Fix One Athlete in Sports History

[albionmoonlight]

Stolen from elsewhere:

You can go back in time and give any single athlete a clean bill of health for their career. Who do you choose and why?

[tarcone]

Clean bill of health?

Ronnie Lester, Iowa PG. Louisville cheap shot him in the final four in 1980. Blew his knee out. Iowa finished 4th (they played the losers game still).

Lester would have a fantastic pro career. He was that good. But the knee ruined him.

EDIT: Magic Johnson said Lester was the best player he ever played against in college.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hmm ... not sure I'd pick one, 'cause of the butterfly effect implications.

[NobodyHere]

Being an Indianapolis Colts fan I'm going to have to go with Bob Sanders (even if Andrew Luck is the more obvious answer at the moment). That guy was a terror on the field and completely changed the Colt's defense. Sadly his 5'8 frame couldn't handle all the punishing hits he delivered. In only two seasons he played over 6 games. In one of those seasons he won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award.

I've no doubt that he would be a hall of famer if he had a long healthy career.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm gonna steal the Bob Sanders example just in case my butterfly effect doesn't make much sense.

What if I bring back Sanders ... but then he injures Manning? For me that's a huge net loss, so I'm leary of tweaking the timeline so as not to risk fucking up things for a Peyton or a Greg Maddux or something.

[RainMaker]

Chicago wise I'd choose Derrick Rose or Mark Prior.

Bo Jackson is still the most amazing athlete I've ever seen. Would have been interesting to see what his football career would have been if he never destroyed his hip.

[BYU 14]

Mark Fydrych, just because it would have been fun to watch him have a healthy 10-12 year career, the way he energized the game his rookie season.

[Atocep]

Bo Jackson. Hands down.

After that, I would have loved to see how a healthy Steve Entman would have done in the NFL.

[Maple Leafs]

Mario Lemieux. Most skilled player of his generation, probably ever. Give him a 20-year career and he might have given Gretzky's records a run.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Being an Indianapolis Colts fan I'm going to have to go with Bob Sanders (even if Andrew Luck is the more obvious answer at the moment). That guy was a terror on the field and completely changed the Colt's defense. Sadly his 5'8 frame couldn't handle all the punishing hits he delivered. In only two seasons he played over 6 games. In one of those seasons he won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award.

I've no doubt that he would be a hall of famer if he had a long healthy career.

Sanders was fantastic. Loved watching that guy at Iowa.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Mark Fydrych, just because it would have been fun to watch him have a healthy 10-12 year career, the way he energized the game his rookie season.

He was the reason I became a Tigers fan in my youth.

Loved watching him and all the stories around him.

[CU Tiger]

Bo
Mickey
Bias
Tim Richmond

[JPhillips]

Greg Cook QB Bengals

[EagleFan]

Eric Lindros
Pelle Lindbergh (if not dying while driving drunk counts as fixing)
Athan Iannucci (sets an NLL season scoring record and then blows his knee out, doesn't see the floor again for almost 2 years and is a shell of his former self when he returns)

[digamma]

Bo for sure

[jbergey22]

Bo

[EagleFan]

For those saying Bo, in which sport? No chance he continues both sports for an extended period of time or that alone would shorten his overall career. (guess that is the butterfly effect all wrapped up into one player)

[digamma]

I read the question as he has a clean bill of health for his career. Both sports for Bo.

[BishopMVP]

Fun question. Do you go with a great player who could've had a few more great years like Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Larry Bird - heck, even if KG didn't have that surgery Celtics might've won 1-2 more titles over Kobe. Or do you go with a potentially transcendent talent who was never able to show their greatness like Bo, Len Bias, or Greg Oden? Marcus DuPree kind of fits there too, though half his problems were mental or who was advising him. I'd probably go with Bo, and I really hope Joel Embiid isn't on this list in a decade.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Mario Lemieux. Most skilled player of his generation, probably ever. Give him a 20-year career and he might have given Gretzky's records a run.

This...

As an aside, not to derail the thread but I thought this was going to be if you could fix one aspect of a players game (e.g. make Shaq a league average free throw shooter) what would you choose, which is also a fun idea. We'll have to do that one at some point.

[Warhammer]

Penny Hardaway

[stevew]

A healthy Grant Hill in his prime with Tmac could have been something worth seeing

[Suicane75]

I'm gonna be a homer and say Lenny Dykstra. That 93 team wasn't built for the long haul anyways but I'd still have liked to see him healthy for longer than he was.

[Groundhog]

I'd like to have seen Greg Oden stay healthy, I think,

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Greg Cook QB Bengals

For me it is a tie between him and Bo.

[Butter]

Ken Griffey Jr., the Cincinnati years.

Say hello to your new Home Run King, Ken Griffey, Jr.

[laser]

Darryl Strawberry. Although I am not a Mets fan I would like to see what his numbers eould have been if he wasn't so messed up.

Dwight Gooden also. Imagine what the Mets could have been with a physically and mentally healthy Strawberry and Gooden for a decade.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Greg Cook QB Bengals

To hear Dr. Z talk about it, Cook getting injured means we might have missed the greatest QB ever, and no one has any idea who he was.

[albionmoonlight]

Interesting answer depending on if the question extends to mental health: Mike Tyson.

[pbot]

Initial and immediate reaction to the question was Bo Jackson.

For a butterfly effect person? Baltimore Colts QB Bert Jones. I'm not old enough to remember him in his prime. By the time I started following football he was already injured. But, say that never happens. The Colts won 3 straight AFC East titles with him at QB while Don Shula was in his prime with the Dolphins. If Jones stays healthy, maybe the Colts don't start to suck causing a death spiral of declining attendance and lack of public support to improve or replace Memorial Stadium. With strong attendance, and promise of new or renovated stadium, Irsay doesn't start openly shopping the franchise to other cities. Because he isn't threatening to move the team the Maryland legislature doesn't start taking steps to claim the team via eminent domain. The Colts never move.

With a healthy Bert Jones, the Colts remain competitive through the mid 80's. John Elway isn't drafted by the Colts since they don't have the #1 pick, so he plays somewhere other than Denver. With no Colts relocation, Indianapolis has to snag another franchise (Cardinals? Eagles? Browns?). There was a lot of speculation about the Eagles moving to Phoenix at one point in the mid/late 80s.

And, without the Colts leaving Baltimore, the city and state maybe don't step up and build Oriole Park to keep the Orioles in town. Without Oriole Park, does the wave of new 'retro' ballparks get started in MLB? Or do we have a new round of New Comiskey Parks built instead?

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

To hear Dr. Z talk about it, Cook getting injured means we might have missed the greatest QB ever, and no one has any idea who he was.

It's safe to bet the under on that, but it would have been fun to see it play out. His YPC and YPA are still rookie records.

[Northwood_DK]

I guess Bo is the “correct” answer but it would have been fun to see what a healthy Tiger could have done to the record books.

[albionmoonlight]

The Bo Jackson documentary (I think it was a 30 for 30) pointed out at the end how Bo made his mark at the tail end of the era before we started getting all cynical and needing to tear athletes down (and assuming that they were all juicing).

In some ways, getting injured when he did was the best thing for his legacy. That said, it would have been amazing to see how long he could have kept it up at his level.

I probably pick Bo for this question, even though its the obvious answer.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Agree that my initial and immediate reaction was To, though there have been some good suggestions. Griffey Jr. is probably my #2.

I wonder what happens if Tiger doesn't wreck his back or become a head case?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Northwood_DK

I guess Bo is the “correct” answer but it would have been fun to see what a healthy Tiger could have done to the record books.

Damn, you beat me to it.

[QuikSand]

So, yeah, we've covered the obvious ones -- Bo Jackson probably the right answer for our generation, maybe Gale Sayers for the one before ours. Tiger Woods is intriguing, but that would have mostly been "more of the same" and that's less tantalizing than a true "what could have been."

How about Marcus Dupree? Similar line as Fidrych, I guess.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Pelle Lindbergh

He was the first name that popped into my head, but I'm not sure I'm going to go with that. He had one great season, and while he was relatively young, goalies can be hard to predict. His Vezina year may have been an aberration. And sad as it is, if Pelle lived we might not have gotten the entertainment that was Ron Hextall. So I don't know.

But along those same lines, I might consider Jerome Brown.

[OldGiants]

Ernie Davis.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Greg Cook QB Bengals

Another name that came to mind after reading pbot's Bert Jones "what if." (Yeah, was reading from bottom up after my first post).

[Kodos]

Would have been nice for Terrell Davis's knees not to get blown out.

[Draft Dodger]

Tom Brady

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

Tom Brady

See, I'd probably rather Drew Bledsoe.

[Abe Sargent]

I'll be a homer too - TONY BOSELLI!!!!!

[HomerSimpson98]

Bo as 1

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Penny Hardaway

But Penny at 2. What a talent

[Butter]

Couple of pure homer picks:

Carson Palmer for the 2005 playoffs. Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl that year, could've been the Bengals if Palmer had avoided that one hit.

Chris Wright for Dayton Flyers, 2008. Flyers were 14-1, #14 in the country, had just beaten #6 Pitt 80-55 when Chris Wright breaks his foot. Flyers lose 8 of next 11 and miss the NCAAs.

Norm Grevey for Dayton Flyers, 1990. Flyers win their first round NCAA tournament game, but not before Stephen Bardo clotheslines Norm Grevey going up for a layup. Grevey was the best 3 point shooter on the team (besides Negele Knight, a future NBA PG), can't play in their second round game which they lose to Arkansas by 2 on a Todd Day putback, and Arkansas goes on to the Final 4.

[Shkspr]

How about Bill Walton? He was a HOFer even after playing only 311 games his first ten seasons. Imagine him with healthy feet.

[ISiddiqui]

George Best. Just imagine if he wasn't a raging alcoholic that basically ended his real career at 28.

Gayle Sayers if I get a second pick.

[nol]

Originally Posted by Shkspr

How about Bill Walton? He was a HOFer even after playing only 311 games his first ten seasons. Imagine him with healthy feet.

I don’t know if Bill Walton would’ve become the commentator he currently is if he hadn’t significantly upped his intake of marijuana and psychedelic drugs to deal with the foot pain, so that’s quite a butterfly effect to consider there.

[ColtCrazy]

As a Colts fan, there are so many that could be and have been mentioned. Emtman. Sanders. Collie. I think I would go with Sanders because of the complete difference he made when healthy. Manning may have one or two more rings with him because the defense was simply not feared without him. As good as Emtman was when healthy, he didn't have the same impact Sanders did.

Ralph Sampson would be my basketball choice.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Grant Hill was another mentioned that I thought was pretty good.