I think that anyone who makes a living in professional sports (with the possible exception of "Texas Hold 'Em' players), are probably pretty athletic. Having been a high school coach for over four decades, I see athletic and non-athletic kids every day. Athletic kids react. they have a sixth sense that allows them to do the right things at the right time. Non-athletic kids are more mechanical. They sometimes appear ill at ease when they are confronted with a situation that requires a quick reaction. In fact, truly non-athletic kids simply don't have the capacity to react because they don't possess the athletic skill to do it. I think that to say that Peyton Manning is non-athletic borders on blasphemy. I think that the media has created a world where we actually believe that if you aren't a super star professional athlete, you are suddenly chopped liver when it comes to athleticism. I personally think that people who have that view aren't being very realistic.

SQ_Crazies wrote: I mean, he does exactly what you described in your #2, yet you aren't willing to put him in that category because it doesn't support your argument?

What argument? I'm not arguing with anybody, clearly you're looking to argue something that is entirely irrelevant to this thread.

Throwing a football 60 yards means you have a good arm, it doesn't make you freakishly athletic.

Peyton Manning moves like a wounded duck inside the pocket, but he has good pocket awareness.

Again, Michael Vick was a great athlete at the QB position, but he wasn't a good QB.

There is a difference.

LTrain23 wrote: 2) Athletic as in a person who is physically capable of doing things that are insanely difficult.

How on Earth am I required to spell this out for you?

How can you say that Peyton doesn't fit that mold as well as your #1 description?

I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm not sure how that isn't a legit question..

I like to call Peyton Manning a "mental" athlete. He is successful because of his knowledge, not so much his physical athleticism.

It depends on how you define athleticism.

Some define it as insane hand eye coordination when it comes to athletics.

If that's your definition then MLB is your sport of best "athletes" as nothing is harder to do hand/eye wise than hitting a baseball.

If running/jumping/etc is your definition then I would agree that the NBA probably is.

Every athlete at the elite level does something that very few people in the world can do. How many people can do the dunks of an NBA player? How many people can throw a baseball 95mph? How many people can hit a baseball 450 ft? How many people can throw a football 50 yards with accuracy? How many people could complete an Ironman triathalon?

Not a sport "league" but I think amateur wrestlers are the best conditioned.

rock_knutne wrote: NHL, hockey players go through hell, especially to win the Stanley Cup.

+1. They do not look it, with all the pads, but NHL players are built. Plus, they go through more pain than many other sports.

BR1986FB wrote: Not a sport "league" but I think amateur wrestlers are the best conditioned.

Amatuer wrestlers and professional MMA fighters are in this boat, best conditioned athletes in any sport, no doubt about it.

And before anyone brings up triathletes and marathon runners, pure aerobic endurance is much different than the combination of aerobic endurance and muscle endurance that goes into any form of "grappling" (wrestling, greco, jiu jitsu, MMA fighting, etc).

I was more "tired" after a 6 minute wrestling match in HS than a 48 minute football game playing both ways, and it wasn't even close.

Peyton Manning isn't a great athlete? You're kidding aren't you LTrain? If what Manning did was so easy we wouldn't spend so much time talking about busts like JaBustus Russell and Ryan Leaf

NBA and it isn't even close

jmog wrote:

BR1986FB wrote: Not a sport "league" but I think amateur wrestlers are the best conditioned.

Amatuer wrestlers and professional MMA fighters are in this boat, best conditioned athletes in any sport, no doubt about it.

And before anyone brings up triathletes and marathon runners, pure aerobic endurance is much different than the combination of aerobic endurance and muscle endurance that goes into any form of "grappling" (wrestling, greco, jiu jitsu, MMA fighting, etc).

I was more "tired" after a 6 minute wrestling match in HS than a 48 minute football game playing both ways, and it wasn't even close.

I agree. Not a sport but the first pro wrestling match that I actually worked (roughly 6-7 minutes, not a squash) I thought my lungs were going to fly out my mouth. It's not the nonstop motion as much as the resistance/use of muscles while involved in the nonstop motion that's a killer.

Athlete-NBA
Conditioned- wrestling (real)

NHL--to do what they do,on a thin blade while wielding a stick and maneuvering a little puck around,is plain sick

NHL-Not everyone can skate in this world, what they're able to do with a stick and a puck is just insane, being able to elevate the puck while flying down the ice. Someone brought up LeBron James being 6'9 260. There's a man in the NHL by the Zdeno Chara who is 6'9 255, and with him on skates he is over 7 feet tall. He recorded a the hardest shot ever in NHL history with the shot being 105.4mph.


When it comes to being the most conditioned hands down amatuer wrestling wins this by a long shot, those 6mins of your life are the most tiring 6mins you'll ever go through. MMA training is just insanely harder.

jordo212000 wrote: Peyton Manning isn't a great athlete? You're kidding aren't you LTrain? If what Manning did was so easy we wouldn't spend so much time talking about busts like JaBustus Russell and Ryan Leaf

BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE INTANGIBLES..

This isn't hard to follow along with. JaMarcus Russell has a GREAT arm, I don't think anybody is labeling him as a great athlete.

He's not mentally tough enough to be an NFL QB. He doesn't have the work ethic either.

LTrain23 wrote:

jordo212000 wrote: Peyton Manning isn't a great athlete? You're kidding aren't you LTrain? If what Manning did was so easy we wouldn't spend so much time talking about busts like JaBustus Russell and Ryan Leaf

BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE INTANGIBLES..

This isn't hard to follow along with. JaMarcus Russell has a GREAT arm, I don't think anybody is labeling him as a great athlete.

He's not mentally tough enough to be an NFL QB. He doesn't have the work ethic either.

Crosby might have the hardest work ethic in the NHL

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3424124


Heres what other Pro athletes think....

^^^^Thats 2 years old.

Who You Need to Watch: Kevin Dallman, Kings D.
"He plays volleyball and tennis. He does gymnastics, even backflips. He's the best on the team at everything we try." -Patrick O'Sullivan, Kings

O'Sullivan isn't on the kings anymore, and also Dallman played on season in the NHL since he couldn't make he decided to go play in a lesser league in the KHL.

Why does it matter if its 2 years old?

I guarantee if you ask those same pro athletes the same question now...nothigns changed

The pros got most of that article "right".

They messed up on two major spots.

The best retired athlete...sorry, but Bo Jackson is a MUCH better athlete than Jordan. Jordan maybe the best basketball player of all time but Bo was a top player in two major professional leagues.

He quite possibly would have been the best RB of all time if he hadn't got hurt and was an all star baseball player.

Oh, and there are not many baseball outfielders in the history of the game with a better throwing arm than Bo Jackson.

He had the size of an NFL LB, the speed of a WR, the hand/eye coordination to hit in baseball, and the throwing arm of an NFL QB...the man was by far the best athlete I have ever seen play any sport.

Oh, and they screwed up the toughest to play, sorry, but again its "real" wrestling, amateur or MMA if it counts now.

jmog wrote: It depends on how you define athleticism.

Some define it as insane hand eye coordination when it comes to athletics.

If that's your definition then MLB is your sport of best "athletes" as nothing is harder to do hand/eye wise than hitting a baseball.

If running/jumping/etc is your definition then I would agree that the NBA probably is.

Anyone suggesting that the MLB is full of the best athletes in professional sports is frankly an idiot.

But anyone suggesting that any one sport holds a monopoly on athleticism or conditioning or strength is equally misguided.

I guess Peyton Manning isn't physically capable of doing things that are insanely difficult.

News to me.

Don't blame me, you made your own argument look stupid.