Toughest athlete in all of sports?

• Thinthickbigred

  no way to really tell . You got alot of guys that are real tough that may not even be stars.. Better check your Offensive lineman list
• Thinthickbigred

  Maybe a hockeye deffensman .. Lindstrom from Detroit ,I dont know ,Chris Chelios.... Might be a bull rider or an ex navy seal working the pits at NASCAR .. Might be Hollyfield comming back at his age . Might be James Harrison LB from the Stillers . Might be some crazy top flight bull rider .. Depends on your definition of tough and or crazy LOL....Might be Lance Armstrong coming back from cancer to win the TDF . Are these just active athletes ? Look up and see what NFL offensive lineman has the longest string of starts..... Remember Farve didnt get hit every play although he was a tough SOB...If Dennis Rodman still played Id mention him for basketball. Baseball it would be Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripkin if they still played...Dick Butkus and Jack Lambert Jack Tatum Mike Webster Joe Green ....Marvin Hagler ... Big George Foreman ... Mark Phelps in swimming try winning 10 golds or whatever it was .. Swimming is crazy tough at that level...he can be mentioned today
• Thinthickbigred

  yep i am going with Phelps and I dont know the names of the gymnysts but they need mentioned
• OQB

  

  Thinthickbigred;652512 wrote: Mark Phelps in swimming try winning 10 golds or whatever it was .. Swimming is crazy tough at that level...he can be mentioned today

  Do you mean Michael Phelps??
  
  Mark Phelps is a basketball coach at Drake, haha
• Sonofanump

  I guess there is not a qualifier for the question and it was open for interpretation. I put my list together considering physical contact, mental strain and endurance based upon the top level of that sport.
• september63

  

  Johnny Weir and Scot Hamilton were tough as nails figure skaters!!
• Ironman92

  

  I believe every job/profession has tougher than anyone people doing them. TO knock what any of the great ones of any sport that never miss a day is silly. Knocking cross country is also silly. THe kids that participate in XC are tough as hell to do what they do in the temperatures and conditions they have to compete in......8 years ago I would be with most of you mocking XC as a tough sport....or even a sport....but after 7 years of coaching...WOW.....impressive toughness at every meet.
  
  Questioning a guy who never missed a game over 162 games seasons for 14 years.....seriously? There is a reason 500,000 have played and no one else has done it....and only a few have even half as many in a row. Hard to question anything football or hockey......but every spot has tougher than nails people involved....who is the toughest....probably someone we know very little about.
  
  
  I'll go with James Harrison.
• september63

  

  Ill go with James Harrison's Mom Mildred! She was brawlin like a champ last year when ppl at an Akron VFW were rooting against the Steelers vs Browns.
• Ironman92

  

  Harrison's workouts are insane.
  
  Doing dips with 180 lbs tied around his waist....me too
• NNN

  

  Wildcat24;651902 wrote:I was going to mention Duncan Keith if no one else had. I can't imagine losing 7 teeth from a hockey puck to the mouth.

  
  Back in 1967, Ed Van Impe of the Flyers took a puck to the mouth right before the second period ended. They ended up having to actually scrape broken tooth fragments out of his gums, then put 20+ stitches in his tongue. He was back out to start the third period.
• 2kool4skool

  

  Surprised more boxers haven't been mentioned.
  
  Lamotta, Gatti, etc.
  
  I think individual sports, boxing and wrestling specifically, add a degree of toughness since there's no one to rely on but yourself.
• HitsRus

  

  Sonofanump;654414 wrote:I guess there is not a qualifier for the question and it was open for interpretation. I put my list together considering physical contact, mental strain and endurance based upon the top level of that sport.

  well you still haven't put in gymnastics, and when you do it should be near the top of the list just below the martial arts. You have to be tough both mentally and physically to maintain the precision that is needed to just to compete at the upper level. Training regimens are 8 hours a day plus....and you are not spending a lot of time watching film. When the day is over, you have a strict dietary regimen too. You train and compete with injuries too, and you still have to do it with precision or you'll kill yourself. When James Harrison screws up, somebody mioght score a touchdown....you screw up on bars or the rings, and you might have a broken neck.
• Laley23

  

  Even though golf itself isnt as tough as other sports, physically. Just remembering Tiger playing on that fucked up leg of his and winning the US Open now that we are back at Torrey this week.
• 2quik4u

  

  lol at people defending cross country
  
  then their come back is "well there is elbowing"
• Thunder70

  

  and "getting spiked"
• Sonofanump

  HitsRus;655318 wrote:well you still haven't put in gymnastics.

  
  I did not edit my list yet. Funny the top two (Boxing/MMA & Wrestling) on my list are semi-competitions where you judged on performance unless you DQ the other competitor. Gymnastics is solely a judged non contact competition.
• cview

  pnhasbeen;652124 wrote:So a sport where a success rate of 30% is good isn't mentally tough?

  
  Beat me to it. Baseball is absolutely a sport that takes a ton of mental toughness. Not to mention that at the highest levels, guys get no more than a few decent pitches to hit per game. It is basically a non contact sport so I won't say it is ultra physically "tough," but it certainly takes a ton of skill.
  
  I think basketball is underrated in terms of requiring physical toughness. Players have basically no protection- all they wear are shorts and a jersey. Any and all contact is completely uninterrupted. (Elbows, knee-to-knee, etc) The nature of the game has guys leaving the playing surface a lot more often than in most other sports so it defintely takes a toll. And the playing surface is a lot less forgiving than most. I definitely do not think it is as physically tough as something like boxing or football, but it is underappreciated in terms of the punishment that is dealt out and recieved.
  
  Lastly, running is not a sport. A lot of people in sports run. They just get tackled, shoot the ball, or go to second base when they are done.
• Ironman92

  

  .....for no more than 10 seconds at a time
• Pick6

  

  Brett Favre hands down..or Rocky
• Trueblue23

  

  Thunder70;655356 wrote:and "getting spiked"

  
  Cause that doesn't happen in football or baseball LOL
  
  Phelps is a good mention. The weight of a nation on your back on the biggest stage in the world.
• wildcats20

  

  Trueblue23;656010 wrote:Cause that doesn't happen in football or baseball LOL
  
  Phelps is a good mention. The weight of a nation on your back on the biggest stage in the world.

  
  And doing it all while being high.
• Al Bundy

  Ben Watson
• End of Line

  

  Speaking of getting "spiked". These two videos are not for the faint of heart.
  
  [video=youtube;QaZXoZbvq9s][/video]
  
  [video=youtube;R1Ecxh6u01w][/video]
• GoChiefs

  

  Glenn Hall
  Gordie Howe