NFL/NBA players as the world's best athletes?

[Arerequired]

I see this being insinuated everywhere and it has been said for years, people say things such as "imagine if NFL players played soccer" or "Lebron would sleep (x high ranked MMA fighter or even boxer) with 6 months of training" (actual thing I hear people say). The leagues do have some very elite athletes (like JJ Watt), I just don't think they are the best athletes overall, soccer or- hockey players probably have NFL players beat in various metrics of athleticism, on average, from what I've seen. I think this is usually an excuse for black or American supposed under-performance relative to expectations in a sport, all the "super athletes" are playing basketball and football. Any thoughts?

 

[white lightning]

This is a joke. The nba guys are a little better conditioned but most have little strength or stamina. NFL guys stop after every play. They aren't even close to being great athletes.

I vote for men in the decathalon. It's met to test the worlds greatest athletes over 10 events involving speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability and stamina. No professional athlete could even come close to doing what these guys do.


Here is the world record holder Kevin Mayer from France.

 

[Arerequired]

I thought decathlon would be the logical choice as well... People seem adamant about considering NFL and NBA players as the "supreme" athletes.

 

[white lightning]

After the decathalon this would be some of my list or the worlds best atheletes:

Triathalon Competitors
Cross Fit Competitors
Military Special Forces
Soccer Players
Hockey Players

 

[yuri malenkov]

Plus: Pole vaulters/Triple jumpers/110m and 400m hurdlers.
Also Olympic Weightlifters who have been shown to have a higher vertical jump than Olympic high jumpers and a faster first 20m speed than Olympic sprinters.

 

[yuri malenkov]

Also Modern Tennis Players

 

[La France Blanche]

I agree, decathlon is the obvious choice. NFL and NBA players should be way down on the "world's greatest athletes" list as most of those players are extremely one-dimensional, particularly at positions like cornerback (don't even have to know how to catch a ball) and running backs who are no threats as receivers. NBA has never impressed me and I've never been into basketball. A 7-foot-tall guy putting a ball into a tall hoop isn't a display of athleticism, it's just someone making use of their exceptionally tall height. And don't even get me started on Shaq and his 52% career free throw average.

 

[Warhawk_46]

I have to disagree with many on here who have the assessment of NFL players not being great athletes. Just because they play a specific sport doesn’t negate athletic ability. Are you telling me Christian McCaffrey is not a great athlete? Tim Tebow who went professional in both football and baseball isn’t a great athlete?

John Riggens who was 6’2” and 230 lbs running like a track athlete doesn’t qualify as great?

We can support white athletes without sounding bitter.

 

[yuri malenkov]

HB John Riggins is one of the Top 3 big nfl running backs of all time. (6-2/230)
Compare him to Republic of South Africa 100m Sprinter Emile Erasmus (6-4/233) who has ran an official 10.01 (0.2m/s). That’s a 9.8 100m (not yard) hand time and Emile is one level below the super elite 100m Men.
No comparison, Emile is far superior to Riggins. John is a domestic great athlete, Emile is a world great athlete. Big difference.

 

[Don Wassall]

I have to disagree with many on here who have the assessment of NFL players not being great athletes. Just because they play a specific sport doesn’t negate athletic ability. Are you telling me Christian McCaffrey is not a great athlete? Tim Tebow who went professional in both football and baseball isn’t a great athlete?

John Riggens who was 6’2” and 230 lbs running like a track athlete doesn’t qualify as great?

We can support white athletes without sounding bitter.

There's no bitterness, what so many of us know is bs is black football and basketball athletes being presented as automatic superstars in other sports if they deemed to try them. Hell, most black superstar athletes aren't even decent at golf.

 

[Warhawk_46]

Agreed, just because they are black doesn’t make them a great athlete. However, running in a straight line as a sprinter does also does not. It makes them good at one thing. I would expect world class level sprinter Emile to be faster than Riggins... he trains specifically for that event. But using Riggins as the example also has the ability to cut on a dime, catch a football from a professional QB (no easy feat) and then turn upfield while being hit by multiple 200 lbs + men and keep his balance.

That takes much more athletic ability than running down a track.

Bottom line: we can build up white athletes while still acknowledging the difficulties each sport presents and not trying to downplay a sport that blacks gravitate towards.

We all know how much white men get ignored and shunned because the msm doesn’t want to disparage the notion of black athletic supremacy. Countless whites’ have had careers die at the foot of this lie.

 

[dwid]

HB John Riggins is one of the Top 3 big nfl running backs of all time. (6-2/230)
Compare him to Republic of South Africa 100m Sprinter Emile Erasmus (6-4/233) who has ran an official 10.01 (0.2m/s). That’s a 9.8 100m (not yard) hand time and Emile is one level below the super elite 100m Men.
No comparison, Emile is far superior to Riggins. John is a domestic great athlete, Emile is a world great athlete. Big difference.

100m dash is only one measure of athleticism. Not to mention Riggins ran his 100 yard dash in high school in the mid 60s before anybody had even run an official sub 10 in the 100m.

Training and diet have come a long way since 1966. Riggin's training regimen was like Rocky in the Rocky V movie and he also drank a lot of beer. He also had two knee surgeries in the 70s, a time where one knee surgery was typically a career ender.

Despite this he went up and down the field at ease, even in his mid 30s. In modern times backs struggle to be productive after 30. Since 1984, only 2 backs have reached 1000 yards close to that age. Frank Gore at 33 and Adrian Peterson at 34. Out of countless 1000s that get pumped into the league. Yet I'm supposed to believe
Christian McCaffrey is the only White guy capable of being a featured back.

 

[Warhawk_46]

That is what grinds my gears... so many talented white backs have been buried in depth charts or not even given opportunity.

Recently off the top of my head:

Brandin Wegher- legit 4.4 speed, violent runner. Great hands. Practice squad guy and then... disappeared entirely. Huge talent!

Zach Zenner - whenever he got playing time he was awesome - clearly the best runner Detroit had but nope... buried in depth chart behind demonstrably inferior blacks and the discarded. Has yet to sign anywhere this year while talentless re-treads like Dare Ogunwele get picked up by Jacksonville...

Toby Gerhart - great in spit duty in Minn and then goes to the dumpster-fire that is Jacksonville and looks “ok” given the horrid line, scheme, receivers..
I’d he were black he would have been given more opportunities based in his Minn work alone.

 

[dwid]

That is what grinds my gears... so many talented white backs have been buried in depth charts or not even given opportunity.

Recently off the top of my head:

Brandin Wegher- legit 4.4 speed, violent runner. Great hands. Practice squad guy and then... disappeared entirely. Huge talent!

Zach Zenner - whenever he got playing time he was awesome - clearly the best runner Detroit had but nope... buried in depth chart behind demonstrably inferior blacks and the discarded. Has yet to sign anywhere this year while talentless re-treads like Dare Ogunwele get picked up by Jacksonville...

Toby Gerhart - great in spit duty in Minn and then goes to the dumpster-fire that is Jacksonville and looks “ok” given the horrid line, scheme, receivers..
I’d he were black he would have been given more opportunities based in his Minn work alone.

Yes I always bring up Thomas Jones for comparison. He was given multiple opportunites based on his college production alone. 6 years of mediocrity and on his 3rd team he was still force fed the ball and finally became productive. Nothing spectacular about him at all, always getting exactly what the blocking gave him. With all of those chances he became one of the few with 10k rushing yards in a career. If you scour the internet there's not even a highlight video of his career. There's just a few snippets because he didn't do anything exciting. He had 310 carries one year and scored a total of 1 touchdown.

While I think we have had better runners than Laird and Burkhead get screwed over, I still think those guys could be consistent 1k rushers if given the opportunity.

 

[Warhawk_46]

DWID, agreed. Laird and Burkhead could both be 1,000 yard rushers (especially Burkhead if he could stay healthy) I’d only given a chance!

Zenner could have absolutely done 3-4 years in a row... but he didn’t have the opportunity. But watch these highlights (on mute...)!

 

[Booth]

I don't know if he qualifies as a world-class athlete but after watching Kyle Williams the 6'4" 300lb nose tackle from Buffalo play golf, I think he comes close. He is a very solid looking golfer.

 

[yuri malenkov]

My reason for mentioning Riggins is to show that if he could have ever been as fast as Emile he would be no where near 230 pounds. I would think he would be around 200 max.

I agree about Kyle Williams being on the short list for World Class Athletes from the nfl. He had great body control and agility as well as hand-eye coordination despite being over 300 pounds. DT is a position where Whites are discriminated against so unless a White player is a world class athlete he would never get an opportunity. Same with CB, Jason Sehorn was a world class athlete and barely had a chance to play his natural position.

Only one poly has ever made the worlds strongest man final and yet they are gifted multiple opportunities for DL jobs in the nfl.

 

[yuri malenkov]

Trae Turner SS/CF for the Washington Nationals is Faster/quicker, has better body control/agility and fluidity, jumping ability and Hand-Eye coordination than every black CB in the nfl.

 

[Shadowlight]

Good to see that a baseball player is brought into the discussion too. You think of the raw animalistic athleticism of Mickey Mantle and Kirk Gibson. One could easily envision Mike Trout as a star running back in the NFL.

While in general yes the decathlon is seen as determining the best "all around " athlete the discussion above reveals there are no easy answers to this question apart from the fallacy of saying NBA and NFL players are the best and to leave it at that. Which is what prompted this thread in the first place.

One could see a decathlete excelling in football but for all of their athletic abilities one can't ensure they would be any good at skill sports such as baseball, tennis, soccer or golf?

Each sport requires different forms of great specialized athleticism. Any blanket statement about a certain sport being a better barometer of athleticism than others is on greater inspection folly in my estimation. Which doesn't mean it isn't a fun subject to bounce around.

But what is true is the media underrates the athleticism of sports that feature a higher percentage of white players such as tennis, hockey and baseball. Hence their emphasis on black dominated sports like basketball and football.

 

[shamrock]

Baseball requires incredible hand-eye coordination, the ability to hit a ball coming 100 mph at you, and the courage to stand in there against said pitch. Some of the greatest all-around athletes ever have been baseball players, including Mike Trout, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Walter Johnson (batted .433 one year). And we saw what happened to Michael Jordan when he tried to go baseball. Couldn't even hit .180. In the lowest minor league there is, thereby casting serious doubt upon his claim to the "Greatest Athlete of All Time." But it's difficult to say which sport requires the greatest athleticism; it depends more on the position or the player. I never saw a better athlete than Roger Staubach, though many cast doubt upon the athleticism of most quarterbacks today. Or should I say the msm does? Nothing, however, appears to require more conditioning than soccer or boxing.

 

[Shadowlight]

I agree some of the best all around athletes over the years have played baseball.

Nothing, however, appears to require more conditioning than soccer or boxing.

Tennis isn't far behind but good point. You rarely ever see pudgy soccer players.

 

[greyghost]

Sorry guys ...I don’t know where the world class athlete thing is coming from ..guys are either super heavy and strong ..very light and fast But athletic really athletic are the few .....someone like a Harrison smith ......but I doubt but a few nflers could take part in an Olympic event ....even tyreek hill would not make a usatf semi final .....track and field is a completely different world ........maybe. The odd decathlete ...and that would be mccaffrey ......all the science points at 7s rugby players having the best crossover possibilities to track and field ......and basketball players ..don’t get me started .....

 

[icsept]

NBA players are the world’s TALLEST athletes. They average 6’9”. Most of us won’t even know anyone that tall our whole life. Being tall is not a talent.

 

[Bucky]

Nate Robinson was a great Afflete and he got his head bounced off the canvas by a YouTube Star. LOL.

 

[greyghost]

Jesus lads ...if yee haven’t met tall. White people ,,,,,,,,your living a quite life ....average height for a male in Holland is 6feet 1 inch ....tallest race on the planet .,.europe Has plenty of tall white people ..Germany ....Sweden ....Central Europe ie czech rep .poland ...Ukraine Belorussian......Lithuania...Serbia ..Slovenia .....Croatia .... ..etc ....as its an American website ..I do understand most of you haven’t travelled much ......but Jesus lads the states is not a microcosm of the world it’s just part of it ....and it overrates itself ....top end athletes are white and European .....sports Also include . Such great sports like ..volleyball ...rugby ...ice hockey ...tennis ....handball....wrestling ....get a passport ..go for a flight see the world .....expand your mind .....you will not need the website to see how good white athletes are else where ...indoctrination myth and lack of confidence and fear has taken away from the white man in North America .....but we are beginning to take a real foot hold again .....through many young talented white athletes.... .....let us bring things together ..not try and out do , each other ....come together ...support ...give a future .....make a future .....