Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Favorite athletes of all time.

Mickey Mantle, Number 7, New York Yankees............

M A N T L E..........................................

John Tomac, Ned Overend.

Stevelyn, I don't know either but one of the defensive ends for the Dolphins of that era, three or four Super Bowl rings later, Vern DenHerder (I want to say, # 87 at the time but am not sure) is a friend of mine. Have heard some interesting stories.

We occasionally hunt pheasants or coyotes together. In '67, his senior year in high school here, the team he was a center on won the state basketball tournament.

He lives in the same community as I, his home town, and still does some farming.

I can only speak for those in my lifetime and the guys were heroes of mine growing up.

Baseball - Cal Rypkin Jr

Football - Bo Jackson

Basketball - Jordan

I also hold Reggie White, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter and Larry Bird in high regard as well. Lots of athletes these days couldnstand to learn from these greats.

Earl Campbell
Nolan Ryan
Larry Bird

Baseball, Tony Gwynn. I got to meet him once and shake his hand. He signed every baseball card i had of him without a second thought and i still have them all. He was a nice guy to talk to and was happy to give a fellow lefty some hitting advice. Major deal to a little leaguer....

Football, Dick Butkus. No holds barred, smashmouth football player.

Im sure there are other sports people watch, but those are the ones i grew up with.

Babe Ruth
Willy Mays
Carl Yastrzemski

Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Dick Butkus

Robby Leatham - an excellent pistol master

Helluva nice guy. All the heart in the world. Held 2 weight classes at the same time.

Later in life he had a restaurant. Walk around and talk to folks.
"You like that?" Pointing to your plate.
If ya did he'd go and get you some more. Lol

Lead with his face. Never wanted to be in the ring against him.

George, when I was in high school, we would to to Buena Vista basketball games. They were played in St. Mary's gym at that time. The seating was quite limited. In a game against Central, we wound up sitting next to the Central players on the bench. Vern fouled out and was, naturally, displeased. He took the end seat on the bench and we kept shoving our friend next to him so that he would bump into Vern. Being the decent sort that he is, he just ignored our foolishness. I also saw him in that state tournament at Vets'. If all NFL players were of his caliber, it would be a better world.

OJ Simpson....

Baseball - Hank Aaron
Football - Johnny Unitas
Basketball - Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson being a very close second

Athlete that was in the best physical condition - Ed Viesturs

Another vote for Howe, he'll of a player and didn't need a goon to protect him. 100+ mph wrist shot, and an outstanding puck handler. Hell, I was named after him and have met him several times,

Concur on Kaline, too. Class act, probably the last pro athlete to think he was paid too much.

Have to add Rusty Staub to the list. Only one of the 76 Tigers to take time out to actually talk to an 8 year old kid that asked for his autograph at spring training. Class act, but earned the nickname 'chug' for his (lack of) speed.

Paul Bryant

Jim Brown
Terry Bradshaw
Lynn Swan
Franco Harris
Charles Edward Greene, known as �Mean Joe� Greene
Dick Butkus
Walter Peyton
Johnny Unitas
Joe Montana
Jerry Rice
Joe Lewis
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. aka "Muhammad Ali"
Sugar Ray Leonard

Yea,,,, and don't forget about Jesse Ventura.

When I was a little kid, my mother used to bowl with Ray Nitschke's wife.

Said he was one of the nicest guys in the world. Learned some of his background - he didn't have the best upbringing.

From what I've read his wife deserves a lot of credit for him mellowing out. A lot of Packers said he was a mean person when he first came into the NFL.