Redefining Sports: The Athletes Who Reshaped Their Games

There are many "Top Ten" lists and "Favorite Player" lists on Bleacher Report and other publications devoted to sports and their players. 

Most of the articles talk about upcoming drafts, championship teams, best stats etc.  Very few are devoted to what I would call, "The Redefining Character" of the players who shaped the leagues around them. 

Much like a good team is often shaped around a central player, one player can make the difference in a sport as a whole.

I do not want my selections to be deemed as "the only" players who had such great effects on their sport, but I do believe my choices will be agreed upon as favorites—at the very least, in what made these sports into what they are today, or at least set a new prototype for their sports.

Lastly, please keep in mind that this article is not a "Who's Who" of the greatest statistics in sports. 

I am not talking about the greatest players ever, in some cases I am, but just the ones with the biggest impact.

Basketball: Magic Johnson

Earvin "Magic" Johnson wowed the world with his playmaking and natural abilities on the basketball court.  His gigantic, charming smile helped him become a media darling in the crazy 1980's, a decade dominated by his Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird's Boston Celtics.

Every second of Magic's court time seemed to vibrate with tension, and when he had the basketball in his hands, time briefly stood still. 

We watched him with our teeth biting our lips, anticipating, waiting, and wondering.  As we rose to our feet, awaiting the "magic trick," Magic would flip the ball behind his back to Kareem Abdul-Jabar, lob it with one hand to James Worthy, or shoot a lazy hook shot from behind the free throw line.

Everything Magic did on a basketball court seemed effortless, never choreographed, and many times, never done by anyone else.  He was pure entertainment, the LA lights, the traffic and skyscrapers, and the lifestyle all wrapped into one basketball player, one point guard, one man.

At six-foot-nine, Magic was too tall for a point guard in the NBA, a position usually reserved for the shortest of players.  However, he dominated his position, throwing more assists and passes, looking or not, than any of his contemporaries; but, oh, Magic was so much more than a big point guard.

He played an entire championship game as a center.  While his height made him a monster point guard, Magic was a minuscule center.  He dipped, drove, hooked, finessed, and scored his way to another winning game.

Magic's Lakers won five championships in the '80's.  Magic also holds the record for assists in the NBA, with 10,141, a stark contrast to his 17,707 points.

Now, with the NBA dominated by bigger and stronger players, a quick look back shows where that transition began. 

Sure, Magic didn't have the athletic gifts of LeBron James—at his peak, Magic rarely even dunked—but he was an out-of-place, too tall guard, in an era when the NBA was beginning to hit its stride as quality entertainment.

There was nobody before Magic nor after as entertaining as he.  The name says it all.

Women's Basketball: Sheryl Swoopes

How Magic redefined the NBA, so Swoopes redefined women's basketball.  The first player taken in the WNBA inaugural draft, Sheryl Swoopes was the single most dominant player in women's basketball history.

After leading Texas Tech to its only National Championship in school history, Swoopes was one of the main reasons the WNBA garnered as much support as it did during its founding. 

She dominated every facet of the women's game, boasting more speed, athleticism, skill, and basketball savvy than most of her contemporaries put together.

Swoopes won four consecutive WNBA championships, along with her college National Championship and paved the way for women's basketball players the world over to get the respect and face time the sport deserves.

Football: Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson was on the cusp of being considered one of the greatest football players ever when he was cut down by a crippling injury.  Though many say Jackson's true calling was on the baseball diamond, he was a two-sport athlete, his achievements in part-time performances in the NFL are the stuff of legends.

Statistically, Jackson's numbers are not all that impressive, but further study shows his true skill was speed and power. 

Jackson's career in Oakland consisted completely of backing up hall of famer Marcus Allen, but the reason Jackson is included in this article is about to become apparent.

In college, all NFL prospects are asked to go through the NFL combine.  Many players have dazzled scouts and coaches at the combine.  Many football fans still talk about Deion Sanders's fiery 4.19 seconds in the verified 40 yard dash at the combine.

Most seem to forget that at 6'1" and 195 pounds, Deion was practically made for the 40, but Bo Jackson actually holds the fastest "verified" 40 yard dash time at an NFL combine.  Bo blazed in at 4.12 seconds, seven hundredths and 32 pounds ahead of Deion.

Most importantly, watching old clips of Jackson running with the ball show a never before seen and never duplicated since combination of all the things the great running backs have exhibited over time.  Bo knew speed, power, changing direction, catching the ball, acceleration, and how to play football.

I know that Bo's combination of all these things makes him the most feared man to ever take the field in the NFL.  Since his time, football teams have been trying to find the next Bo Jackson, the one who encompasses the raw, pure athletic talent that Jackson embodied. 

It doesn't take Bo to "know" that it won't happen again.

Don't believe me?  Watch clips of Bo Jackson highlights and notice the complete dominance he exhibits over defenses.

Football: Lawrence Taylor

I am confident nobody will argue with me on this one, but I want to highlight a few reasons I put Lawrence Taylor on this list. 

LT single-handedly revolutionized the linebacker position and left a trail of broken bodies and spirits in his wake.

Taylor forced offenses to overcompensate for him on every single down, yet no offense was able to completely contain him. 

He wrecked offensive lines, destroyed running backs and quarterbacks, and laid to waste any receiver or tight end who ventured within range.

Quite simply, John Madden stated it best, "Lawrence Taylor, defensively, has had as big an impact as any player I've ever seen. He changed the way defense is played, the way pass-rushing is played, the way linebackers play, and the way offenses block linebackers."

Taylor actually redefined his position, and few have risen to the standard of play he established in his career.

Baseball: Nolan Ryan

To get to the point, Nolan Ryan actually is the greatest pitcher baseball has ever seen.  He played for mediocre teams, but managed to dominate hitters from the mound.

Longevity was Ryan's hallmark. 

He was the last player to retire that began playing in the 1960's.  Yes, I said the '60's.  Ryan's career spanned from 1966 to 1993, an astounding 27 years.

Ryan's career finally ended after he tore ligaments in his pitching arm against the Seattle Mariners.  He courageously attempted to keep pitching, throwing one more heater before he resigned from the mound forever.  That last pitch, thrown with a ragged arm used for 27 seasons and by a 46-year-old well past his prime, still clocked in at 98 mph.

Nolan Ryan defined fastball pitching, longevity, and dominance in his career.  How dominant was he?  Ask one of the batters who suffered one of Ryan's 5,714 strikeouts over his career.

Baseball: Larry Walker

Who is the greatest Canadian baseball player of all time—definitely, Larry Walker.  With career stats of .313 BA, 383 HR, and 1,311 RBI, Larry Walker redefined hitting in the modern era of baseball.

Not impressed?  It is the tremendous production during a few of Walker's seasons that separate him from the masses of players in baseball's stat heavy world.

Walker is one of the only modern players to combine batting average, home runs, runs batted in, and stolen bases in such a powerful combination.  In 1997, Walker showed how potent a player one could be, with a true five tool offensive game.

In the 1997 season, Larry Walker compiled a .366 BA, 49 HR, 130 RBI, and 33 steals.  Consistent, powerful, fast, and a perennial Gold Glove in the outfield, Walker dominated his sport.

After the 1997 season, Walker never again played an entire season healthy, but he still achieved noteworthy accomplishments.  In 1998, Walker hit .363.  In 1999, in only 438 at bats, Walker astounded with a .379 BA, 37 HR, and 115 RBI.

Nobody since has hit for that kind of average and power and had the ability to run and throw to boot. 

Walker redefined what is possible in today's baseball world, and his equal, when healthy, has yet to be found.

Track and Field: Edwin Moses

There are always records to be broken in track and field. 

One that may stand the test of time is 122 consecutive races won against world class competitors.  For nine years, nine months, and nine days, Edwin Moses dominated his field—or track, as it were.

Before Moses, 400-meter hurdlers were taught to take 15 steps between each hurdle, but Moses had an impressively long stride to go with his fantastic speed.  He practiced the hurdles at 13 steps and competed the same way in meets.

At his first international meet, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Moses won the gold medal, setting the world record only he would defeat over the next 16 years.  Ironically, Moses broke his own record the same day in Montreal in the next round of competition.

Two gold medals—a third would have been the boycotted 1980 games—placed Moses on top of the hurdling world for longer than any other human.  However, it was his unique stride and longstanding unbeaten streak that redefined the hurdling world.

Overall, I know there are more athletes who could be included in this list:  Wayne Gretzky, the only player to score 200 or more points in a season, which he did four times; Willie Mays; Reggie White; Carl Lewis; and Michael Phelps, among others. 

But rather than write a 100 page report, I wanted to pick my favorites of the game changers and discuss them.

Hopefully, each of these athletes will have a peer sometime during my lifetime.  I would love to see another one of these heroes revolutionize a sport.