Top Ten Greatest Living North American Pro Athletes In Team Sports

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

Tom Brady retired today. You know this already. But it did get me thinking of who are the greatest living athletes across pro sports. Brady is obviously high on the list but where does he fall? 

I kept it to North America because I don't follow soccer. I know Lionel Messi is considered to be the greatest soccer player ever but I have no clue. I also wanted to keep it to professional sports. Micheal Phelps might be the best athlete but how do I compare him to Tom Brady? He has to be dominant once every four years. Pro athletes have different expectations.

I also stuck with team sports. So no Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, George Foreman, Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield. 

Bo Jackson didn't crack my top 10. Neither did Deion Sanders. Playing two sports is amazing but I was looking more at dominance  than just sheer athleticism. That's a different kind of list. This is more about greatness.

Here are the Top Ten Greatest Living North American Pro Athletes in Team Sports:

Focus On Sport. Getty Images.

10. Lawrence Taylor

1981-93, New York Giants

John Madden said LT changed the way defense was played. He's the last defensive player to win the NFL MVP. Taylor was the best player on two Super Bowl winning teams. It's easy to look past all of that and focus on his personal problems. Taylor's life has absolutely been a chaotic mess but I'm pretty sure Joe Theismann would have no problem having LT on this list.

B Bennett. Getty Images.

9. Bobby Orr

1967-76 Boston Bruins, 1976-78 Chicago Blackhawks

Orr was a Hall of Famer when he was only 31. They waived the waiting period for him. That's such a big deal, they have only done twice since Orr (Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky). Orr won the Norris Award for the best defenseman eight years in a row and is known as the best defenseman in NHL history.

When I was growing up in New Hampshire in the 1990's, Orr was talked about in almost hushed legendary tones. I was in Long Island in the 80s, people didn't even talk about the 4-time champion Islanders in that way. 

Getty Images.

8. Larry Bird

(1979-92 Boston Celtics)

7. Magic Johnson

(1979-91, 96 Los Angeles Lakers)

Magic was better but this is the greatest rivalry between two players in sports history. They battled in college together, came into the NBA the same year and finished their career playing almost the same amount of games (Bird played nine more games). They each even won three MVP awards each. Magic did win more titles (4-3) but you could make an argument that he had the better team around him. But even that is very close.

People talk about Williams/DiMaggio being a great sports rivalry but Williams was clearly the better hitter and DiMaggio obviously had so much more team success. Magic vs. Bird is the best ever.

Joseph Patronite. Getty Images.

6. Jerry Rice 

1985-2000 San Francisco 49ers, 2001-04 Oakland Raiders, 2004 Seattle Seahawks

It's wild to look at the era Jerry Rice played in, compare him to modern day receivers and still see him come out on top. The rule changes over the last 20 years have benefitted passing. When Rice was at his absolute best, the game revolved around passing. He has no business being the man with the most receiving yards in NFL history yet:

ALL-TIME RECEIVING YARDS

1. Jerry Rice 22,895

2. Larry Fitzgerald 17,492

3. Terrell Owens 15,934

16. Julio Jones 13,629 (top active player)

There is no active player and even close and the ones that are as old as shit. Rice is primed to be number one at least a decade from now.

Bettmann. Getty Images.

5. Willie Mays

1951-52, 1954-72 New York/San Francisco Giants, 1972-73 New York Mets

Mays is the greatest living baseball player. I talk about him in the blog below. 

From that blog:

It's hard to put Mays' greatness in numbers. Trout already has more MVP awards than Mays ever won. He only hit 50 or more homers twice in a season. The thing with Mays is that he was exceptional for an entire generation. He went to 24 All-Star games. He only played 23 seasons (they played the ASG twice a season for four years in the late 50's/early 60's)! He was fantastic at everything. He was one of the best center fielders ever. He had 660 home runs. He could hit for contact. He was an extraordinary base stealer. There was no part of Wille Mays' game that wasn't as good as gets.

Ronald Martinez. Getty Images.

4. Lebron James

2003-10, 14-18 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2010-14 Miami Heat, 2018-present Los Angeles Lakers

LBJ is the only active player on this list. With Brady gone, that might be a blog for another day of who are the greatest active players now. I don't like Lebron James. I don't root for Lebron James. I think it's funny when Lebron James loses.

But now there is no question who the best active player in North American team sports is. It's Lebron James.

Bruce Bennett. Getty Images.

3. Wayne Gretzky

1979-88 Edmonton Oilers, 1988-96 Los Angeles Kings, 1996 St. Louis Blues, 1996-99 New York Rangers

Here's the best example of how Wayne Gretzky was regarded during his prime. There was a Saturday morning cartoon called ProStars. It has Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Gretzky teaming up to fight crime. It was a very stupid show. I remember people thinking Bo being there was a reach. No one ever had a problem with Gretzky and Jordan being in the same breath (or on the same stupid show).

Baseball's most iconic player is long dead in Babe Ruth. Same with boxing and Muhammad Ali. Hockey is lucky that its greatest and most legendary player is still alive. 

Jim Rogash. Getty Images.

2. Tom Brady

2000-19 New England Patriots, 2020-22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

You've read about Brady all day so I'll just post one stat (counting playoffs):

Bill Belichick with Tom Brady as his starting QB: 249-75 (.769)

Bill Belichick with anyone else as his starting QB: 73-80 (.477)

1. Michael Jordan

1983-93, 95-98 Chicago Bulls, 2001-03 Washington Wizards

This is an easy pick for me. The question isn't if he's the best living athlete but is Jordan the best ever? Babe Ruth was more dominant compared to his peers…but played in a segregated league. If Brady and Gretzky are the best at their sports, I see Jordan above them. Do you start talking about non-team sports? Jordan has to be better than Tiger, right? Hell, Jack Nicklaus has more majors than Tiger. Muhammed Ali has to be in the argument as well. As does Messi. But personally speaking, it's clear. 

Michael Jordan isn't just the greatest living athlete but the best athlete of all-time.