Shaq is the heaviest NBA player to ever play the game. He weighs 325 pounds and stands at 7'11". Shaq was first drafted in 1992 by the Orlando Magic. During his 19 season career he played on 6 different teams. These teams include Magic, Lakers, Miami, Suns, Cavilers, and Celtics.
During his career he won 4 NBA Championships, 3 with the Lakers and 1 with the Heat. O'Neil was one of the most dominate centers to play the game. He was not only part of the 3 championships that the Lakers won. He was the MVP of all three NBA Finals that the Lakers won, while he was on the team. This is pretty amazing considering Kobe Bryant was on the team during this time period. He is currently 1 of 3 players to have a NBA MVP, All-Star MVP, and NBA Finals MVP all in the same year. This puts him in the same category as Michael Jordan and Willis Reed.
During his Career Shaq averaged 23.7 PPG, 2.3 BPG, 2.5 APG, and 10.9 RPG. Shaq is an inspiration and role model to all centers that play basketball. He has a great work ethic and a will to win. Kobe and Shaq may have had their feuds but Shaq definitely proved that his play was more important or as important as Kobe's during their Championship runs together.
Time to say Happy Birthday to a legend of the NFL, Walter Payton. Payton was a running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons and was a big reason for their only Superbowl win in 1985. Payton was said to be the best player that people have seen, most notably said by Mike Ditka and was rated the #5 NFL player of all-time by NFL.com. Walter has two awards named after him the Walter Payton Awards and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
During his career with the Bears, Walter has 16,726 rushing yards, 4.4 yard per rush average, 110 rushing touchdowns, 4,538 receiving yards, 9.2 yards per catch average, and 15 touchdowns receiving. Payton also has the record for most touchdowns thrown by a non-quarterback position with 8.
Walter Payton died November 1st, 1999 from a liver disease. He was only 45 years old but he lived more then most do and still does to this day. His number 34 was retired by the Chicago Bears in remembrance of Payton's great work ethic and personality. He was one of the toughest players to ever play the game. He would run over a defender before running out of bounds and he would only miss one game in his career. He was eligible to play but it was the coaches decision he sat out.
Awards and Achievements:
#5 NFL Player of All-time by nfl.com
1985 Superbowl Champion
1977 AP NFL MVP
1977 PFWA NFL MVP
1977 Pro Bowl MVP
1977 NFL Offensive Player of the Year
NFL 1970's All-Decade Team
NFL 1980's All-Decade Team
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
34 Jersey Number Retired
9x Pro Bowler
6x First Team All Pro Selection
2x UPI NFC Player of the Year Award
Most Career games with 100 or more rushing yards (77)
Many fans currently say Jon "Bones" Jones is thee pound for pound champ, now that Silva lost to Chris Weidman. I am not here to say that Jones isn't a great fighter because he clearly is a young phenomenon that has come to the UFC and devastated the light heavyweight division. What I am saying is that George St. Pierre has more of a deserving resume of a pound for pound champion.
When you look at notable wins Jones has some good ones under his belt. Jones top wins consist of Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, and Chael Sonnen. Now, this is a good list of fight but lets take more of a look into these fights. Jon beat Ryan Bader in every dimension of the fight and just simple outclassed him. Bader did not seem ready for the fight with Jones and ended up losing in the 2nd round by guillotine choke. After that fight, Jones was given opportunity to fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight belt and he capitalized. He hit Shogun with early knee and from then on the whole fight was all Jon Jones. Jon ended up beating up a legend to many and winning by TKO in the 3rd round. His next fight was against Quinton Jackson, many thought Jackson would be a big test for Jones. Quinton said he trained the hardest he has ever trained for the fight but ended up getting man handled by the younger athlete. Jones ended up winning in the 4th round by rear naked choke. After the Rampage fight there was only a few fights that fans wanted to see, one was with Evans and the the other was with Machida. Machida ended up getting the fight. Machida did very well in the stand up and some watchers believe that Machida was even winning the stand up battle, but during a exchange Machida was caught with an elbow and Jones took over. Winning in the 2nd round by guillotine choke. After winning the fight Rashad Evans wanted a piece of his former training partner. There was a little bad blood between the two after Evans claims Jones said he would fight him (Evans) if he had too. Evans took Jones the distance but ended up losing by decision in the end. Jones next two fights were Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen. These two are both great fights but there both middleweights that moved up and got a title shot. Neither of these two deserved the title shot they got. They are both small for the division and would be beat by much of the top talent in light heavyweight. The two fighters probably also think the same, that is why Vitor moved back down to middleweight and Chael is planning to after his next fight with Shogun. Vitor actually almost beat Jones by arm bar and showed the world Jones weakness and broke a little of his aura.
Now lets take a look at GSP's most notable wins. George St Pierre has victories over Matt Hughes 2x, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn 2x, Josh Koscheck 2x, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, and Nick Diaz. Now if you look at these wins when GSP beat all of these people most of the were ranked in the Top 10 and most in the Top 5. He came into the division and took the crown from his old hero Matt Hughes. Who at the time dominated the welterweight division. In his first fight with Matt, GSP could barely look into Matt's face at the stare down. He ended up losing right before the bell rang in the first round by arm bar. After that loss GSP changed and gained a lot more confidence in himself. He ended up dominating his next 5 fights. These fight include the fighter Sean Sherk (who ended up moving down to lightweight after this fight) and B.J. Penn (Many think is a natural lightweight). GSP ended up beating up Sean Sherk pretty bad in the 2nd round by TKO, who was at the time 32-1-1. After that fight he fought BJ Penn and got pretty beat up in the first round. Many thought that Penn had the fight won but GSP ended up coming back and winning the next two rounds and surprised the crowd by winning a split decision. By winning this fight GSP was given a title shot and proved he deserved it. In the title fight Hughes was beat up from beginning to end and ended up losing by TKO in the second round. GSP ended the reign of Matt Hughes over the welterweight division that day and became welterweight champion for the first time. He ended up loses his next fight to Matt Serra by TKO in the first, but that was the last time GSP lost and that was in 2007. It is now 2013 and GSP has won his last 11 fights. At the time each of the 11 fighters were top 10 fighter and many were top 5. He gets much criticism for not finishing fights lately but he does dominate each of the 5
rounds he fights and there is no question by the fans who wins his fights even though he is not finishing them. There isn't ever a point in time anyone thinks GSP has a weak spot in his game, like they believe Jones may have a weak BJJ game.
After looking at both of the fighters records we can see that Jones has beat some good fighter with some big names but only 4 of these fights were actually even top 10 in his division when he beat them. He has a good story with his reign and beat some big name fighters but not all of them were even top 10 when they fought in his division. On the other hand, GSP has won 13 fights against top ten opponents. He gets less press around it because that is what people expect of him. They know he will win and they just take it for granted. He is expected to win by so many that after he wins and beats a person like Jake Shields on a 15 fight win streak, they consider Jake Shields a can, say he never deserved the fight, and say GSP never fights good competition. This is clearly not true and GSP is definitely deserving of the top spot as pound for pound king.
Anyone who can give you the belief that every fighter who fights him is undeserving and clears out a whole division numerous times is more deserving of the pound for pound king title. Not someone with only 4 top ten wins and who beats fighters from a lower division. Jones may at some point be the pound for pound king but he is going to have to wait his time just like GSP and wait for the new king to lose.
Adrian Peterson is considered the best running back in the NFL because of his great speed, power, and agility. Peterson was drafted 7th by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2007 NFL draft. During his rookie season he broke the single game rushing record that was then set by Jamal Lewis. He had 30 carriers, 3 touchdowns, and 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers. This helped him gain the 2007 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Peterson has been in the NFL for 6 years and he has yet to disappoint his fans. Peterson has a career 5 yards per carry rushing average, 99.4 yards per game rushing average, 76 rushing touchdowns, 8,849 career rushing yards.
In 2011, Peterson torn his ACL in a game against the Washington Redskins. After just 9 months of rehabilitation, Peterson returned to the game. Adrian had a breakout year, he average 6 rushing yards a carry, 131.1 rushing yards per game, 12 touchdowns, and 2,097 rushing yards. This put him just 8 yards short of Eric Dickerson's record at 2,105, but it did earn him the 2012 NFL MVP award.
Awards and Achievements:
2012 NFL MVP
2007 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
2012 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award
296 rushing yards in a singe game
2nd all time rushing yards in a single season with 2,097
Barry Bonds is a 14 time All-Star with a career lasting 22 seasons. For the first part of his career he played on the Pirates until he became a free agent in 1993 and signed with the San Francisco Giants.
Throughout his career Bonds has broken many records and achieved great things. One of his greatest accomplishments was becoming part of the 500-500 club, which he is the only member. This club means he has stolen 500 bases and hit 500 home runs. Another notable club which he is the only person to be a part of is the 40-40 club. In 1996 Bonds hit 40 home runs while having 40 steals.
In Bonds career he has a .298 BA, .444 OBP, .607 SLG, 762 HRs, 1996 RBIs, 514 SB, 2935 hits, and 2227 runs. A career like that makes accomplishments like these.
Awards:
7x NL MVP
3x NL Hank Aaron Award
14x Allstar
#6 Best baseball player of all time by The Sporting News
Johnny Manziel, also known as Johnny Football, is the only freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy. His talents and skills give him the ability to be a multidimensional quarterback. He was recruited out of High School to Texas A&M and this is where the national first really got to known Johnny but his great football talents did not start here.
During his days at Tivy High School Johnny also put up some good numbers. Junior year was the first year he started as quarterback. He had 2,903 passing yards, 1,544 rushing yards, 152 receiving yards and a total of 55 touchdowns. The next year as a senior his stats only went up. He had 3,609 passing yards, 45 passing touchdowns, 1,674 rushing yards, and 30 rushing touchdowns.
When he made it to Texas A&M students gave him the name "Johnny Football" and it stuck. Johnny's freshman year he had 3,706 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, 1,410 rushing yards, and 21 rushing touchdowns. While doing this, Johnny took Texas A&M on to win the Cotton Bowl Classic.
Awards and Achievements:
2012 Heisman Trophy Winner
Manning Award
Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award
2012 SEC Offensive Player of the Year
2013 Cotton Bowl Classic MVP
Most Games with 300+ passing and 100+ rushing yards
Derek Rose was drafted in the 2008 NBA Draft. That very same year he was voted the Rookie of the Year. Rose has lead the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs every year he has been in the league and even received the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year award. Michael Jordan is the only other Bull to ever achieve this award, but Rose is the youngest player to ever do it. During his career he has average 21 PPG, 6.8 APG, and has a FT% of .815.
In the first game of the 2011-2012 Season of the playoffs, against the 76ers. Rose was injured during a play while trying to jump. The injury was a torn ACL in his left knee, which would lead to him sitting out the whole 2012-2013 Season. Rose is now considered 100% and will play the first game of the 2013-2014 season.
Yoenis Cespedes wins the 2013 Home Run Derby. He started off with a great 1st round having 17 HRs, leaving the 2nd best person (C. Davis and B. Harper) in the dust with 8 Homers. He slowed down in the 2nd round with 6 HRs, giving him a total of 23 Homers for rounds 1 & 2. Harper started off the final round with an impressive 8 home runs but was overcome by Cespedes.
Randy Moss is considered to be the #2 ranked receiver of All-Time to ever play in the NFL. Moss was drafted into the NFL by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 as the 21st pick. He wanted to play for the Cowboys because he grew up as a Cowboys fan but Moss and the Cowboys did not see eye to eye.
His first year on the Viking, Moss helped the team become the number one offense in the NFL. That year they have scored a record 556 points. During the first game of the season, Moss had 4 receptions, scored two touchdowns, and had 95 receiving yards.
Randy Moss played in the NFL for 14 seasons and has played on 5 different NFL teams. (Vikings, Raiders, Patriots, Titans, and 49ers) In his career he has 982 receptions, 15,292 receiving yards, 156 touchdowns, and an average of 15.6 yards per catch.
Awards and Achievements:
7x Pro Bowler
5x All-Pro
1999 Pro Bowl MVP
NFC Player of the Year in 2003
AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
PFWA Offensive Rookie of the Year
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
Most Touchdown Receptions in a season with 23 (2007)
Most Touchdowns by a rookie in a season with 17 (1998)
On July 6, 2013 Chris Weidman shocked the world by beating Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva was the UFC Middleweight Champion and also known as the Pound for Pound King of Mixed Martial Arts. Some fans believe the win was a fluke and Anderson just disrespected Chris too much by keeping his hands down. The viewer who saw the fight saw Chris winning ever aspect of the fight from the standing battle to the ground game. Weidman is currently the #1 ranked Middleweight in the world and the #5 pound for pound fighter. He earned this by snapping Silva's seventeen fight win streak. Chris is currently undefeated with a record of 10-0. He has 4 wins by knockout, 3 by submission, and 3 by decision. He currently has victories over Tom Lawlor, Demian Maia, Mark Munoz, and Anderson Silva. Look forward to seeing more out of this 29 year old New York native.
Magic Johnson was one of slickest point guards in the NBA when it came to assists. He could pass from every angle and from any position. He received his nickname when he was in High School, when he had a triple double with 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists. After the game a sports writer wrote an article about him calling him Magic. Johnson played his whole 13 year NBA career with the LA Lakers and is in the argument to be the best Laker ever. In his career he averaged 19.5 PPG, 11.2 APG, 7.2 RPG, and 1.9 SPG. In his rookie season he won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. In 2007 he was rated the #1 point guard of all time by ESPN.
Calvin Johnson is a 6'5", 236lb wide receiver on the Detroit Lions. He was drafted in 2007 from Georgia Institute of Technology. He played for the Yellow Jackets from 2004-2006, which in that time he had 2,927 yards and 28 touchdowns. When drafted with the 2nd round draft pick by the Detroit Lions, he was expected to be traded to the Buccaneers. Instead, the Lions decided to keep Calvin Johnson and were glad they did. Calvin Johnson has broken many records in his young career and has helped make the Lions successful. He is currently considered the best wide receiver in the NFL by most.
The Iceman is one of the most dominant champions to have ever fought in the UFC. He helped bring the UFC to a new level and brought a new fan base that the UFC had never seen before. Chuck Liddell came out on the scene as a collegiate wrestlers but as his career progressed he became a great knockout artist. He has the second most knockouts in the UFC only behind Anderson Silva. He has wins over some of MMA's greats such as Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Renato Sobral, Jeremy Horn, and Guy Mezger.
Barry Sanders is known by many as the most elusive running back of all time. Barry Sanders played ten years in the NFL with the Detroit Lions. He average over 1,500 yards per season and left the NFL when being only 1,457 yards away from breaking the all-time rushing record. (Which at that time was held by Walter Payton.) In Sander's best year he rushed for 2,053 yards and 11 touchdowns. His average run per carry that year was 6.1 yards. He also had 305 receiving yards that year with 3 touchdowns. For this Barry Sanders is on lockdown!
Anderson Silva is regarded by many to be the best Mixed Martial Artist alive. He is currently the UFC Middleweight Champion and has an impressive record of 37-4. Anderson holds the record for most consecutive wins with 16 and most title defenses with 10. He is ranked as the number 1 at Middleweight in the world and the number 1 Pound for Pound fighter in the world.
Albert Pujols is what is known as an active Hall of Famer. Pujols is the only MLB player to ever hit for a batting average of .300, hit 30 home runs, and have more than 100 RBIs in his first ten seasons.
Albert was the National league Rookie of the Year in 2001. He is a 9x All-star, 2x World series Champion, 3x National League MVP, 2x National League Hank Aaaron Award winner, 6x Silver Slugger Award winner, and 2x Golden Glove recipient. For that Albert Pujols is a great Lockdown Athlete!
With all the talk of where Dwight Howard will go next season, it seems like a good time to remind people what they get when a center of this caliber comes to there team. Dwight Howard is a 7 time All NBA team selection, 5 time All Defensive team member, and 3 time Defensive Player of the Year.
Dwight is the first player in NBA history to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award consistently for 3 years. In his 9 year career, he has average 18.3 PPG, 2.2 BPG, and 12.9 RPG. With stats like these Howard could be a essential piece to any team.
