Best Gen X Athlete Ever

[ifmanis5]

Webster's dictionary defines Gen X as humans who were born between the years 1965 and 1980. Also known as 'The MTV Generation' or the 'Latchkey Generation' and described as 'slackers.' There are roughly 65 million members of this generation in the U.S.
Cultural icons from this generation include Tupac, Kurt Cobain, QT and PTA.
But who was its most accomplished athlete? A few of the contenders:

TB12 | Born 1977 | 7 Soups, lots of records | Feels a bit corpo to be a slacker but he has the best resume
Tiger Woods | Born 1975 | 15 Majors | Loves video games, kind of a sex weirdo, it tracks
Pete Sampras | Born 1971 | 14 Slams | Kind of a forgotten king, fits the profile
Griffey Junior | Born 1969 | 630 HR, 83.8 career WAR | Backhatter icon
Pedro | Born 1971 | 3 Cys, 2.91 Career FIP | Wake up The Bambino, yes I am a homer
Martin Brodeur | Born 1972 | 3 Cups, 2 Golds | They named a rule for him and the position players (Jagr, Selanne, Lindros, Kariya, Chara, Forsberg, Roenick) don't feel quite right but this one is debatable
Annika Sorenstam | Born 1970 | 10 Majors, 90 pro wins | Made a ton of money, has not said or done anything weird to this point
Steffi Graf | Born 1969 | 22 Slams | Most dominate person in her sport, married another Gen X icon, possibly benefitted from a stabbing
Tony Hawk | Born 1968 | Skate legend, dubious 'athlete' title but is possibly the most Gen X person alive
Mike Tyson | Born 1966 | Youngest boxer to ever win the heavyweight belt, the most feared man on the planet and later flamed out thus doing his generation proud
Kelly Slater | Born 1972 | 11 surfing champs ("unmatched" says Wiki) | And 27 episodes of Baywatch. X Legend.

Did I miss anyone? I ran out of time for the footballers who include Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldinho.

Tom or Tiger have this, right? In summary, this generation is a land of contrasts.

EDIT: I did forget basketball somehow. It's Shaq, Kobe or Duncan for sure. Hamm and Lemieux are also tops for their sports. All great but I don't think any of them top Tom or Tiger.

 

[Bergs]

Shaq would be the most glaring absence I see in your list.

 

[NYCSox]

Not sure how you tick off a number of hockey players and leave out Mario Lemieux.

 

[Ale Xander]

Mia Hamm should be on the list

Both P. Bure and Mario over any of the hockey players listed. And there are at least 100 hockey players I'd put in over Zdeno

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Mia Hamm (1976) is arguably a top two female soccer player of all time. She played during an era in which there weren't many club opportunities to play when they weren't with their national teams, but she was an absolute killer in international soccer. She had a Messi-level degree of dominance over her competitors and, like Messi, was the rare player that could play anywhere in attack and was excellent at basically every important facet of the game.

 

[Ale Xander]

Mia Hamm (1976) is arguably a top two female soccer player of all time. She played during an era in which there weren't many club opportunities to play when they weren't with their national teams, but she was an absolute killer in international soccer. She had a Messi-level degree of dominance over her competitors and, like Messi, was the rare player that could play anywhere in attack and was excellent at basically every important facet of the game.

1972, and top 1 inarguably.

 

[ifmanis5]

Not sure how you tick off a number of hockey players and leave out Mario Lemieux.

Didn't check his age, thought he was too old but he does qualify. 1965 is same as Tyson. He wins.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

1972, and top 1 inarguably.

Oops on the date.

I won't argue with anybody that has Hamm #1 but Marta has a really good case too.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

Baseball - Pujols or ARod are arguably better than Griffey. Harder comparison to a pitcher.
Boxing - Floyd Mayweather (This nomination is for Skrub, his number 1 fanboy)
Racing - Michael Schumacher
Soccer - Zidane or Thierry Henry
Track and Field - Michael Johnson

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Floyd Mayweather is a good one.

For men's soccer I think its Ronaldo.

 

[Kliq]

Comparing athletes across different disciplines is a silly exercise, would make more sense to go sport-by-sport.

The best basketball player from Gen X is Tim Duncan (born in 1976).

The most dominant athlete from Gen X would have to be Aleksandr Karelin.

 

[Ale Xander]

Best athlete born between 1965 and 1980 was quite possibly Secretariat.

 

[Huntington Avenue Grounds]

How many Gen X athletes are still active and/or still competing at a high level? Even an '80 is pushing 42 at this point.

And just like that I feel oooooooooooold

 

[loshjott]

Best athlete born between 1965 and 1980 was quite possibly Secretariat.

No doubt. If TB12 were that fast he'd have won another half dozen Super Bowls, beat Emmitt Smith's rushing record, and sired a few future MVPs.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

How many Gen X athletes are still active and/or still competing at a high level? Even an '80 is pushing 42 at this point.

And just like that I feel oooooooooooold

The last significant one may have just called it quits yesterday. Assuming Pujols is done, that is.

 

[cshea]

Zdeno Chara is still playing.

Phil Mickelson, too. You can quibble with "high level" but he did win a major last year.

Edit: You can also include Jaromir Jagr who is still active at age 49 and playing in the Czech league.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Kelly Slater may be even more of a freak than Brady. I know I won't convince anyone here but what he has done across several different eras of surfing parallels Brady's career. They both managed to dominate a wide variety of competition over decades. In Slater's case, he essentially had to learn new tricks to keep up with younger rivals who were literally pushing boundaries of how competitive surfing looks.

I agree that its almost impossible to compare athletes across disciplines but what Slater has done over his career is amazing.

 

[Bozo Texino]

If we're getting really global, Sachin Tendulkar is up there.

 

[Bozo Texino]

Cael Sanderson and Aleksandr Karelin deserve mention, too.

EDIT: Sorry. Recency bias with Sanderson. John Smith juuuuust makes the cut, and he was more impressive at the international level.

 

[opes]

Nick Punto retired to give everyone else a chance.

 

[edoug]

Barry Sanders and Michael Schumacher should be on the list.

 

[jaytftwofive]

Webster's dictionary defines Gen X as humans who were born between the years 1965 and 1980. Also known as 'The MTV Generation' or the 'Latchkey Generation' and described as 'slackers.' There are roughly 65 million members of this generation in the U.S.
Cultural icons from this generation include Tupac, Kurt Cobain, QT and PTA.
But who was its most accomplished athlete? A few of the contenders:

TB12 | Born 1977 | 7 Soups, lots of records | Feels a bit corpo to be a slacker but he has the best resume
Tiger Woods | Born 1975 | 15 Majors | Loves video games, kind of a sex weirdo, it tracks
Pete Sampras | Born 1971 | 14 Slams | Kind of a forgotten king, fits the profile
Griffey Junior | Born 1969 | 630 HR, 83.8 career WAR | Backhatter icon
Pedro | Born 1971 | 3 Cys, 2.91 Career FIP | Wake up The Bambino, yes I am a homer
Martin Brodeur | Born 1972 | 3 Cups, 2 Golds | They named a rule for him and the position players (Jagr, Selanne, Lindros, Kariya, Chara, Forsberg, Roenick) don't feel quite right but this one is debatable
Annika Sorenstam | Born 1970 | 10 Majors, 90 pro wins | Made a ton of money, has not said or done anything weird to this point
Steffi Graf | Born 1969 | 22 Slams | Most dominate person in her sport, married another Gen X icon, possibly benefitted from a stabbing
Tony Hawk | Born 1968 | Skate legend, dubious 'athlete' title but is possibly the most Gen X person alive
Mike Tyson | Born 1966 | Youngest boxer to ever win the heavyweight belt, the most feared man on the planet and later flamed out thus doing his generation proud
Kelly Slater | Born 1972 | 11 surfing champs ("unmatched" says Wiki) | And 27 episodes of Baywatch. X Legend.

Did I miss anyone? I ran out of time for the footballers who include Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldinho.

Tom or Tiger have this, right? In summary, this generation is a land of contrasts.

EDIT: I did forget basketball somehow. It's Shaq, Kobe or Duncan for sure. Hamm and Lemieux are also tops for their sports. All great but I don't think any of them top Tom or Tiger.

Are you deliberately forgetting Mr. Brady, born in 1977. Is this a slap at him?

 

[Ale Xander]

Are you deliberately forgetting Mr. Brady, born in 1977. Is this a slap at him?

Um, he's the first one listed.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

I would include Deion Sanders (born 1967). Two-sport athlete.

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

Best athlete born between 1965 and 1980 was quite possibly Secretariat.

And Joey Chestnut just misses the cutoff.

 

[ifmanis5]

I would include Deion Sanders (born 1967). Two-sport athlete.

Very good candidate. Michael Schumacher was another good shout out.

 

[Ale Xander]

How much of Schumacher’s success was due to the Ferrari engines and chassis, though?

 

[fiskful of dollars]

Tony Hawk.
Michael Johnson

 

[santadevil]

Baseball - Pujols or ARod are arguably better than Griffey. Harder comparison to a pitcher.

For young me, it was Griffey
For older me...it's Pedro 1aaa and Griffey 1aab

ARod was absolutely dominant, but throwing in everything else we know now, he falls off the list pretty quickly
And it may be possible that Pujols is actually a senior citizen

 

[Cellar-Door]

Sue Bird should probably be on the list. Probably a top 3-5 all-time in her sport and still playing

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

How much of Schumacher’s success was due to the Ferrari engines and chassis, though?

I am reminded of the Spike Lee "it's gotta be the shoes" Nike commercials with Jordan.

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

If we are looking at athletes who were dominant but also then zoom in on their peaks to separate them from the rest of the elite crowd, then Pedro, Tiger, Tyson.

 

[Rovin Romine]

Eh. None of the above. If these clowns were true gen-Xers we’d have heard of their prowess at dig-dug and pitfall.

 

[chilidawg]

No doubt. If TB12 were that fast he'd have won another half dozen Super Bowls, beat Emmitt Smith's rushing record, and sired a few future MVPs.

He may well have sired a few MVP's, too soon to tell. I'll give you the rushing record though, TB gets a major ding for not getting close there.

 

[BigMike]

You are missing the Pillars of Norweigan (and really winter ) sports.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen 1974
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie 1967
Marit Bjørgen 1980

And for swimming
Dr Jenny Thompson

 

[BigMike]

And we are not talking best athlete, but rather, best player competitor in an athletic field.

As there were probably thousands of better "athletes" than Brady during his time in the NFL, but not better players.

Baseball - Pujols or ARod are arguably better than Griffey. Harder comparison to a pitcher.
Boxing - Floyd Mayweather (This nomination is for Skrub, his number 1 fanboy)
Racing - Michael Schumacher
Soccer - Zidane or Thierry Henry
Track and Field - Michael Johnson

Pujols may slightly exceed Griffey in terms of offense, and peak offense. The 10 gold gloves in CF mean Griffey is the better player

 

[ifmanis5]

Eh. None of the above. If these clowns were true gen-Xers we’d have heard of their prowess at dig-dug and pitfall.

Hell yeah. Jump that scorpion.

 

[Ale Xander]

You are missing the Pillars of Norweigan (and really winter ) sports.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen 1974
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie 1967
Marit Bjørgen 1980

I respectfully also nominate Johann Olav Koss (1968)

 

[BigMike]

I respectfully also nominate Johann Olav Koss (1968)

Yeah good choice. His 1992 olympics were limited by having surgery on his pancreas a les than a week before the event, and still he got a gold and a silver, and then the 4 golds in 1996, with 2 records that lasted until they changed the equipment rules.

 

[Mooch]

Great call earlier on Aleksandr Karelin in Wrestling (Born in 1967).

We only remember him as the previously unbeatable Russian who lost to Rulon Gardner in the 2000 Olympics (0-1) in Sydney but that was after one of the most dominant athletic careers ever. He was undefeated for 13 years and that one point he gave up to Gardner was the first one he'd surrendered in 6 years. Along the way, he piled up 3 Olympic gold medals (plus the silver in 2000), 9 World Championships (he never lost a match there), 2 World Cup golds and 12 European Championships. His total record in competition is a staggering 887-2 with both losses by a single point. He was such a dominant figure in the Olympics that he was the national flag bearer three times, for three different teams (USSR in 88, Unified Team in 92, Russia in 96.) He also created his own move (the Karelin Lift) which was previously only used at lighter weights because nobody else ever had the strength to execute it against heavyweights.

He's the greatest wrestler of all time and it's not particularly close.

 

[Erik Hanson's Hook]

Edit: Nvm

 

[Fred not Lynn]

Yeah good choice. His 1992 olympics were limited by having surgery on his pancreas a les than a week before the event, and still he got a gold and a silver, and then the 4 golds in 1996, with 2 records that lasted until they changed the equipment rules.

I’ll eagerly third Koss’s nomination…and add a note that his achievements as an athlete pale in comparison to what’s he’s contributed to society as a humanitarian. This guy should have received a Nobel Prize by now…and, he’s just a plain ol’ good guy.

 

[Rovin Romine]

Great call earlier on Aleksandr Karelin in Wrestling (Born in 1967).

I'd go so far as to say he's the presumptive favorite.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

Great call earlier on Aleksandr Karelin in Wrestling (Born in 1967).

He's the greatest wrestler of all time and it's not particularly close.

I don’t disagree on the athletic results part, and we’re not Cooperstown…but shouldn’t we care at least a little bit about doping?

 

[jaytftwofive]

Are you deliberately forgetting Mr. Brady, born in 1977. Is this a slap at him?

TB 12 I see it now. Dah my mistake. Sorry.

 

[jaytftwofive]

Webster's dictionary defines Gen X as humans who were born between the years 1965 and 1980. Also known as 'The MTV Generation' or the 'Latchkey Generation' and described as 'slackers.' There are roughly 65 million members of this generation in the U.S.
Cultural icons from this generation include Tupac, Kurt Cobain, QT and PTA.
But who was its most accomplished athlete? A few of the contenders:

TB12 | Born 1977 | 7 Soups, lots of records | Feels a bit corpo to be a slacker but he has the best resume
Tiger Woods | Born 1975 | 15 Majors | Loves video games, kind of a sex weirdo, it tracks
Pete Sampras | Born 1971 | 14 Slams | Kind of a forgotten king, fits the profile
Griffey Junior | Born 1969 | 630 HR, 83.8 career WAR | Backhatter icon
Pedro | Born 1971 | 3 Cys, 2.91 Career FIP | Wake up The Bambino, yes I am a homer
Martin Brodeur | Born 1972 | 3 Cups, 2 Golds | They named a rule for him and the position players (Jagr, Selanne, Lindros, Kariya, Chara, Forsberg, Roenick) don't feel quite right but this one is debatable
Annika Sorenstam | Born 1970 | 10 Majors, 90 pro wins | Made a ton of money, has not said or done anything weird to this point
Steffi Graf | Born 1969 | 22 Slams | Most dominate person in her sport, married another Gen X icon, possibly benefitted from a stabbing
Tony Hawk | Born 1968 | Skate legend, dubious 'athlete' title but is possibly the most Gen X person alive
Mike Tyson | Born 1966 | Youngest boxer to ever win the heavyweight belt, the most feared man on the planet and later flamed out thus doing his generation proud
Kelly Slater | Born 1972 | 11 surfing champs ("unmatched" says Wiki) | And 27 episodes of Baywatch. X Legend.

Did I miss anyone? I ran out of time for the footballers who include Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldinho.

Tom or Tiger have this, right? In summary, this generation is a land of contrasts.

EDIT: I did forget basketball somehow. It's Shaq, Kobe or Duncan for sure. Hamm and Lemieux are also tops for their sports. All great but I don't think any of them top Tom or Tiger.

Lemieux has to be on there.

 

[jaytftwofive]

Serena Williams missed it by a year born in 1981. She's a millennial. Venus was pretty darn good also. Born a year or two earlier. If Serena was born in 80 she might be no.1.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Kelly Slater keeps winning. The surfer he beat in this contest is 24 and the son of a pro Slater used to surf against decades ago.

Evergreen surfing legend Kelly Slater has won his eighth Pipeline Pro, astonishingly 30 years after his first.

Slater became the oldest surfer to ever win the event, achieving it just six days shy of his 50th birthday. He first won at Pipeline in 1992, but this is his first victory at the break in nine years, and his first win on the WSL Tour in six years.