No Off Years: The 10 Most Consistent Sports Superstars Right Now
Always showing up is hard, so repeatedly dominating on a yearly basis separates great sports players from top-tier superstars.
Some athletes can't replicate the perfect formulas they found one year. Others, needing more help from teammates and coaches, unravel under imperfect circumstances. Injuries take credit for the most casualties, pausing and often ruining bright careers.
It takes a truly special athlete to deliver at a high rate each and every year without succumbing to fatigue or frustration. Not many sure things exist in sports, so the select few stand out like a Boston Red Sox cap inside Yankee Stadium.
The cruel sports gods act vengefully, so apologies in advance if this list jinxes any of the mentioned athletes. Staying healthy for 10 years doesn't guarantee a painless 11th. And while some of these stars have continued to excel into their 30s, Father Time has an exemplary track record.
For now, these are some of sports' most consistent superstars.
Drew Brees
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It shouldn't surprise anyone to see Drew Brees leading the NFL with 3,277 passing yards entering Week 12. (Kirk Cousins took the lead on Thanksgiving.) Only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre have accrued more career yards through the air than the New Orleans Saints quarterback, who has more 5,000-yard seasons (four) than anyone else.
He's on pace to exceed 5,000 yards for the fifth time this year. If he continues to average 327.7 yards per contest, he'd pass Manning and Favre late next season.
Since joining the Saints in 2006, Brees has played in all but two games. Barring an injury, he'll easily eclipse 4,000 yards for the 11th straight year, and he has already matched his Saints low of 26 passing touchdowns 10 games into 2016.
A future Hall of Famer, he's also the most notable NFL superstar to never receive MVP honors. He had the misfortune of peaking in an era that also featured Tom Brady, Manning and Aaron Rodgers. It also seems like observers have taken his greatness for granted and now simply assume he'll accumulate video game numbers every year.
In fairness, that's because he has. Having thrown at least 32 touchdowns in each of the past eight seasons, the 37-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down. Although a poor supporting cast has sidelined him from the spotlight and MVP conversation, Brees is a dependable superstar who always does everything in his control to keep a reeling franchise competitive.
Antonio Brown
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Wide receivers are at their quarterbacks' mercies, making them poor consistency candidates. Even a stud like Larry Fitzgerald faltered without a capable passer feeding him the ball. More recently, the New York Jets' quarterback troubles have made Brandon Marshall's life difficult.
Antonio Brown was also momentarily silenced when the Pittsburgh Steelers played four games without Ben Roethlisberger last year. The superstar wideout may have set single-season records for receptions and receiving yards if he hadn't been limited to 17 catches for 234 yards during that stretch with Michael Vick and Landry Jones.
Brown still finished 2015 with 136 catches and 1,834 yards, so let's not penalize him. At his current pace, he'll notch at least 110 receptions and 1,400 yards for the fourth straight season.
Although he missed last year's divisional-round game with a concussion, Brown has not missed a regular-season game in four years. He also went two full seasons recording at least five receptions per game until snapping the streak during Roethlisberger's absence last year.
Having corralled an NFL-high 82 receptions this season, he can top the leaderboard for the third straight year. Nobody has accomplished that feat since Hall of Famer Tom Fears in 1948, 1949 and 1950.
Madison Bumgarner
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Madison Bumgarner is the white whale of every MLB starting rotation. He's a rare workhorse ace who delivers 200-plus elite innings every season.
Since his first full season in 2011, the San Francisco Giants southpaw has hurled at least 200 innings over 31 or more starts every year. He has not only taken his turn every time, but he has also done so with an ERA no higher than 3.37 (2012). That's a breakout year for most, but Bumgarner has kept his ERA below 3.00 in the four ensuing seasons.
In an age when teams are especially cautious of young arms, the Giants never shut him down early or limit him to an innings cap. On the contrary, they let him throw five innings from the bullpen in Game 7 of 2014's World Series. He had thrown 117 pitches in a complete-game shutout three days earlier.
That's not to say everyone else is wrong to coddle their pitchers. Bumgarner is an exception to the rule—an imposing, seemingly indestructible man on the mound. Then again, anyone could have said the same about Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw before he missed over two months of the 2016 season with a back injury.
Considering how much defense and random variance on batted balls factor into a pitcher's production, it's incredible Bumgarner has never once endured a hiccup like David Price, Felix Hernandez and Zack Greinke all did last season. Although he hasn't won a Cy Young Award, he always winds up in the discussion with normally exceptional numbers.
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Miguel Cabrera
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According to FanGraphs, only Albert Pujols has logged more plate appearances (9,201) than Miguel Cabrera (9,001) since his 2003 rookie campaign. While the former has regressed mightily with the Los Angeles Angels, Cabrera remains one of baseball's most dangerous sluggers.
In his age-33 season, the Detroit Tigers first baseman batted .316/.393/.563, which looks awfully similar to his career .321/.399/.562 slash line. Since his condensed rookie season, he has never hit below .290 and has always maintained a slugging percentage above .500.
When a calf strain sidelined him in 2015, it marked his first time on the disabled list after a dozen healthy seasons. Although he missed over a month and snapped an 11-year streak of belting at least 25 home runs, he made his time count by batting .338/.440/.534 with 18 homers in 119 games.
As noted by Baseball-Reference.com, the two-time American League MVP has secured five other top-five finishes. Submitting an OPS slightly below .900 is his idea of a bad year.
The last time he hit below .300 (2008), most of baseball's young superstars were teenagers. Under contract through at least 2023, per Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Tigers will keep their fingers crossed that he keeps pummeling baseballs for a few more years.
Either way, Cooperstown awaits.
Corey Crawford
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Now a two-time Stanley Cup champion for the Chicago Blackhawks, goalie Corey Crawford once thought about leaving the NHL before ever arriving.
As he said at the Blackhawks Convention, per CSN Chicago's Charlie Roumeliotis, he considered trying his luck overseas after spending years stuck in the minor leagues.
"There were definitely times when I thought I'd might like to move on, maybe go play in Europe or go try and play in Russia if I could," Crawford said. "There were times I didn't think I was good enough to play in the NHL. But really it was more about just taking it day by day and just still having fun."
Fortunately for him and Chicago, he stuck around long enough to earn the starting job. Ever since taking over in 2010, he has been a steady fixture in the net.
Crawford recorded a .924 save percentage in each of the past two seasons. In 17 games played this season, the rate stands at .923.
Aside from the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, he has played at least 57 games every year since gaining the job. The Blackhawks have punched a playoff ticket each time, and according to QuantHockey, he's No. 4 in NHL history in goalie win percentage.
Although the 31-year-old benefits from a star-studded supporting cast, he has helped the Blackhawks remain a perennial Stanley Cup contender with stabilized goaltending.
Novak Djokovic
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Sam Querrey shocked the world on July 2 by ousting Novak Djokovic from Wimbledon in the third round. Any tennis star is susceptible to the occasional upset—but not Djokovic.
Before that surprising early exit, he had lasted until at least the semifinals in 24 consecutive majors. More often than not, he traveled a step further to the finals, winning 11 Grand Slam titles and losing seven finals matchups during that remarkable six-year run.
Leading up to that loss, Djokovic had won four consecutive titles and 30 straight Grand Slam contests. He responded to the shortcoming by returning to the U.S. Open final, where he lost to Stan Wawrinka in four sets.
With Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer reeling, the 29-year-old Serbian star is poised to resume his chase for Federer's record of 17 Grand Slam titles. One upset isn't nearly enough to remove him from the trail.
Even though Andy Murray recently usurped his No. 1 ranking, it's still telling that No. 2 represents a steep decline for Djokovic. Look for him to reclaim his top spot soon.
James Harden
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Since the Houston Rockets acquired him five years ago, James Harden has finished no lower than No. 6 in minutes played per game. He has played in all but 14 contests since the trade, including playing all 82 and logging a league-high 38.1 minutes per game last year.
He has also tallied over 25.0 points per bout in every year with the Rockets. The scoring machine has led the NBA in free throws made in three of the past four seasons, finishing second to former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant in 2013-14.
In an overcrowded regular-season schedule that many teams view as a needlessly long precursor to a postseason in which over half the league participates, no other superstar assumes such a heavy workload. The Rockets, however, spent years trying to land a headliner, so they're not about to rest their cornerstone now.
And for those saying he's a bad defender, at least he's a consistently poor one.
This heavy mileage may hurt Harden down the road. He can't effectively operate this way forever. For now, the 27-year-old is carrying his team into playoff contention by posting 28.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and an NBA-high 12.5 assists per game. He has registered at least 24 points in all but one of 15 games.
LeBron James
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What LeBron James is doing isn't normal.
The phenom arrived from high school an immediate impact player, averaging 20.9 points, 5.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game as a rookie. In 12 seasons since, 25.3 points, 6.0 dimes and 6.0 boards represent his lowest season marks in each category.
Since his rookie campaign, he has mustered a field-goal percentage no lower than the 47.2 clip earned as a sophomore. He has made over half of his field-goal attempts in seven of the last eight seasons.
James has annually performed at an MVP level and always factors prominently into the race. Per Basketball-Reference.com, the four-time winner has finished inside the top five in each of the past 11 seasons. If not for voter fatigue, he may have more first-place triumphs.
Aside from a lockout-condensed 2011-12, he had played at least 75 games every year before taking a brief break in 2015, a year in which he carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals.
Speaking of which, let's not forget about the playoffs. James has participated in a whopping 199 postseason games, including six consecutive trips to the Finals. That's more than two extra seasons of high-leverage basketball for James, who has averaged 28.0 points, 6.8 assists, 8.8 rebounds over 42.1 minutes.
How long can he hold his throne as the NBA's king? Although the 31-year-old hasn't slowed down yet, the Cavaliers should start monitoring the veteran's regular-season minutes.
He looks and plays like a superhero, but he's mortal. Probably.
Alex Ovechkin
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Alex Ovechkin is pretty darn good at scoring goals.
The 31-year-old winger has already collected six Maurice Richard Trophies, hoarding the NHL goal-scoring title in each of the past four years. He's already third on the league's active all-time leaderboard behind Jaromir Jagr, 44, and Jarome Iginla, 39.
Ovechkin, a three-time MVP, has played in all but 30 of the Washington Capitals' regular-season games since getting selected with the No. 1 pick in 2005. With him leading the way, the franchise has made the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons.
Even though he has netted 82 points over 84 career postseason games, the Capitals have yet to reach the conference finals. That shortcoming could stain his otherwise resounding legacy, but reasonable fans can still appreciate him as this generation's premier scorer.
As noted by a team press release earlier this year, he become the fifth-fastest player to score 500 career goals and has the fourth-best goals-per-game average (now .626). He won't catch Wayne Gretzky, but Ovechkin will end his career awfully high on the ledger if he keeps playing so well while staying this healthy.
Mike Trout
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Yes, readers, this is another excuse to gush over Mike Trout.
In 2014, the Los Angeles Angels outfielder won his first American League MVP award by batting .287/.377/.561 with 36 home runs. That was the worst season of his brilliant career.
The superstar registered an MLB-best 7.9 WAR that year, per FanGraphs. Although good enough to eclipse everyone else, it marked a setback for Trout, who has accrued a 9.0 WAR or higher in his four other seasons.
Take all the worst career numbers from each column, and he's a .287 hitter with 27 homers, a .550 slugging percentage and 104 runs scored. Built like a linebacker with a running back's speed, he has never gone on the disabled list.
If not for the Angels missing the playoffs and Miguel Cabrera's existence, the 25-year-old could have five MVP trophies instead of two. Two in five years is also good, though.
Bryce Harper challenged his MLB supremacy in 2015, but the fellow young stud faltered in 2016. Performing at an extreme level every year is hard, especially when playing a sport whose season spans 162 games. The difference between success and failure is so minuscule that a minor ailment or slight swing alteration can send a batter reeling.
Trout has yet to suffer such a pitfall. While he has traded power for speed and vice versa, he has finished every season in the top pantheon of superstars.
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