Player of their Generation?

There are so many sports and so many players of their respective sports.


Some have been good and others have been great.


Some however get tagged as

"The Player of Their Generation"


Put forwards who you would consider to be a player of their generation and why you feel they are.

Let us know the sport they played and the era they played in.

 

JORDAN HANDS DOWN

LOCK THIS THREAD NOW

 

1980s NFL:

Joe Montana - 4 Super Bowl rings, 3-time Super Bowl MVP, 2-time NFL MVP

Greatest. Quarterback. EVAR.

 

I agree with the dork.

 

obvious, isn't it

[image=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061028/061028_rooney_hmed_1p.hmedium.jpg]

 

QFT.

Steve Young is awesome too though, but Montana is leagues ahead of everyone else.

 

tom brady will be mentioned in the same breath as montana by the time he's done.

 

However I'm still correct. There is, probably, not a better player in World football today, and there is definitely not a better young player in the world today. If you suppose there are three generations in football (16 - 22, 23 - 29, 30 - 40 - with players moving up as they age), then I'd say Rooney is the player of his generation.

So there.

EDIT: Point being, in relation to the length of their career, you cannot put Wayne Rooney and, ooo, Henrik Larsson, David Weir or Teddy Sheringhamin the same 'generation'.

 

You never know, when Rooney gets to 30 I would imagine he could be compared to a still playing Sheringham.

 

Babe Ruth, by a landslide. He's definitely the face of baseball.

 

[image=http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8082/gretzkycup1984uz7.jpg]

 

i love Sheringham but no way will this comparison hold

 

No I was meaning when Rooneys 30 Sheringham will be 50 (and likely still playing) would we be allowed to compare then?

 

You can compare between generations sure, but when I said Rooney was the player of his generation I was dividing players up by age.

 

NFL

50's - Otto Graham
60's - Bart Starr
70's - Dick Butkus
80's - Joe Montana
90's - Brett Favre
00's - Peyton Manning


NBA

60's - Wilt Chamberlain
70's - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
80's - Magic Johnson
90's - Michael Jordan
00's - Lebron James(more of a prediction... I think in four years, no one in the league will be even close to him)





...

I'll do baseball later... digging through stats to decide who the best player of each decade is, is surprisingly a lot of work...

 

I will definitely agree with Jordan and Ruth as being the faces of their sports, even beyond their generations.

Montana, definitely as well, though not quite as much "beyond" his generation as the first two, IMO. Although still somewhat so.

 

Me(i.e. Barry Lamar Bonds). 7-time MVP, no one else in history has won it more than 3 times. All-time National League home run leader, soon to be Major League home run king. Only 400-400 player in history. Only 500-500 player in history. Single season home run king. I'll go on later.

 

I'm not going to contest what Bonds has done. However, pretty much every other player listed here so far has been extremely popular/well-liked/respected, whereas outside of SF, Bonds is anything but that now. That makes it a little harder, despite his accomplishments, to crown him as the player of his generation. Not to mention the heavy cloud of steroids hanging over his head.

 

When the Steroids rumors are far behind him Lance Armstrong will be among the top of his generation. You cannot deny nearly dying from Testicular Cancer and then winning 7 straight Tour de France. His name will be in the history books forever.

 

I agree with what A_J has in his post, except I'd lean a little more towards Larry Bird instead of Magic. They're very close though.

 

A_J is on point mostly, I could make a case for D-Wade as the 2000's if he keeps winning championships however.

 

On AJ's basketball picks, for two decades I think you have to split: in the 60s, I'd split it between Chamberlain and Bill Russel. Walt had the stats, Russell had the rings.

For the 80s, picking between Bird and Magic is impossible, so don't. If you asked each who was better, they'd pick the other. That says alot.

Regarding Bonds, no question he's the player of his generation. Likeability is irrelevant -- Ty Cobb was an even beigger jerk, and there's no question he's the player of the 10s. The problem with Boinds is the steroids. I have no doubt he's taken them, the change in physique is too obvious. He'll never test positive unless he gets stupid, Floyd Landis stupid. And Bonds is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. And the taint covering him covers the sport as a whole at this point, so I can#tr say I pick any player currently who I'm positive isn't juicing. But he still has an asterisk next to his home run records in my book, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth are 1-2 on the all-time home run list, and Maris is still the single season home run king.

Lastly, Everton, we've been through this before: Rooney is a remarkable talent at this stage. Leave the Player of his Generation title for when we have a complete career to look back on. If, at that point, he's continued on his current path, added tittles at the club level, at least some good WC runs if not the title itself, I'll be the first to give him the title. Until then, excellent player, nothing more.

 

Concerning AJ's picks I think the 60s are better represented by Johnny Unitas or Joe Namath as far as quarterbacks go. Jim Brown dominated & owned the game like no other. Butkus barely played in the 70s, he also belongs in that 60s class. Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach or OJ Simpson would be better off representing the 70s.

As for the NBA when you think of the 70s its all about Dr. J

 

AJ, you're waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay of on those NFL picks.

50's - Otto Graham
60's - Bart Starr
70's - Dick Butkus
80's - Joe Montana
90's - Brett Favre
00's - Peyton Manning

Butkus was more a force in the 60s than the 70s. He retired in 73. So clearly not the player of that decade. If you want to name him POG for a decade, then the 60s. But I'd still disagree. For me, the 60s are Jim Brown. No one has ever dominated any sport the way he did until he retired in his prime in 1966.

Hard to pick one person for the 70s. If you go by winning, then Bradshaw. But most would argue Staubach was the better QB. The first half of the decade had OJ in his prime. But no one team really dominant, so I'd go with a shared title between Bradshaw and Staubach. Or maybe look to the D and give it to Mean Joe Green.

The 80s are a no brainer, obviously.

Brett Favre for the 90s is you worst pick of the bunch. I'd give it to Emmitt Smith, the heart of those cowboy teams. Troy Aikman if you want a QB. Favre played like absolute crap in too many big games, never able to calm his nerves and keep his cool when it mattered most, not even in the SB vs the Pats, where Desmond Howard bailed him out.

For the 00s, again, Manning has come up flat in too many big games. He still has 4 years to fix that, but I need to see him do it first. If they go undefeated he's actually have taken a big step. But thus far, it's Tom Brady to me.

You might want to consider breaking the NFL up into 5 year broups, BTW, since players careers are significantly shorter than in other sports, and not just because they want to finish filming the Dirty Dozen before reporting to training camp.

Also may want to consider splitting between offense and defense, eg Butkus D POG for the 60s, Joe Green in the 70s, LT in the 80s.

 

No. Did you read my definition of 'generation'. Did you see how I am defining this? 'Player of his Generation has more than one meaning. Rooney is in the youngest generational bracket in football, and is clearly the best in that bracket. He is the most talented individual the have come out of football since Paul Gascoigne.