Great Athletes of Your Lifetime

[Germerican]

I haven't been around long enough to witness some of the golden years in sports, but I have seen some legends rise and enter the record books. What athletes in their respective sports have you seen during your life that can be considered the greatest of all time?

MLB: Ken Griffey Jr.
NBA: Michael Jordan
NHL: Wayne Gretzky
NFL: Brett Favre
Golf: Tiger Woods
Boxing: Mike Tyson
Soccer: Ronaldo
Tennis: Pete Sampras
MMA: Randy Coutour
NASCAR: Jeff Gordon
F1: Michael Schumacher

 

[Sox_Fan]

MLB: Barry Bonds
NBA: Michael Jordan
NFL: Joe Montana
PGA: Tiger Woods
Boxing: Going with match-ups, not an individual. Gatti - Ward

Don't follow the rest of the sports enough to give an opinion. I know many will scoff at my MLB pick but I consider him the best player I have seen in my lifetime and that opinion was formed from his play well before the period when sterioids allegedly played a part in his performance.

 

[Sanzabar]

MLB: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols
NBA: MJ, Lebron, Kobe
NFL: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson
Golf: Tiger Woods
Boxing: Roy Jones Jr, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao
Tennis: Roger Federer

 

[Jeanthemachine]

MLB - Ted Williams / Bo Jackson
NBA - Larry Bird / Michael Jordan
NFL - Tom Brady / OJ Simpson (sorry)
NHL - Bobby Orr / Wayne Gretzky

Could be a Boston bias in play

 

[T0AD]

MLB: Johnny Bench
NBA: Larry Bird
NHL: Wayne Gretzky
NFL: Peyton Manning
Golf: Jack and/or Arnie (I would still pay to watch them over any other golfer)
Tennis: Martina Navratilova
NASCAR: Jeff Gordon
F1: Alain Prost


I also lean a bit toward an Indy fandom, but you can't deny that Manning, Bench (Cincinnati only a couple hours from Indy), Bird, and Gordon aren't elite in their fields. And Gretzky's first pro contract was with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA, a team to which our family had season tickets.