Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?

Some of you guys might really like this. This guy nails track & field and body types. Nothing on boxing, but worth 15 minutes...which will fly by. Trust me.

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Brown was an outlier in performance, but was he an outlier in either size or speed. He was only the 4th biggest starting fullback in pro football by his last two years. Quite a few others were about the same height and within 5 or 10 lbs. There are quite a few players who were faster, some much faster. It is his performance which separates him from the field.

I think that is basically also true with Babe Ruth.

 

How many of the big fullbacks were as fast as Jim Brown? Did you focus on his last two seasons for any reason in particular? The fact that some men were bigger than him and a completely other different group of men were faster than him misses the point entirely. It was his almost completely unprecedented combination of size and speed that made him an outlier. How are you not following that?

 

I don’t think anyone can deny that Jim Brown was an amazing athlete. It can’t be a very long list of athletes appearing in the Hall of Fame for two different sports. Either also don’t think anyone is arguing that his success was solely based on size or speed. However, it little bit foolish to argue that he was not an outlier in that he possessed both size and speed And that played a large role in his success.

Curly Lambeau, a coach the time who was later elected into the Hall of Fame said:

“Jim Brown was a combination of speed and power like nobody who has ever played the game,” says LeBeau. “You just didn’t know if you were going to get a big collision or be grabbing at his shoelaces.”

Curly Lambeau was elected into the football Hall of Fame and is probably pretty good source regarding where Jim Brown fit in during that time period.

Is also important to keep in mind that football is a team sport and the Cleveland Browns had an all-time great offensive line.

 

I'm curious about where he gets his conversion rate (converting times run under older conditions to those run in modern settings). His entire Owens v. modern runners argument depends on us accepting his ratio without any explanation. Does anyone know whether he actually explains this in his book? Pretty sure I have a copy that I never got around to reading...I'll try to dig it up and report back some time.

 

When Paul Hornung was suspended for gambling and Jim Taylor didn't have to split carries with him, it was Taylor, not Brown, who led the league in rushing.

That aside, LT was likely the greatest football player and probably the sport's greatest mix of speed, strength and size.

 

Today's athletes are getting fatter and on PED's more. The human body doesn't evolve every 10 years. This isn't a Marvel Movie.

 

Taylor led the league in rushing in 1962. Hornung was suspended in 1963. Brown led the lead in 1963 and Taylor's total fell back, possibly because Hornung was such a great lead blocker.

 

Is the point being made that all you have to do is get a guy Brown's size and Brown's speed and you have another Brown? Or at least you would have had another Brown in his era? That is where I part company.

Certainly being big and fast is important, but it is the total package that counts. One thing you would have to explain is how relatively small, and probably not that fast by NFL running back standards, men like Walter Payton or Emmitt Smith did so well.

"a big collision or be grabbing at his shoelaces"

Is that speed or elusiveness?

Joe Louis was certainly another talent outlier. But with what assets? Size. No. Louis was big but not that big. Foot speed and mobility? Definitely not. Punch per punch punching power? Perhaps not. Boxing skill? Not exactly. But the total package made him an outlier in his day.

 

Love LT , Ray Lewis very close to being up there with him too … But I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Barry Sanders' athleticism

 

lewis biggest skill was getting away with double murders.

 

Brown is also considered by many to be the greatest Lacrosse player to ever live. who else is possibly the greatest ever at two sports?

 

That would be Bo Jackson … probably the best or close to the best natural athlete who ever walked this planet

 

bo jackson was never even close to being considered the best at two sports during his time, let alone all time.

 

Well GH … It is clear you are still wet behind the ears when talking sports with the statement you just made … so if you don't know Bo Jackson then you wouldn't know that he is the only athlete in History to be both an All star in Football and Baseball .. And is WIDELY considered to be one of the best athletes in History … Watch him scale the wall in Baltimore … enough said