OT: Who are the most underrated championship athletes in all of sports?

Submitted by WingsNWolverines on

While driving home from Akron today (from spending the night up there for my grandpa's funeral) I turned on the radio and low and behold my most unfavorite radio show on 97.1 The Fan with Anthony Rothman and Dimitrius Stanley was on the air. Normally I HATE THESE TWO WITH A PASSION cause Stanley is full of himself and I could never stand Rothman but they had an interesting topic on the air and it was "most underrated chmapionship athletes in all of sports."  This was a hard one because most of the athletes I was thinking of were either overrated or right where they should be. One player however stuck out in my mind. Chris Osgood. Who was also mentioned twice on the show, believe it or not. Osgood has 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Jennings trophies, 10th in all time wins as a goaltender, 4th in all time win percentage 7th best in GAA in NHL history. This man never gets the credit he deserves and in my opinion he's one of the greatest NHL goalies to ever play the game. Who are some of yours?

 

coldnjl

July 6th, 2012 at 5:47 PM ^

Easy...gymnasts. Two reasons:

#1. They are incredibly tough both physically and mentally. The work it takes to perfect a balance beam routine is truly amazing, while continuing to work at your craft, even after you have fallen.

#2. My wife was one.

Hogeboon20

July 6th, 2012 at 8:08 PM ^

I would also throw Matt Kenseth into that mix. Sure, he has only one championship, but the guy has always been consistent. It is sad that he is now (finally) making headlines because he is leaving Roush-Fenway Racing.

BlueNation

July 6th, 2012 at 5:58 PM ^

I don't like him but Eli Manning is very underrated IMO. He won 2 rings...and Ben Roethlisberger is the same...Ben Wallace maybe?? I think he should go down as the best defensive player ever...or at least top 2-3. Offense sucked though. But he was the Pistons heart and soul. Als

VictorsValiant09

July 6th, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^

Alex Delvecchio.  Kind of the forgotten member of the Production Line between Gordie and Ted, though he was a captain, has his number retired, and could skate, get to the net, and pass beautifully.  At least of the limited things I've read and watched.

turtleboy

July 6th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^

Any defender. Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Ozzie, Makelele... Defense is the foundation of almost every championship, but most of the stats and praise get heaped on offensive players. Defense is always underrated.

LSAClassOf2000

July 6th, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^

At least in the MLB, I would make an argument for Lou Whitaker. Five time All-Star, three Gold Gloves and five Silver Slugger awards to his name, as well as being a part of the 1984 World Championship team, not to mention part of one of the best  middle infields in the game  for a long time and he was a one-and-done candidate on the HOF ballot.

For pitchers, I would say Jeff Reardon, who was a highly effective reliever and part of the 1987 Twins squad, was pretty underrated in his career. He was also a one-and-done on the HOF ballot. It's interesting that there was always more chatter about Quisenberry than there was about Reardon when it came to HOF  potential, even though Reardon pitched longer and has more saves and strikeouts. 

goblueram

July 6th, 2012 at 6:44 PM ^

Ozzie never gets enough credit simply because the teams in front of him were always excellent.  There's a difference between Ozzie in the playoffs, and something like what Giguere did for the Ducks in the playoffs, or even J Quick this year.  

96goblue00

July 6th, 2012 at 6:49 PM ^

I would say the most underrated athletes, in general, would be decathletes, guys like Roman Sebrle, Bryan Clay and Ashton Eaton . Most people never heard of them but they are, physically speaking, some of the best athletes in the world.

Blerg

July 6th, 2012 at 10:26 PM ^

That he is. I guess i was more thinking he doesnt get the hype that kobe, lebron, wade, durant etc get. The years the spurs won were some of the quietest

titles.

antidaily

July 6th, 2012 at 6:46 PM ^

Kurt Warner is pretty underrated IMO.

some of these stats are old now, but you get the point:

Second all-time Career Passing Yards per Game (260.4)
Highest all-time percentage of 300-yard games (45.2 percent)
Tied (P. Manning) for most games with perfect passer rating (three)
1-of-2 players in NFL history to throw 100 TD with two teams
Only player in NFL history to throw 14,000 yards with two teams
Tied (Marino) as fastest player to 30,000 pass yards (114 gms)
Tied (Unitas) for consecutive games with 120+ passer rating (four)
Highest Passing Yards per Game on MNF (329.4)
Oldest QB to throw 30 touchdowns in a season
Most 300-yard games (113)
Only QB to throw 40 TD and win the Superbowl in the same season
Highest completing percentage in a single game (92.3 percent)
Tied (Montana) most TD in single postseason (11)
Most passing yards in a single postseason (1,147)
First, Second, and Third for passing yards in a Superbowl (414, 377, 365)

 

treetown

July 6th, 2012 at 7:03 PM ^

Being underappreciated on a championship team is part of the nature of team sports. The players in the star positions (ex: QB, lead off or top of the order batter), who rack up the visible stats (ex: points scored in BB, goals in hockey) will always get more attention than the other players who do important necessary things: play defense, get loose balls, occupy space, kill penalties, make that extra pass, etc. Nearly every team that has won a championship in major league football, soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, volleyball, water polo, etc. will have these players who did important things but didn't get that much publicity or fame.

Individual sports, especially the lesser known ones are often more overlooked. Since this is a summer olympic year, consider Al Oerter who was four time olympic champion in discus (1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968) as a good example. One can bring out the usual arguments about track and field as being a niche sport but to be the best in the world for such a long time and be able to peak at the biggest moment is incredibly difficult. Being the best at anything in the world takes a unique combination of singlemindedness and self-confidence that is pretty rare and to keep that up over a long period of time is even rarer.

The best teams usually have good camaraderie (can't think of a good example of a championship team in the modern era that hated each other). Team mates could count on each other to help keep focus but for an individual, it is often just him or her and a coach or spouse/significant other.

 

 

4godkingandwol…

July 6th, 2012 at 7:14 PM ^

...  Jim Kelly because the dude was 4 wins away from being one of the most dominant qbs of all time.  

 

Ronaldo because he very well could be the second best player ever, and he stands in the long shadow of a magical midget.  

OmarDontScare

July 6th, 2012 at 7:26 PM ^

Rasheed. He brought that Pistons team together. Yeah he had his issues but you could never say he was selfish. One of the most talented players the NBA has seen and he was all about the team... The team, the team, the team.

I Bleed Maize N Blue

July 6th, 2012 at 8:16 PM ^

While Sheed brought a lot to the Pistons at both ends of the floor - not seeing him play much when he was in Portland, I didn't realize how good a defender he was, and how good he was at communcating on the court - I'm going to say he was selfish in that he couldn't keep his mouth shut about the "felonious" things that refs did.  Yeah, refs make bad calls - it's part of the game.  As a pro he needed to deal with it better.

It's one thing to get a technical here or there, but if you're racking up double digits a season and getting yourself thrown out of games and suspended, it hurts the team, IMO.

Also later in his time with the Pistons, he didn't post up as much, taking more threes.  I don't know if that's on him for not wanting to expend the effort, or the coach for not calling that play more.  He could dominate, and it would have helped if he posted more and put people in foul trouble so they had to sit.

I Bleed Maize N Blue

July 6th, 2012 at 9:46 PM ^

You know the issues, but his repeated arguing with the refs isn't selfish?  I'm not calling his play on the court selfish, just his behavior.  It didn't help the team, nor did his bad example getting other players to argue with the refs help the team.

MichiganTeacher

July 6th, 2012 at 7:36 PM ^

Eddie Feigner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021001394.html

Seriously, if you don't know about him, you have to read that stuff. My students never believe me when I tell them about the King and his Court beating everyone 4 on 9 and pitching from centerfield.

Now, you might say that softball doesn't have an elite-level championship, and that disqualifies Eddie from this thread. Well, true, technically, I suppose. But on the other hand, that kinda makes him even more underrated. 

gwrock

July 6th, 2012 at 9:03 PM ^

Largely forgotten Olympic great. Eight gold medals (in eight attempts). His events (standing long jump, standing high jump, standing triple jump) were discontinued in the early 1900s.

Bill in Birmingham

July 6th, 2012 at 9:15 PM ^

This might sound crazy, but one could argue Wayne Gretzky, I cannot think of a single team sport athlete that was more dominant in his game than Gretzky. But because hockey was given so little attention during much of his career, much of this country had no idea that they were missing the prime of one of the greatest athletes of all time.