Who are your top-5 all-time favorite sports figures , icons , etc. ? (twist included)

[Saban14]

1) Nick Saban. Love the guy, his work ethic, what he stands for, and what he's done for our program. I'm not old enough to have really seen much of Coach Bryant, so Nick goes first here. Read his book, and now I'm reading "21 irrefutable laws of leadership", and almost everything he preaches in his book matches up to the leadership book. He's someone I wanna be like when it comes to how I work/live life, etc.

2) Joe Paterno. What more can I say? He loves college football, was a friend of the Bear, is brutally honest, and a great coach.

3) Tony Dungy. EXCELLENT rolemodel. Period.

4) Shaun Alexander. Great football player, great character, etc.

5) Randy Cotoure (MMA). I did MMA for 2.5 years, and I always (and of course) still look up to this guy. He's in his 40's and was still competing at a very high level...also an all around great guy. I"ve been around a good bit of pro fighters, and some of them have the "look at me" attitude, and I've heard Randy is the total opposite of that.

Character is a big deal to me as you can tell from my list. I don't care how great of an athlete or how great of a coach someone is...if they have low character or morals than they aren't someone I'll be rooting for.

 

[Bama Shadow]

In order:

Coaches-Bryant and Bill Walsh...No need to explain Bryant, and Walsh changed football forever with his west coast offense.

NFL-Barry Sanders...Classiest and best NFL back I ever seen play.

NCAA-Derrick Thomas...no explaination needed here.

MLB-Nolan Ryan...Most Dominating Player I ever seen, plus when he whipped Robin Ventura after he charged him after he turned 40 was classic.

NASCAR-Rusty Wallace...Ran WFO all the time, either wrecked, blew it up, or won 1/2 the time and supposedly paid a $ 10,000.00 fine with a dump truck load of unwrapped pennies.

PGA-Jack Nicholas, and Stewart Cink since we went to school together.

NWA,WCW-Ric Flair...what can I say, I loved all the bad guys as a kid and Flair was the epitome of a "bad guy"

NHRA-Bob Glidden...Last man to win with a Ford in Pro Stock, and he completey dominated for over a decade.

 

[Dallas4Bama]

Bronco Negurski of course. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Gene Stallings -No explanation is needed here, but I will give a short one. This is one of the greatest gentlemen you will ever meet. Just his love for his son is enough to put him on this list not to mention his love for my beloved University. One of the last of the old school coaches who was taught by two of the greatest coaches of all time, one of which is next on my list.

Tom Landry - Again, no real explanation needed. I couldn't even begin to the reasons to respect and admire this man.

Roger Staubach - Captain Comeback, growing up he was the epitomy of grace under pressure.

Tiger Woods - He changed the game of golf forever and has an unbelievale ability to focus. Makes me watch golf, and that's tough.

Michael Jordan - I never watched BB before Jordan and haven't watched it since. He was mesmerizing with a BB in his hands. Looked like a man playing with kids at times.
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[Troy Chimes]

Demeco Ryans: College Football:BigA:
Larry Bird: NBA
Dick Butkus: NFL
Hank Aaron:MLB
Bear Bryant: College Coach:BigA:
Jeff Fisher: NFL Coach
James Robinson: Colleg Basketball:BigA:

 

[Bud]

1) Jim Ryun - (Track)sub 4 in HS on a cinder track
1) Tony Gwynn - - got to love a HOF that shows up to spring training in a ford ranger
1) Winner on coin flip - Gayle Sayers (over Ozzie Newsom) - first class all the way
1) Pete Marovich seriously, wouldn't you have loved to have played a pick up game with him in his prime
1) Arnold Palmer ( I have to say..one day I was at Bayhill and it was just me and Mr. Palmer on the range - just hitting golf balls.)

 

[CrimsonChuck]

I am just including sports figures from my lifetime because I have a closer connection to them.

College Football - Coach Bryant
Pro Football - Dan Marino
Baseball - Ozzie Smith
College Basketball - Robert Horry
Pro Basketball - Dwayne Wade

 

[37bamagrl]

1. Shaun Alexander -this was very very hard to pick just one for college football - but I think Shaun will probably be my all time favorite player. Helps that i was at Alabama while he was - and just a great guy. but not saying Bryant or Saban was tough for me!

2. John Smoltz - probably my all time favorite Brave - the ultimate competitor - still can't believe he is in Boston!

3. Brett Favre - just love to watch him play! and wouldn't mind a bit if he ended up in Minnesota this season

4. Michael Jordan - pretty much the only person that could get me interested in a NBA game

5. Tiger Woods - i HATE golf, so the fact that if he's on, i might stop on that channel for a minute - that says a lot! the guy is amazing.

 

[Bamaro]

Sean Alexander college
Johnny Unitas NFL
Brooks Robinson MLB

dont care about basketball or golf

 

[TommyMac]

Bronco Negurski of course. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Gene Stallings -No explanation is needed here, but I will give a short one. This is one of the greatest gentlemen you will ever meet. Just his love for his son is enough to put him on this list not to mention his love for my beloved University. One of the last of the old school coaches who was taught by two of the greatest coaches of all time, one of which is next on my list.

Tom Landry - Again, no real explanation needed. I couldn't even begin to the reasons to respect and admire this man.

Roger Staubach - Captain Comeback, growing up he was the epitomy of grace under pressure.

Tiger Woods - He changed the game of golf forever and has an unbelievale ability to focus. Makes me watch golf, and that's tough.

Michael Jordan - I never watched BB before Jordan and haven't watched it since. He was mesmerizing with a BB in his hands. Looked like a man playing with kids at times.
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From all I've read about him, Bronko Nagurski had to be a whale of a football player, but I wonder if his name didn't play a HUGE role in the greatness and the longevity of his fame. I wonder if anyone today would know of him if his name had of been Leslie Nagurski or Bronko Cadwallader? :conf2:

 

[Harmost]

Derrick Thomas (NCAA)
Randy Moss (NFL)
Pete Maravich
Carl Lewis
Ivan Drago

 

[TDBama78]

coach- lombardi or bryant
nfl-unitus,namath
nba-jerry west,john havlacek
mlb-johnny bench
tennis-rod laver,pete sampras
boxing-the one ,the only,thats right,,,Butterbean.
nascar-bobby allison
in all honesty anna kornakova is one of the best sports figures i ever saw.:biggrin:

 

[LCN]

coach- lombardi or bryant
nfl-unitus,namath
nba-jerry west,john havlacek
mlb-johnny bench
tennis-rod laver,pete sampras
boxing-the one ,the only,thats right,,,Butterbean.
nascar-bobby allison
in all honesty anna kornakova is one of the best sports figures i ever saw.:biggrin:

No doubt about that .

Butterbean has a cousin here in Montgomery . Is that you , Mitchell ? Lol !

 

[TheOysterMan]

MLB: Dale Murphy (I remember being 7 years old when the Braves traded him and I cried my eyes out all night.)
MLB: Ryan Sandberg (the reason I am a Cubs fan to this day)
sorry, had to had two from MLB

NFL: Barry Sanders (the best RB I ever saw with my own eyes)
NBA: Reggie Miller...could be a first class jerk sometimes, but he drew me into the game...and who else do you want with the ball in their hand down 3 pts? Other than MJ, there is no doubt
Coaches: Gene Stallings (I have always admired the man, but getting to meet him a couple weeks ago will forever etch him as a man among men to me)
Other: Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker (WWE) These two guys epitomize the sport or whatever u want to call it. They make those around them so much better, and getting to see their match at Wrestlemania XXV live this year in Houston will forever be on my top 5 sports moments of all time.