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

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.

Tim Tebow

/s

I also admit that I'm kinda, maybe a homer.

Jimmie Johnson.

Lebron

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

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.

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.

Rumeal Robinson

Art Monk.

Just look what some of the greatest of all time had to say about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Laudrup#Quotes_on_Laudrup

If you want to talk about absolutely owning a tough sport, look no farther.

Edit - Since it is coming up in less than a month, the world's toughest spectator race: http://www.ausablecanoemarathon.org/

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. 

John Navarre

Robert Horry.

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.  

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.

Tim Ducan

Kurt Warner is pretty underrated IMO.

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

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.

...  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.  

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.

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. 

I always thought Ravishing Rick Rude was a great and underrated intercontinental champion.

Lloyd Brady doesn't get enough respect at the national level.

Not a United fan but Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

Football-Willie McGinest

Baseball-Tony Perez

Basketball-Vinnie Johnson

Hockey-Already mentioned, but Alex Delvecchio

Golf-Tom Watson'

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.