Legendary Athletes We Don't Hear Enough About
For varying reasons, some sports legends just aren't discussed enough.
Athletes like Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Sam Jones were some of the best to ever play their sports, yet they regularly take backseats to more popular legends.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of sports legends we simply don’t hear enough about. The following 10 superstars deserve more attention than they currently get, and we’ve featured them here as a result.
Roberto Clemente
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When discussing baseball’s most significant players, names like Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth are thrown around most frequently. Roberto Clemente, however, is seldom a part of the discussion and likely deserves inclusion.
Clemente played in Pittsburgh’s outfield from 1955-72, winning four batting titles and an MVP trophy in the middle of it all. The Puerto Rican product was also a 15-time All-Star and a World Series MVP (1971), and he remains baseball’s career leader in assists by a right fielder.
Clemente was a unique and charismatic star, both at the plate and in the field, finishing his career with an impressive .317 lifetime batting average while distinguishing himself as one of only four players ever to win 10 or more Gold Gloves.
From a social standpoint, Clemente’s significance was perhaps even more profound. In a sport that’s nearly one-fourth Latin American (24.2 percent in 2013), Clemente’s success changed baseball’s complexion forever.
He was the first Latino player ever to win a World Series as a starter (1960), to receive a NL MVP award (1966) and to be named World Series MVP (1971).
When one considers the tragic nature in which the Hall of Famer passed—Clemente was killed in a 1972 plane crash while trying to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua—it’s even harder to understand why he isn’t talked about more, and easier to suggest that it's a travesty.
Sugar Ray Robinson
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Ray Robinson was the first, but he was not the only "Sugar.” Of course, there’s Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Shane Mosley, too, and we probably hear about both more than the best Sugar of all.
Robinson turned pro in 1940, at just 19 years of age. By 1951, Sugar was an amazing 128-1-2, with 84 knockouts.
From 1943 to 1951, Robinson didn't lose, putting together an unbeaten streak that lasted an astonishing 91 fights, the third-longest streak in professional boxing history. He was the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five different times and, pound-for-pound, is arguably the greatest of all time.
Speaking of which, Robinson’s total dominance of the welterweight and middleweight divisions is what initially inspired experts to consider boxers in a pound-for-pound context.
Yet, in a sport dominated by the loud (Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather Jr.), the large (Joe Louis) and the crazy (Mike Tyson), Sugar Ray Robinson remains overshadowed today.
Sandy Koufax
3 of 10
Considering how much we hear about all of baseball’s “greats,” you’d think Sandy Koufax would be a bigger topic of discussion. After all, he’s one of the game’s best pitchers ever.
When Koufax’s name does come up, it’s most often in conjunction with Game 1 of the 1965 World Series, which the Hall of Famer missed to instead celebrate the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.
His on-field production, however, deserves more discussion, even if it did only last 12 short years.
For his pitching efforts, Koufax won three Cy Young awards (’63, ’65, ’66) by unanimous vote, becoming the first three-time winner of the honor. In each of the three seasons, Koufax won the pitcher’s Triple Crown as well, leading the NL in wins, strikeouts and ERA. (Technically, he led the AL in all three categories, too.)
In 1972, at 36 years of age, Koufax became the youngest player ever elected into the baseball Hall of Fame. He and Nolan Ryan remain the only two HOF pitchers with more strikeouts than innings pitched.
Koufax's stats speak loudly. And when it comes to the Dodger great, so should we.
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Sam Jones
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On the topic of Boston Celtic greats, names like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, John Havlicek and Bob Cousy are most often referenced. Even guys like Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Paul Pierce get more publicity than the great Sam Jones.
But in 1962—after Jones sunk the Philadelphia Warriors with a series-winning shot in Game 7 of the Eastern Division Finals—Wilt Chamberlain referred to Mr. Clutch as Boston’s best player. Russell agreed, calling Jones the greatest player with whom he ever played.
And when the Celtics had a special ceremony at the Boston Garden for Red Auerbach some years later, the legendary coach couldn’t help but acknowledge Jones, too.
“I would like to thank Sam Jones,” he said, “for making me a helluva coach.”
On the court, Jones played a major role for a Celtics bunch that won 10 NBA titles in 12 years. With unrivaled quickness and a nearly unstoppable bank shot, Jones was Boston’s closer late in games, nicknamed Mr. Clutch with good reason. He was a five-time All-Star and a three-time All-NBA second-teamer.
Forgotten by too many, Jones was appropriately remembered by the NBA in 1996, when he was named one of the league's All-Time 50 Greatest Players.
Curtis Martin
5 of 10
It’s somewhat hard to call Curtis Martin a legend, but only because he retired so recently (2005). That, of course, is also part of the reason he’s so deserving of inclusion on this list; even when he was recently playing at an all-time great level, Martin was never discussed enough.
Guys like Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas, OJ Simpson and Earl Campbell are more likely household names even though Martin was the most prolific of the bunch.
In 11 NFL seasons, the Hall of Fame running back carried the ball 3,518 times for 14,101 yards, good enough for fourth all-time. In fact, only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders were more effective than Martin when it came to carrying the rock, a fact that’s lost on far too many.
With a workmanlike demeanor on the field and a no-nonsense approach off it, Martin managed to avoid headlines despite spending eight of 11 seasons in hectic New York.
Now, though, with his accomplishments in full focus, Martin clearly deserves more attention and respect.
Franz Beckenbauer
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When you share a sport with the likes of Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, it’s sometimes easy to get forgotten (especially in the United States). However, Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer deserves so much more.
Der Kaiser appeared in three World Cups on behalf of West Germany and is his sport’s only player ever to win the tournament as both captain (1974) and coach (1990).
At the club level, with Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won three consecutive European Cups (1974-76) and a 1967 UEFA Winners’ Cup. For it all, FIFA named the legend one of the world’s greatest living players in 2004.
Most importantly, though, Beckenbauer is credited with inventing the modern sweeper position, changing his sport forever.
After starting his career as a midfielder, Beckenbauer eventually became a defender, and his legendary skill and attacking prowess out of the defensive third were as unprecedented as they were impressive.
In a country that focuses far too much attention on the offensive side of things, Der Kaiser’s defensive grace should be celebrated for sure.
Jimmy Connors
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It’s not Jimmy Connors’s fault that his career was sandwiched between the likes of Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe. It is, however, the truth.
As a result, Connors rarely receives the attention he deserves.
Forget his hypnotizing behavior on the court. Connors was an all-time great champion, too.
He won eight Grand Slam singles titles and finished runner-up in seven Grand Slam finals. Only Roger Federer reached more Grand Slam quarterfinals than the Brash Basher. (Connors made it to 41 quarters.)
At his peak, Connors set a record by maintaining his No. 1 ranking for 160 consecutive weeks (1974-1977). He was the first player in the open era to rank No. 1 for more than five years in total and for more than 200 weeks, and he has more ATP singles titles (109) than any other man.
We should also note, the California resident is currently married to former Playboy model Patti McGuire, with whom he has two children.
For these reasons and more, Jimmy Connors deserves a whole lot more of our time and focus.
Jack Johnson
8 of 10
Perhaps it’s because he turned pro all the back in 1898, but Jack Johnson’s life and career don’t get near the attention they deserve.
The Hall of Fame fighter combined size, skill and athleticism unlike anyone before. In 1908, he became the first African American to win the world heavyweight championship, a title he held onto for seven years.
The great Nat Fleischer (1887-1972), founder of Ring Magazine, considered Johnson the greatest heavyweight he’d ever seen:
"Jack Johnson boxed on his toes, could block from most any angle, was lightning fast on his feet, could feint an opponent into knots…he possessed everything a champion could hope for punch, speed, brains, cleverness, boxing ability and sharp-shooting. Johnson’s mastery of ring science, his ability to block, counter, and feint, are still unexcelled.
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Of course, Johnson wasn't just a one-of-a-kind talent in the ring; he was uniquely dynamic out of it, too.
Though Muhammad Ali gets far more attention than Johnson, the former often spoke about the latter’s enormous influence. Dealing with extreme racism in Jim Crow America, Johnson was a fighter in and out of the ring, an experience to which Ali could relate.
Since his tragic death in 1946, Johnson’s fame has clearly faded, though quite undeservingly so.
Oscar Robertson
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Though the tide is slowly beginning to shift, we still don’t hear enough about The Big O.
Legends like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and Magic Johnson seem to get most of our attention. Robertson, however, was arguably as good as any of the aforementioned stars.
In college, he led Cincinnati to two Final Four appearances and left school as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. In his first NBA season, The Big O set the league ablaze, averaging 30.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists.
And he was only getting started.
To this day, Robertson is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, which he did during the 1961-62 season. In fact, Robertson averaged a triple-double over his first five years in the league: 30.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 10.6 APG.
The Big O was one of the greatest in NBA history, the league’s first true “big guard,” yet to this day, he somehow doesn't get the attention he deserves.
Joe Jackson
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Shoeless Joe is mostly remembered for his role in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, a fact that largely obscures all that he accomplished on the diamond.
Whether guilty of fixing the World Series or not (his role in the scandal has been disputed), Shoeless Joe was a true star out on the field.
Jackson enjoyed an impressive 12-year run, during which he posted the third-highest career batting average (.3558) in MLB history.
In 1911, the left fielder hit .408, which ranks as the sixth-highest single-season total since 1901. To this day, he still holds franchise records with the Indians and White Sox for both triples and career batting average.
Shoeless Joe was banned from Major League Baseball in 1920, but today, it far too often seems like he was banned from baseball discourse, too.
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