Imitation or real deal: A look at athletes who have been labeled ‘greatest of all time’
Richard Suter
·3 min read
GOAT Farm
(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
The term GOAT has recently morphed into a positive character description, a one-eighty from decades ago when being the “goat” usually meant you failed in some form, and did so in epic fashion (think Rick Dockery in John Grisham’s “Playing for Pizza”).
Now, being called the GOAT means you are or were the greatest of all time!
Sort of.
Like much of today’s sports takes, the all-time honorable distinction gets tossed around often, where a handful of athletes have been labeled as such simply to help fill a social media graphic instead of an actual earned right.
Whether or not the specific athlete deserves such a bestowment is a different ballgame — or match—but we’ve scoured the web and listed the athletes who have been labeled as the GOAT.
We’d be interested to hear which ones you think do deserve the title. And which ones are not really in the discussion.
Jim Thorpe
(USA TODAY)
Babe Ruth
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
(Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Joe DiMaggio
(USA TODAY Network)
Mickey Mantle
(Photo By Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
Muhammad Ali
(The Courier-Journal-USA TODAY Sports)
Bill Russell
(Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
Gordie Howe
(Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK)
Ted Williams
(Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)
Pelé
(ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Jack Nicklaus
(Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images)
Willie Mays
(Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK)
Sugar Ray Robinson
(Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
(Jackie Joyner-Kersee-Olympic gallery)
Michael Jordan
(Anne Ryan-USA TODAY)
Roger Federer
(Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports)
Serena Williams
(Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)
Rafael Nadal
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup)
Novak Djokovic
(Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Martina Navratilova
(Photo by Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images)
Billie Jean King
(Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports)
Joe Montana
(Photo By USA TODAY Sports (c) Copyright 1989 by USA TODAY Sports)
Tom Brady
(USA TODAY)
Jesse Owens
(Allsport Hulton/Archive)
Usain Bolt
(Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Sheryl Swoopes
(Ronald Martinez /Allsport)
Lionel Messi
(Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
LeBron James
(Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
Katie Ledecky
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Michael Phelps
(Gepa Pictures via USA TODAY Sports)
Nolan Ryan
(USA TODAY)
Lindsey Vonn
(Mitchell Gunn-USA TODAY Sports)
Mia Hamm
(ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Wilt Chamberlain
(Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports)
Dhyan Chand
(PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
Carl Lewis
(USA TODAY Sports)
Jim Brown
(Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
Diego Maradona
(Valeria Witters/Witters Sport via USA TODAY Sports)
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