The Monuments Men: Final Four

In a couple weeks it will be one of my favorite periods of the sports calendar: March Madness. As of now, we have our own madness to settle. Throughout the week, I have ranked my Top-4 from each of America's top professional sports. It started with the NFL where Jerry Rice, Bill Walsh, Tom Brady, and Jim Brown made the Mt. Rushmore of football. In basketball, it was Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and LeBron James. The NHL got Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, and Sidney Crosby on the list. In baseball, I called Kyle Holmgren from the bullpen and he selected Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and I threw in Barry Bonds to discuss the steroid era. There is the Sweet 16 of pro sports in America. Now we're going to move down to our Final Four, choosing one from each sport.

The Gridiron Gang

This is a no-brainer if you read my initial post selecting the Mt. Rushmore in the NFL. All of my choices were debatable, except one: Jerry Rice. He has almost 7,000 more receiving yards (22,895) than any other WR to ever grace the gridiron. His 195 TDs is 41 more than second place Randy Moss, and then add in 13 Pro Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl rings, and a work ethic that was rarely touched. You could argue that Bill Walsh was the guy who set up the offense that Jerry succeeded in and he made bigger contributions to the game. I would say that's a fair statement but nobody says Bill Walsh is streets ahead of the next best head coach. Jerry Rice can't be compared. Is there a single receiver who even comes within 7,000 yards of Jerry Rice? The simple answer is NO! He was so dominant at his position that I don't see anyone ever coming close to his accomplishments. Tom Brady still has years left in his career and if he wins two more Super Bowls then the debate could be made that he's the greatest NFL player of all-time, but until then, it's Jerry Rice over everyone. Even the great Jim Brown falls short. Much attribution to that is the shortness of his career. He was a prolific scorer but his rushing numbers didn't stand up through the longevity of future running backs. The closest case made for anyone comparing to Rice is Jim Brown but after looking through the numbers and seeing what Jerry accomplished over a long career, he is the G.O.A.T.

Heralded on the Hardwood

Everyone expects this to be the easiest decision to make. It's Michael Jeffrey Jordan, isn't it? Nope. Not this time. I'm going to pay homage to the most prolific scorer I have ever seen (watched highlights and read articles about) and that is Wilt Chamberlain. As I said in my previous post, we all acknowledge the fact that he scored 100 in a game but we overlook the fact that he has 32 of the 63 occurrences in the NBA that a player scored over 60 points. Yes, half of the highest scoring games in NBA history are Wilt Chamberlain's. If you look at the Top-20 highest scoring games in NBA history, Wilt has 15 of 20. He scored between 65-70 points 10 times. Most players don't score between 40-45 points 10 times in their career. My personal favorite player of all-time, LeBron James only has 12 total 40+ point games, and 9 games of 50 or more with 56 points being his most ever. Now, LeBron doesn't need to score as much as Wilt did but the best player of our current time isn't even close to being the scorer that Wilt was. Nobody comes close to Wilt. The only guy who stacks up with his career numbers is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Also, Wilt averaged 22 rebounds per game throughout his career. He has one season where he averaged 50 points per game. Nobody comes with 15 points of that in a season anymore. The stone that houses the NBA on my Final Four Mt. Rushmore is Wilt Chamberlain.

Ruler of the Rink

This debate was settled in my blog on Wednesday so I apologize for the reiteration. The NHL doesn't even need four choices. It comes down to two. Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. While Gretzky has career numbers that dwarf anyone, the amount of time they played has to be considered. When you break down the averages, their points per game is separated by .04, Gretzky has the slight edge. Lemieux has more goals per game and Gretzky has more assists. Lemieux has a better percentage of game-winning goals and a better career shooting percentage. While I could simply say that Lemieux has the edge in 3 of 5 categories, so that settles it, I won't. I look at more than that. Lemieux never had a line mate as amazing as Mark Messier. The people who surrounded Lemieux for the majority of his career weren't Hall of Famers. Gretzky played on the same line with different Hall of Famers his whole career. Since I already made this decision on Thursday, I won't go on and on, I'll simply say if you want more information then look back at my Monuments Men: NHL post and see the argument for Lemieux. He's the third face on the list. 

Dominance on the Diamond

Since I had Kyle choose 3 of the 4 heads to be etched on the MLB Mt. Rushmore, I discussed with him which player he would select as baseball's representative in the Final Four of American Sports. Hint: He didn't choose Barry Bonds. The obvious choice that most of America would lean toward is Babe Ruth. He still gets a huge amount of mentions when people talk about the game today. No other sport really does that. Most sports go back about 20 years at most but baseball is a different animal. So, we chose a different animal to represent our Mt. Rushmore: Ty Cobb. The reasoning: he failed less than any other hitter in history. That's a bit of a joke, but it does hold some merit. As Kyle stated yesterday, or you could look up for yourself, Cobb has the best batting average ever. He hit more than .300 in all but his rookie season and went over .400 three times. One of the most absurd records that he holds is how many times he's stolen home. It's 54 times. That's more than some teams stole home in their entire history.  Cobb stole home 21 more times than any other player in league history. The numbers aren't the only thing that make Cobb so amazing. His burning desire to win and intensity to dominate the sport puts him above everyone. So, while your list might have Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, and Joe Montana, we have Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry Rice, Mario Lemieux and Ty Cobb. 

Final Four

Four men in the four most popular sports in America. Jerry Rice in football, Wilt Chamberlain in basketball, Mario Lemieux in hockey, and Ty Cobb in baseball. If I was going to add a few more faces for some of the more niche sports in America that have either declined or been more secondary, I would choose Muhammad Ali, who might be the most influential athlete in sports history, and Dale Earnhardt as the choice for NASCAR. There isn't any other sport that I follow enough to comment on who the greatest ever would be. Check it next week as we rotate to more recent sports issues for our blogs and end the list. Hopefully you enjoyed this week! 

The Monuments Men: MLB

When we talk about the greatest ever in sports, we always seem to focus on the era that the current 30 and 40 year olds watched growing up (probably because most people around that age work in the sports media). In basketball, it’s Magic, Larry and Michael. Football talks about Montana, Elway and Rice. Baseball is a different animal, though. It's the oldest sport that's been in the mainstream of American culture, so our field of players to choose from is quite large. Also, we start in 1907 when choosing different players. No other sport travels back that far to discuss the greats. When creating this idea of a Mt. Rushmore for each of the four major sports, I knew baseball would be the hardest to select. So, I'm calling in the Sports Microcosm baseball expert, my former roommate, and co-host on Apt 11 Sports, Kyle Holmgren to fill in the list. But first, let me add one piece to the mountain and discuss the most insane period of the sport: the steroid era.  

Pumped Up on Baseball

The era of baseball that I grew up watching is now marred with asterisks, medical acronyms, and a blanket of fog over all accomplishments during the time period. During this era, several guys dominated. One who started out as a skinny kid in Pittsburgh became a behemoth in the bay area. Of course I’m talking about Home Run King, Barry Bonds. In a 22-year career he hit 762 home runs, which is the most by any player in any era. "He was on steroids, though!" Yes, we are all aware of that. He never failed a test, though. And unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, I'm not going to choose to ignore one of the most popular eras of the sport. It was definitely the most exciting era. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire went year after year drilling 50+ homers and having us tune in every game they played to see who moved into the lead that day. Also, to Bonds' credit, he was an MVP player prior to hitting 500 foot jacks every night. In Pittsburgh, Bonds was a finalist for the MVP his final 3 seasons there, winning the award twice. His first year in San Francisco is when his numbers ballooned. Is that the moment that we want to mark as the start of steroid usage? Maybe he started in 1990 and it took a little time for his power to hit astronomical numbers? The point is that we'll never get specifics unless he decides to come out and say when he started, how long he used for and even then we don't know what he would have achieved without them. The man was walked almost 20 percent of his plate appearances. Intentionally walked 26 percent of all his walks. He finished his career with almost 3,000 hits and 2,000 RBIs. Removed from the era, Barry Bonds is arguably one of the best batters to ever step to the plate. While nobody else wants to acknowledge the period, I don't care about the sanctity of baseball as much as the next guy and Barry Bonds is going on my list. His head’s nearly the size of the actual Mt. Rushmore so it’ll fit right up there with the rest of the faces. Or maybe it'll end up as a statue to Barry because everyone else will complain about being put on a list with him. Now, here's Kyle to give you some insight on the history of the game and who he selects as his Top-3 MLB players of all-time.

I get to pick my Top-3 MLB players of all-time? Not exactly an easy task. As Tim said, we’ve got to go all the way back to 1907 when we start looking for our guys. Now I’m a little more of a purist than my former roommate and I care a little more about the sanctity of baseball. Would Bonds make my list? No, but this isn’t my blog so I’ll take what I can get with three of the four picks. It’s so hard to pick with all of the amazing baseball players that have come and gone over the years. Bob Feller, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, won 25 games in 1941 and 26 games in 1946. He had a bit of a slump while he was in WWII. Hank Aaron and his home runs make him one of the greats. Jackie Robinson is honored across the league once a year for the contribution that he made to baseball and to the entire country. More recently, Derek Jeter decides to retire after the most impressive career I’ve seen in my lifetime. If I had to pick just three…

The Obvious Choice

Let’s play a game. I’ll say something and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Ready? Best baseball player ever. I’ll bet the name Babe Ruth crossed your mind just now. If he’s not number one on your list, he should be pretty high. Ruth finished his 22 year career with 714 home runs, almost 3,000 hits, and over 2,200 RBIs. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? One thing that differentiates Ruth from almost every other player was his play on the field before all the home runs and the fame. Before his Yankee days, he was a world class pitcher for the Red Sox. Ruth made all but seven of his starts from 1915 to 1919. In that time he started 139 games and of those 139 games he won 87. That’s about 63% if you were looking for a number. In the 1916 season he had 23 wins with an ERA of 1.75 and 24 wins with an ERA of 2.01 in 1917. If he did nothing else for the rest of his career he’d be a great player. The numbers are all well and good but it’s what Ruth did to the game that puts him on the list of the best ever. He was one of the architects of the way the game is played today. All of those steroids that Tim talked about up there, that started with Ruth. I’m not saying Babe Ruth was on the juice, but he did start a trend that still exists in baseball today. McGuire, Sosa and Bonds were all chasing an idea that Ruth helped build. The home run hitter is king. The Yankees even built their new stadium to allow for more home runs from their lineup of power hitters. The game is dominated by home runs and all of that started with George Herman Ruth.

The Georgia Peach

When Babe Ruth started hitting 40 or 50 plus home runs in the 1920s, a completely different kind of baseball player was dominating the game about 600 miles to the west, in Detroit. It has famously been said that the best hitters in the game fail seven times out of ten. During the 1911, 1912 and 1922 seasons, this man only failed six times out of ten. Ty Cobb still has the best career batting average in the history of baseball. He hit .366 over 24 seasons. The only time he hit less than .300 was his rookie season in 1905 and he only had 150 AB that season anyway. He set upwards of 90 records in his illustrious career and a few of them still stand today including that .366 career average. A record that begins to illustrate the way that Ty Cobb played the game of baseball is the record for most times stealing home. He did it 54 times. He stole home, 54 times. He won nine batting titles in a row and a couple more outside of those. Out of his 4,189 hits, Ty Cobb only hit 117 home runs. There is a legend that surrounds a two game stretch Cobb played during the 1925 season. In those two games, Cobb hit five home runs. If you were paying attention a couple sentences ago, this was not his normal game plan. According to legend, Cobb told reporters to pay close attention because he was going to try something new that day. He said that for the first time in his life, he was going to actually try to hit home runs. He wanted to prove to them that he could hit for power if he wanted to. Whether or not he actually told reporters that before the two games is still debated. What’s not debated was Cobb’s hatred for everything Ruthian post 1920. He thought the great desire for home runs killed all the strategy in the game. If you don’t think that’s the case, look at how different the play is in the National and American leagues today.

The Best of Both Worlds

There was one man who came into the batter’s box with some of the attributes of both Ruth and Cobb. That man was Ted Williams. Williams started his career about a decade after Ruth and Cobb had finished theirs. He is the last man to hit .400 over an entire season. He finished his career with a batting average of .344 and an on base percentage of .482. His career OBP is a record that still stands today. He had the average like Cobb, so what made him like Ruth? Williams finished his 19 year career with 521 home runs. He’s not in the 700 club, but those guys never hit .400. Williams was obsessed with hitting. In 1970, he wrote a book called The Science of Hitting. That’s what hitting was to him, a science. He broke it down into its different pieces and perfected all of them. He used a lighter bat, allowing him to swing faster. He was said to have told his teammates not to leave their bats on the ground because they might absorb moisture, making them heavier. While he was playing left field in front of the massive Green Monster at Fenway Park, he would practice his swing by looking at his shadow as he went through his movement. He lived for hitting. It was his life. Williams was criticized for being selfish with his batting. He wouldn’t swing at a bad pitch to put the ball in play and advance the runner. His argument was basically that it was stupid to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone because his average dropped dramatically. Williams is considered by many to be the best hitter of all time, and that’s why he’s making it up on Mt. Rushmore.

The Lineup

Thanks to Kyle for pinch hitting on the blog today and giving us some insight on his greats of baseball. We know that you probably have 15 other guys you think are worthy of the Mt. Rushmore, and we agree that they’re worthy but these are the choices. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Cy Young, and the rest of the crew all made major contributions to the game, but when you have to pick 4, things get hard. Then when taking away a spot for someone else to put the best player of the steroid era to make a point, it’s ever harder. All of the 4 major sports have been covered and tomorrow I’ll stack up the best from each sport to choose the Final 4 on the American Pro Sports Mt. Rushmore. 

The Monuments Men: NHL

Simple As...

When it comes to building a Mt. Rushmore of players for any of the major sports, there are always more than 4 people who are worthy of making the list. With the NFL there are more than 4 at almost every position, the NBA has 4 current players that have cases to make the list, and MLB spans such a large amount of time that it's hard to differentiate eras. But, in hockey, we have a simpler task. The first two busts on the mountain are undeniable. They dominated as players and then moved to management and coaching positions, their contribution to the game is undeniable. They are Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. 

Since it is an obvious notion that these two top the list, at least in the minds of most educated hockey fans, i'm going to compare the two and see if we can come to a conclusion of who is the best between them. I'm sure your initial response will be that Gretzky has more assists than Lemieux has total points but Gretzky played over 500 more games. The numbers you have to look at are the averages over a career. You can't simply look at total numbers because everyone doesn't play the same amount of time. There is something to say for longevity but also something to say for Mario going through cancer and returning to play hockey after it. When comparing averages, there isn't much difference between the two.

                                                                   Wayne Gretzky                             Mario Lemieux

Points Per Game:                                               1.92                                             1.88

Goals Per Game:                                                   .60                                              .75

Assists Per Game:                                              1.32                                             1.13

Game Winning Goal Percentage:                   6%                                               8%

Shooting Percentage:                                       17.6%                                          19%

I'm from Pittsburgh so my childhood was spent watching Mario Lemieux and my adult life still involves a lot of time being spent watching Lemieux because he's such a staple in Pittsburgh history. But, I believe I can make a fairly strong case for Mario being the better player. No. 66 played with guys you probably never heard of if you're not a die-hard hockey fan or Pittsburgher. No. 99 played with guys that are Hall of Famers. Mario also accomplished something nobody else ever has. He scored 5 goals in 5 different ways. He scored even-strength, power play, empty net, penalty shot, and short handed goals. Add to it the accomplishments made after their career and Lemieux adds another Stanley Cup as a team owner in 2009 with the Penguins. Gretzky didn't have quite as much success in the front office realm. While the debate will go on of 66 or 99 for decades, it's obvious that they are the two best players to ever play. Now, let's check the rest of the list.

Am I Missing Something?

Upon first entertaining the idea of the Mt. Rushmore of hockey players, I leaned toward Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr being my 3rd and 4th choices. Then I did some research. My favorite statistic: points per game average showed me that Gordie Howe didn't have a very impressive number. He has the 37th best PPG average. "He accomplished things at all levels of the game. Look at the Gordie Howe Hat Trick." You mean the feat that he only accomplished twice? Yeah, that's right. I'm not sure why it was named after him like he did it every game. He wasn't even the first to do it. The first time it was recorded was in the 1920s and it probably happened a few times before that. The all-time leader in Gordie Howe Hat Tricks is Brendan Shanahan with 17. Rick Tocchet and Brian Sutter are tied for second with 15. Maybe we should call it the Shanahan Hat Trick? After reviewing the numbers, Gordie Howe was definitely a top talent but he doesn't have the numbers to be on the Mt. Rushmore. My Mt. Rushmore isn't solely about the early founders of the game. It's about the greats of the game. Whether they still play today or if they retired 30 years ago, I look at the numbers and the contributions. When I looked deeper into Bobby Orr's numbers, he stacks up. He makes my list. Orr played 12 seasons and has the 5th best PPG average of all-time. I'm sure someone along this list you said, "Hey your PPG average is negative toward the top defensemen to ever play the game." Well, you're right. It is discriminatory. However, if you're not hockey educated, Bobby Orr was a defensemen. He is the only defensemen with 9 career hat tricks. (Real ones, not Gordie Howe ones). Orr was the first defenseman to lead the league in scoring, the first player to record 100 assists in a season, and the only player to ever win the Norris Trophy, Hart Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and Art Ross Trophy in one season. I still question if I'm missing something with Gordie Howe and maybe a reader will properly inform me, but Bobby Orr is someone everyone needs to know about, and he's on my list because of it. 

The Kid Makes the List

As I have done with my first two sports Mt. Rushmore's, I am choosing a current player who I undoubtedly believe will finish with career numbers worthy of being an all-time great, or the greatest ever. I don't think Sidney Crosby will ever pass Mario or Gretzky on the list of the greatest NHL players but his numbers show that he's already one of the best ever. His PPG average is 4th all-time at 1.40, which is a few points better than Bobby Orr had. He's already secured one Stanley Cup and has a solid career ahead of him. The only concern with Crosby is the fact that he has had injury issues throughout his career. The upside to that is if he can remain healthy for complete seasons in a row, his numbers will stack up even more impressively. You can say I picked another Pittsburgh guy because this is where I'm from but it's the numbers that I'm looking at. No other current player stacks up. The only one that comes close is another guy who started as a Penguin, too: Jaromir Jagr. While Sid the Kid still has a long career ahead of him, he's on the Mt. Rushmore today. 

The Frozen Four

We should probably make this Mt. Rushmore out of ice. If we did that then it would be the easiest to melt down and rebuild if a major change needed to be made. I took care of that and made sure Sidney Crosby was given a spot. The other guys beside Crosby are unarguable choices. Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr dominated the sport and posted numbers and records that have stood for years and don't look like they'll be broken anytime soon. Tomorrow we'll dive into the MLB Mt. Rushmore and Friday you'll get one selection from each sport for the American Pro Sports Mt. Rushmore. 

The Monuments Men: NBA

The reason that this 5-part series of blog posts started was because of a comment made by LeBron James about who his Mt. Rushmore of NBA players would be. He chose Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Oscar Robertson. All very deserving choices for the list, but I think LBJ was a bit off with the majority of his list. I'll tell you who is being added and dropped later. First, let's look at the obvious choice that is making the list: Michael Jordan.

[Insert Everyone's Opinion Here]

Do I even need to give you a reason why Michael Jordan makes this list? Everyone who has ever heard of the sport of basketball knows who Michael Jordan is. The two are synonymous terms. The man and the sport are united for all of eternity. His famous "Jumpman" symbol of him dunking with legs spread apart is the universal symbol of his brand. The same brand that helped raise him to the level of deity. Jordan's numbers speak for itself. So, yes Michael Jordan is on the list of best basketball players ever. What I'm going to use this space to do is bash him a little bit. Well, that's what you'll call it. I'm going to call it a reality check into things you don't see or remember. What if I tried to put someone on the list who had a gambling issue? Like Pete Rose with baseball, most people would be against it. How about I put a misogynist on the list? Nothing like a little infidelity with those triple-doubles. What about finding a guy who is a real team player? You know, the type of guy who punches his teammate in the face during practice. Ask Steve Kerr if he remembers any teammate doing that. While Michael Jordan is stated to be the best basketball player by everyone, nobody seems to remember his flaws. We only see his dunks, his game-winners, his moments of excellence. We skip the page where he quits his sport to go give baseball a shot. Instead, it gets made into a movie and everyone forgets how he failed at baseball while quitting on his teammates. When I think of Jordan playing baseball, I think of Space Jam. What we should think of when we think of Jordan leaving the Bulls to pursue baseball is that the team went from 57 wins his final season before baseball and 55 wins the first season without him. So, Michael Jordan had some really damn good teammates around him. In contrast, let's look at LeBron James' final season in Cleveland. The Cavs won 61 games in LeBron's final season with the team. Their first season without him, they won 19. In the first 3 seasons without him they only won a total of 64 games. The first name on the Mt. Rushmore is Michael Jeffrey Jordan. This one's for you, though. Look at him on this mountain and remember that he wasn't a deity. He didn't invent the sport. He played it very well for a long period. But, he wasn't exactly the example for all your kids to follow.

Keep it 100

Years before my time, your time, and all documented history, wait! It was 1959 when a kid from Philadelphia entered the league. Over 14 years later, he left with records falling out of his pants pockets but we act like he accomplished it while shooting into a laundry basket with socks in 1885. It was actually March 2, 1962 (only 52 years ago, not 152), when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game. That record still stands to this day. With that centennial performance, Wilt went on to average 50.4 points per game and 25.7 rebounds per game that season. He finished with an average of 30.1 points per game and 23 rebounds per game for his career. The aura around Wilt Chamberlain's accomplishments is that he was a foot taller than everyone and dominated the league. The truth is that he was 7 foot with the league average height around the same as it was today. How many 7 footers in the NBA today are putting up 100 points in a game and dominating? Roy Hibbert is physically identical to Wilt Chamberlain and averages 11 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. Wilt was a special player that we continually overlook. Everyone acknowledges the 100 point game but nobody looks at his 50, 60 and 70 point games scattered throughout his career. Wilt has 4 of the 5 highest scoring single NBA performances ever. Other than Kobe Bryant's second place 81, Wilt has first, third, fourth and fifth with 100, 78, and 73 (twice). He also scored 72, 70, 68, and 67 (four times). In the history of the NBA, there are 63 occurrences when a player scored 60 or more points. Michael Jordan has done it 5 times, Kobe Bryant also has 5, and Elgin Baylor did it 4 times. Wilt makes up over half the list with 32 times of scoring 60+ points. If you're searching for the best pure scorer in NBA history, your choice is Wilt Chamberlain. He's also one of my four choices for the NBA Mt. Rushmore. 

Titles on Titles on Titles

When choosing who the next entry on the list would be, I had a plethora of people to choose from. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Shaquielle O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, and the list goes on. But, as I said in my NFL Mt. Rushmore post, I take several factors into consideration and one of those is winning. So, how can I leave off the best winner in the sport. In 13 seasons, in the same era as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell won 11 NBA titles. So, while Wilt was dropping 60+ 32 times, Bill was winning titles all the time. He averaged a respectable 15 points per game and 22 rebounds per game. While he averaged 15 points less per game through his career that Wilt, the amount of championships are astounding. He won a title in 84% of his seasons in the NBA. Nobody else comes close to that. The great Michael Jordan won a title in 40% of his seasons. Less than half the amount Bill Russell did. That dominance of winning gets Bill Russell a place on the Mt. Rushmore. 

Legacy Solidified

I know you don't agree with this if you're almost anyone between the ages of 17 and 100 but LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan. I've been saying this since he beat Boston in game 6 of the playoffs in 2012, and I've been saying that he would be the best ever when it's all said and done for several years now.  

I want to write and ask you all to put away your nostalgia of M.J. for a minute but I can't do that to you. I know where you're coming from. M.J. was great. He was the best ever until 500 and some days ago. When LeBron scored 45 points and 15 rebounds against the Celtics, I knew it was over. The legacy started to build and come to fruition and with his second title in 2013, it was solidified. 

Here's why I pick LeBron over M.J. and give James the final piece on the NBA Mt. Rushmore:

1.) It's about every facet of the game to me. It's about scoring, rebounding, assisting, blocking, defense, etc. Both of these players had/have immense talent at those skills, but LeBron has to use all of those skills every single night. He led the Heat in 9 categories in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. His all-around game is more complete to me than Michael's was. Look at the stats, LeBron's big games have him with a packed box score and Michael's games had 45 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist. LeBron has 37 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 4 steals, 9 of 11 free throws, and dominant defense.  

2.) Following my first point, LeBron is the better teammate. He makes everyone around him better. He sets them up for open looks. He gets into the right position so they can make a good decision of passing or shooting. He cares deeply about the guys he plays with. They are his brothers. They are a family. I was young for most of Jordan's dominance but I always got  this vibe that Jordan knew he was on a level above everyone and acted accordingly. As I said earlier about M.J., he only cared about winning and would do anything to win. LeBron isn't that guy. He wins because he elevates his teammates. 

3.) LeBron is a better person. Now you say that we should only judge them by what they do on the court. Why? If you're the greatest at something, everything you do is put under a microscope. If I'm picking out an idol or role model for someone, i'm picking LeBron first and Jordan will probably be an undrafted free agent. I like the drive and ferocity of Jordan. He was an assassin. That's one way to operate. I like how LeBron does it better. He would rather go down with the crew over abandoning ship to save himself. I want my kids to learn the qualities that LeBron has over Michael. Too many people say you need to be heartless and vicious to be successful. LeBron shows that isn't true. You have to be dedicated, work hard and put everything you have into something to be successful, but you can do it without being overly arrogant.   

Start Etching It

I don't have time to reconfigure the Mt. Rushmore years from now so that's why LeBron is getting on it now. In my eyes it isn't even a debate if he should be on the list or not. He's accomplished so much in the first half of his career so he's going up there with Michael, Bill, and Wilt. The argument can be made for about 6-10 other guys to make this list but that goes for any sport. These 4 were chosen because of what they accomplished and did for the sport. Tomorrow we'll head from the court to the ice and talk about the Top-4 NHL players of all-time. 

The Monuments Men: NFL

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk because of an interview that LeBron James gave with NBATV where he was asked which 4 NBA players would be on his Mt. Rushmore of the best to ever play the game. The discussion that has swirled around this got me thinking. And, I want to present my Mt. Rushmore for each of the 4 major American sports: NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. This will be the first part of a five part series. In this first presentation I will choose my NFL Monuments Men. My criteria for choosing each player depends on stats, winning, era played in, and contribution to the game. Without jumping directly into who I choose, I want to touch on some guys who barely missed the list along the way.

The Architects

There are leagues of men who made major contributions to the game of football. They go beyond being the best at their position during a period and truly make a change to how the game is played. One of the names that comes to mind is Walter Camp, the guy who literally wrote the book on American Football. Another is Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of this great country, with his political influence making the game safer and ushering in the forward pass. (Ironic that the guy on the real Mt. Rushmore has a chance to make this one, too.) Vince Lombardi is another name that makes the finalists in the architects of the game. If this was a Green Bay Mt. Rushmore then he'd have his face on it 4 straight times, but it isn't. So, while Lombardi transformed a field in Wisconsin into a NFL powerhouse, others made bigger impacts. The same goes for Hank Stram, who made my list as a finalist and one of the most cerebral coaches to ever lead a football team. While all of these architects made major impacts to the game of football, the one who I am choosing from this group to grace the NFL Mt. Rushmore is Bill Walsh. 

Bill Walsh started in the NFL as an assistant to Paul Brown and after proving to be brilliant with offenses he found trouble finding his opportunity at head coaching because Brown told people he was too soft in his approach to football. This sent Walsh to coach at Stanford University. During this time he started to fine-tune his quick hitting pass attack. Walsh utilized an approach of short passes that he saw equally as risky as handing off to a running back. This offensive style moved the chains with quick routes, and allowed the deep passing and running game to play off of the quick slant routes. Famously, the style became known as the West Coast Offense, and revolutionized the game of football. Why did this beat out the introduction of the forward pass? The forward pass was done out of necessity as an attempt to save the game. It was an extremely bold move and deserves a ton of praise sent toward Theodore Roosevelt for it. But, the West Coast Offense was ingenuity from a man to revive the forward pass. The rules and mentality at the time allowed defensive backs to manhandle receivers who ran deep patterns. With Walsh's change, passing was once again a true weapon against defenses. Add to Walsh's ingenuity, his reach into the sport today are still staggering. Below is a list of the assistants that became head coaches that stem from the Bill Walsh School of Coaching.

Source: Wikipedia

You can take each guy under Bill Walsh and assign one to each NFL team. Yes, his 6 most prominent assistant coaches had 26 assistants who all became head coaches in the NFL. Add to it how many have won Super Bowls or made appearances and if that's not enough to get a place on Mt. Rushmore, then what is?

The Obvious Choice

I open argument for every other selection that I make on the list of NFL's Mt. Rushmore but this one isn't debatable. This is the best player to ever step on a NFL field. He wasn't the most athletic. He wasn't the fastest nor smartest. He was simply the best. He was the best because of his work ethic. Who is it that I'm talking about? Jerry Rice, of course.

Rice has almost 7,000 more receiving yards (22,895) than any other WR to ever step on the field. He has 41 more TDs (195) than any other receiver. He was a 13 time Pro Bowler, won 3 Super Bowl rings, and got to work with a guy named Bill Walsh to help both of them make this Mt. Rushmore. 

The case is pretty clear that Jerry Rice's contribution to the game of football is a monumental one. He has the stats to make the list, the wins to make the list, and he was the father to the era of glamorizing the WR position. Without Jerry Rice, those guys who were stretching for his heels in the record books wouldn't have ever become receivers. Jerry ushered in an era of Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Terrell Owens, Cris Carter, Calvin Johnson, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison and every other receiver that's stepped on a field since Sept. 5, 1994 when Jerry Rice broke Jim Brown's career touchdown record. Many of these receivers were finalists on my list of potential Mt. Rushmore representatives, but I couldn't put another on the list with Jerry Rice. He's the best receiver, hands down. Special mention to the No. 2 leader in receptions, Tony Gonzalez. Similar to how Jerry Rice became a truly dominant receiver and opened the door for those to follow, Gonzalez made the basketball to tight end transition one that happens more and more each year because of his performance as a TE in the NFL. Currently in the NFL today are Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, and Antonio Gates, who all have basketball backgrounds. That gets Tony Gonzalez special mention as a player who narrowly misses making my Mt. Rushmore.

The Golden Position

Since the invention of the forward pass, one position has become the sexiest in sports: Pro Football Quarterback. From "Broadway" Joe Namath guaranteeing victory in Super Bowl III, to Joe Montana thriving in Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, and John Elway and Dan Marino going in the same draft and dominating the sport for a decade, the QB is the ultimate glamour spot. All of the aforementioned guys deserve a thought at getting a spot on the list. Marino held almost every passing record until Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning dethroned him in recent years. Joe Namath made a statement for the AFL, and Montana and Elway added championships with great stats. But one guy has beaten all of the odds. Every other QB that I've mentioned so far was a first or second round pick. Except one. That one is Tom Brady. He was selected in the sixth round with the 199th pick. He was kept on the New England Patriots roster as a No. 4 QB in his rookie season. He worked like crazy to become the back-up, and when he got his chance, he wasn't giving it back. Minus one season of Randy Moss, Brady hasn't had a Hall of Fame receiver to throw to. He's barely even had Pro Bowl receivers to throw to. That hasn't stopped him from winning 3 Super Bowls and leaving the field with his team leading in 2 others. He found a way to will a injury riddled team to the AFC Championship this season and displays a work ethic rivaled by few. The logic of making Tom Brady one of four on the NFL Mt. Rushmore is this: I knew I was going to put a QB on the list, and the QB that I put at the top on my all-time list is Tom Brady. When it's all said and done after Brady plays another 5-6 years, he might have 4 Super Bowl wins and 7 appearances. He'll be Top-5 in every QB category, be among the most winning QBs in the game, and has a work ethic to be idolized by everybody. 

First Down vs Sweetness

The final piece of the stone to be chiseled in the metaphorical mountain comes down to Jim Brown and Walter Payton. Two NFL running backs that did it anyway necessary. They worked hard, ran hard, and made defenses look silly. Walter had more rush yards than Brown but he also played 70 more games. The way Walter ran was something special, though. He did things on the field that were unheard of. He also started his career 10 years after Brown's ended. So a certain amount of comparison is difficult because defenses, offensive lines, the passing game, and so many other factors changed from 1957 when Brown entered the league to 1987 when Payton exited it. Add to it the fact that other than highlight reels, I didn't get to see either of them enough to really pick out nuances that puts one above the other. After watching several packages of highlights, I've come to a conclusion: If they were both wearing the same uniform, I couldn't differentiate between the two of them. They both ran angry with a bizarre elegance. They'd hit three guys head on and then do a bit of a twist and bend that would score a 10 from even the Russian judge. Their abilities from the eye test are so even that it's hard to pick one over the other. So, I have to rely on the stats in front of me and go with the original. With more yards per game, yards per attempt, and overall touchdowns in fewer games, the final portrait hammered into my NFL Mt. Rushmore is Jim Brown. 

If they all played together, one ball wouldn't be enough

There you have it. My four selections to be etched on the NFL Mt. Rushmore are Bill Walsh, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, and Jim Brown. Could you imagine if these four played in the same era on the same team. They'd have to have two balls. One for Brady to throw to Rice and another one he'd hand to Brown. All while Bill Walsh was working his schemes of the West Coast Offense to run his team like a well oiled machine. Now that the NFL Mt. Rushmore has been selected, tomorrow you'll get the NBA version, Wednesday the NHL, Thursday the MLB, and Friday the top from each sport will be selected to create the Major American Sports Mt. Rushmore. Now we just need some mountains in Canton, Ohio to build this football one..