Greatest of All Time Talk

As someone who appreciates athletes in all eras I get really tired of listening to people debate who is the greatest of all time in any sport. It's a ridiculous argument to me simply because you are typically comparing different athletes in different eras.


I see people debate this in all sports. In football it's really a pointless debate. The rules for the offense and defense were different. The schemes in which teams, both pro and college ran were/are totally different. Let's take a look at football. Back in the day, say the 40's, 50's, and 60's, offenses were running offenses. Wing-T, wishbone, two back sets were all the rage back then. Throwing the forward pass was an after thought. To coaches, throwing the ball was to big of a chance to take. So when people talk about the greatest quarterback of all time and they are comparing John Elway or Dan Marino to Fran Tarketon or Johnny Unitas or even Y.A. Tittle it's a fruitless debate. Unitas, Tittle, and Tarkenton played in era when running the ball was the norm, not throwing.


Even today when you compare Dan Marino (my favorite) and John Elway to Peyton Manning or Drew Brees that's a lame debate as well. Here's why. Defenses in the 80's and 90's, especially defensive backs were pretty much allowed to assault receivers, hold, grab, or whatever they needed to do to not allow the pass to be completed. These days, if the cornerback barely touches the receiver they are called for a flag, so this has allowed quarterbacks to throw for 4,000 yards or better on a regular basis. Fans like to see offense, so the change in rules has allowed current quarterbacks to look like they are so much better than their counterparts from earlier eras.


People also like to make the argument that the greatest of all time is the one with the most championship rings. Nah, so somebody is going to look me or you in the eye and tell us that John Elway is somehow a weaker  quarterback than say Terry Bradshaw or Tom Brady because Elway has does not have as many rings is also flawed. Look at the talent Bradshaw or Brady had and compare it to Elway and the deck he was dealt. Same could be said for Marino, no rings, he had one shot and went up against a 49er team that was stacked. I don't think I need to remind people who was on that team in San Francisco. If people want to use the "ring" argument in sports, then guess what, Bill Russell is the greatest player of all time in any sport. Eleven rings. Period. End of the argument.


Why can't people just appreciate the greatness that they have seen or will see in the future in any sport they watch? Because people want to believe they lived during the greatest era and any other era is not as worthy, that's why. Personal bias gets in the way when making debating this. Just saying....