was the Bears and that call giving the ball to the Refrig instead of Peyton always bugged me. That was not a way to show appreciation for a Franchise Player.
Bill Russell is an all around great sportsman and a superstar. Was he as good as Wilt? I don't know... but it doesn't matter.
Cal Ripken is a class act and not overrated.
Perhaps Daryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and John Daley were overrated. The sad thing is all three could have been superstars
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I haven't stopped laughing at the Bill Russell entry either.
Rather surprised none of you trouble makers mentioned Tom Brady yet.
But back on topic.....what about Brian Bosworth? That dude was a dud.
<< <i>I do not hold him up there with montana aikman unitas namath etc.. favre = overrated and its showing this year. >>
WOW! You think Favre is overrated and are putting Aikman in the same sentance as Montana, Unitas, and Namath.
I think you have ZERO football knowledge and have lost all credibility in my eyes.
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<< <i>
<< <i>I do not hold him up there with montana aikman unitas namath etc.. favre = overrated and its showing this year. >>
WOW! You think Favre is overrated and are putting Aikman in the same sentance as Montana, Unitas, and Namath.
I think you have ZERO football knowledge and have lost all credibility in my eyes. >>
Joe Namath is the most overrated QB in the history of the NFL. He won the one super bowl. What else did he do?? If he hadn't played in New York, no one would even think about him when they mentioned the greatest QB's of all-time.
<< <i>Joe Namath is the most overrated QB in the history of the NFL. He won the one super bowl. What else did he do? >>
He wore a fur coat on the sideline. Joe was too cool to be overrated.
<< <i>a successful NFL career that included a Super Bowl ring. How can the guy be overrated? Regards. >>
Trent Dilfer won a super bowl ring...
<< <i>Trent Dilfer won a super bowl ring... >>
I don't think his NFL career has ever been mentioned in the same phrase with overrated.
<< <i>
<< <i>Trent Dilfer won a super bowl ring... >>
I don't think his NFL career has ever been mentioned in the same phrase with overrated. >>
True - you have to be "rated" before you can be "overrated"...
A team cannot excel with a great QB while just managing the rest. It has never worked in terms of winning a bowl, or even being there. That is why you can't be hard on the great QB's that haven't won, and not heap too much praise on QB's who have won.
Also remember, if a great QB with a mediocore defense/cast gets into the playoffs, they will most likely be playing on the road, and against better teams, so that is asking an awful lot for that QB to win a bowl. WHy is it asking a lot? Nobody has done it. So don't hold rings against them.
Tom Brady is an outstanding QB, we see it every Sunday. He will stop winning Super Bowls when his defense slips, and they no longer hold home field advantage in the playoffs. If he could win with a 15th ranked defense, and go on the road through the playoffs and win the Super Bowl, THEN throw the praise like it has never been given before( as long as he is still doing the damage of course). But no QB has ever done that!.........Elway nearly did that in '86!
<< <i>In the NFL a system can make a QB. Just plug them in. >>
I agree. Same is true for RB.
Emmit Smith is the most overrated athlete in sports history. He was the by-product of a plug and play offense. Decent QB, great FB, HOF WR and a line that would have been able to hold off Hurricane Katrina. If Barry Sanders could have rushed behind those guys he would have posted 20,000 yards. Emmit was a good back. However put him on the Bears, the Lions or the Rams and he would never have done what Walter, Barry or Dickerson did. Its that simple. Those other 3 guys could actually make things happen and not just score TD's after the ball was on the one.
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You simply don't win it all with a bad O-Line, or bad defense. You don't. There have been enough teams to win with mediocore, or even below average QB's. QB's that were either carried by the defense(dilfer), carried by the offensive system (See Doug WIlliams), or carried by the offensive skill players and O-Line(Troy comes to mind
This statement is totally absurd. If anything I think Namath is underrated. He had little talent on that Super Bowl team and carried that team to the win. Did you ever watch the replay of that game? - some of the finest pinpoint passing I have ever seen. With some real talent behind him, in my opinion Namath would have won other Super Bowls as well.
Yea, like who cares about Doubles titles. Tennis players are remembered for Singles titles and Anna has never won a major and only very few nameless minors.
<< <i>Emmit Smith is the most overrated athlete in sports history. He was the by-product of a plug and play offense. >>
I disagree. Emmitt never got the credit he deserved because he played with a great line and wasn't flashy like Barry Sanders, but he was an elite back. Plug and Play is a nice concept but I don't agree with it. A great back needs a great line, but a great line doesn't make a great back. How a running back picks the correct holes, holds on to the ball, finishes his runs, recieves and blocks make him a great back. If you had stuck a lesser back in the Dallas offense the team would have not been as successful as they were with Emmitt back there.