What Sport Would You Say Has the Best Athletes?

Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: Like It or Not, NFL Has Best Athletes in SportsBy Mike Freeman , NFL National Lead Writer Jul 6, 2016Lebron-James-football-04 by anti java, on FlickrDoug Pensinger/Getty Images I tweeted NFL players are the best athletes. All hell broke loose after that.1. Sticking Your Head Into the Teeth of Twitter Can Be DangerousIt was a simple tweet and it went like this: mike freeman ? @mikefreemanNFLThere aren't better athletes in the world than NFL players. None. Zero.9:44 AM - 2 Jul 2016  Such a simple, non-offensive tweet. It was in response to the massive contracts NBA players have been receiving since the start of free agency. I thought that if basketball players were getting that kind of cash, why weren't the best athletes in the universe making that kind of money?It wasn't meant to troll. It was just an observation.Hoo boy, did I open the floodgates. Thousands of responses poured in. For days and days. People interrupted their celebrations of our freedom from the British Empire and hot dog massacres to call me an idiot or defend me. The takes that followed had the heat of a billion solar flares. I needed an Apollo heat shield. Responses ranged from "eat a d--k" to "you're butthurt" to "idiot" to "your an idiot" to, well, you get the point.Most of the more civilized responses fell into three categories:1. "Please like my sport." Tweeters thought I was being an NFL homer. I love football, but I just wrote a book about its arrogance and possible end in the not-so-distant future. I don't care whether you like football.2. LeBron James. This was the most common. He's the best athlete in the world; therefore, my point is wrong.3. (Insert sport here) is better. Rugby was the most common answer here.What surprised me was the level of anger the tweet generated. I know we live in polarizing times filled with keyboard special forces warriors, but the amount of vitriol over something so silly was a tad shocking, even in these times. I wasn't tweeting about Brexit. Or Donald Trump.The reason for the overreaction, to me, was twofold. It goes to an old debate about what exactly qualifies as athleticism. That is wrapped around a new, rising resentment some sports fans have toward the popularity (and brutality) of football.As far as athleticism, the true athlete can do a little bit of everything. What differentiates NFL players from others is the level of violence they undergo while doing their jobs. There's almost nothing in sports like playing cornerback. They have to take on massive offensive linemen, tackle 230-pound backs and cover the fastest guys on the field.If you don't get why it's incredibly athletic for a 6'6", 300-pound offensive lineman to move like a 150-pounder—while wearing a bunch of equipment and another 300-pounder beating the hell out of him—I seriously can't help you.Then there are multi-sport stars guys like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Jim Brown. The former played two sports at the same time. The latter is in the NFL and lacrosse Halls of Fame.AP C09 VIKINGS 04 by anti java, on FlickrKEVIN RIVOLI/Associated PressOr Randy Moss. Or Mike Vick. Or Rob Gronkowski. These are big humans who run like deer while wearing suits of armor, often in harsh weather conditions, and do their jobs under extreme acts of violence. That's what differentiates them.The one weak spot in the armor of my argument is that Buffalo wide receiver Marquise Goodwin recently failed to make the Olympics as a long jumper. He finished seventh in the trials Sunday. If he was such a good athlete, some of you will say, then why didn't he make the Olympics?Part of the answer is how many long jumpers could be also be NFL wide receivers? (And speaking of athletes, the daughter of former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham just made the Olympics in the high jump.)I'd rank the best athletes in all of sports this way:• NFL players• MMA fighters• Hockey playersAll three are doing extremely athletic things under physically punishing circumstances (hockey players do it while skating on ice).And yes, I know, rugby is brutal as well and features some good athletes. Just not NFL-caliber.As other tweeters pointed out, some of the angry reactions had racist undertones. Some tweeters simply hate the fact that a mostly black league is thought to have the best athletes (I know, shocker, part of the internet is racist).Still, the bulk of the outrage (and this was expressed often) appears to stem from a resentment over the NFL's immense power and how some non-NFL fans believe the NFL achieved this power through lying and abusing its players. Head trauma was brought up over and over.This has nothing to do with calmly assessing athleticism. Their hatred over how football handled CTE and head trauma (decades of denial) is so intense, it clouded their thought process.So, in all, this is a little fun (mostly) during the slow offseason. Oh, and there was one person who told me gamers were the best athletes because of hand-eye coordination.So, there's that.For the rest of the article... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2649778-mike-freemans-10-point-stance-like-it-or-not-nfl-has-best-athletes-in-sports