May 22, 1989 was my dad’s 62nd birthday (we miss you dad). It was also the day the great sportswriter, Rick Reilly published his list of the greatest athlete for each number. He called it The Heavenly Hundred (Reilly, 1989).
I still have that one page article, it is one of only two articles I have saved in my over 50 years as an SI reader; the other was Pure Heart, a story about Secretariat’s death written by Bill Nack.
With all credit for the idea to the great Mr. Reilly, here is my Heavenly 100, with a slight change in the rules. My list only includes athletes that I have actually seen play live, either in person or on TV.
00 – Jim Otto, great Raider center
1 – Gordon Banks, Goalie, Fort Lauderdale Strikers – won MVP in the NASL with one eye
2 – Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont – the greatest performance by the greatest athlete of all time
3 – Secretariat in the 1973 Preakness – second best performance ever
4 – Bobby Orr, the greatest defenseman in NHL history
5 – Brooks Robinson, my boyhood idol
6 – Bill Russell, the greatest basketball player of all time (11 Championships is more than 6)
7 – Mickey Mantle, they wrote songs about him
8 – Yogi Berra, 10 World Championships
9 – Gordie Howe, hockey legend who played in his 50s
10 – Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the reason all great footballers wear #10
11 – Elvin Hayes, the BIG E, actually beat UCLA in college
12 – Tom Brady, just watch the 2nd half of last year’s Super Bowl
13 – Wilt Chamberlain, scored 100 points in a game and averaged over 50 for a season
14 – Pete Rose, the all-time hit king
15 – Bart Starr, MVP of the first two Super Bowls
16 – Joe Montana, 4 time Super Bowl champ
17 – John Havlicek, 8 – 0 in NBA Finals, of course #6 may have helped a little
18 – Peyton Manning, 14 Pro Bowls, 5 MVPs, 2 Super Bowl titles
19 – Johnny Unitas, won the “Greatest Game Ever Played”
20 – Frank Robinson, first to win MVP in both leagues
21 – Roberto Clemente, take away all 3,000 hits and he still makes the list as a human being
22 – Elgin Baylor, great player, horrible GM
23 – Pete Maravich at LSU, only played 3 years, no 3 pointers, and still the top scorer of all time
24 – Willie Mays, the greatest living player
25 – Barry Bonds, single season and all-time home run king (never tested positive, so shut up)
26 – Rod Woodson, only active player on the list when the NFL picked its 75th anniversary team
27 – Juan Marichal, could get in on the leg kick alone
28 – Marshall Faulk, the engine of the “Greatest Show on Turf”
29 – Rod Carew, seven time batting champion
30 – Nolan Ryan, as an Angel, seven no hitters
31 – Greg Maddux, first to win four consecutive Cy Young awards.
32 – Sandy Koufax, easily the greatest pitcher ever
33 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lew Alcindor a close second
34 – Walter Payton, “sweetness”
35 – Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter ever
36 – Meadowlark Lemon, the greatest Globetrotter of them all
37 – Lester Hayes, good thing stickum was legal then
38 – George Rogers, greatest South Carolina player ever
39 – Larry Csonka, heart and soul of the only team to go 17 and 0
40 – Gayle Sayers, just Google him and watch – nobody did highlights better
41 – Tom Seaver, 2nd highest HOF percentage ever
42 – Mariano Rivera, greatest closer ever
43 – Richard Petty, still the King
44 – Jim Brown (wore it at Syracuse), may be the greatest ever in two sports
45 – Bob Gibson, 1.12 ERA in 1968, is that really possible?
46 – Lee Smith, 478 saves
47 – Tom Glavine, 1/3 of MadduxGlavineandSmoltz, became one word to Braves fans
48 – Jimmie Johnson, the second seven time NASCAR Champion on my list, soon to be EIGHT
49 – Ron Guidry, once went 25 – 3 in a season, that is sick
50 – Rebecca Lobo, started the great UConn dynasty
51 – Ichiro, more hits than Pete Rose, who cares where he got them
52 – Ray Lewis, won a Super Bowl without an offense
53 – Don Drysdale, imagine a double header against him and Koufax – “must have the flu”
54 – Randy White, the great Cowboy D lineman
55 – Orel Hershiser, had video game numbers in 1988
56 – Lawrence Taylor, changed the game
57 – Dwight Stephenson, great Dolphins center
58 – Jack Lambert, next to
59 – Jack Ham, the great Steel Curtain Linebackers
60 – Chuck Bednarik, the last full time two-way player
61 – Curley Culp, great KC Chief and NCAA wrestling champ
62 – Jim Langer, center for the 17 – 0 Dolphins
63 – Gene Upshaw, great Raider guard
64 – Jerry Kramer, threw the block that won the Ice Bowl
65 – Gary Zimmerman, HOF offensive lineman for the Vikings
66 – Mario Lemieux, idolized 99 so just turned it over to become 66
67 – Reggie McKenzie, led the way for OJ’s 2,000-yard season
68 – L C. Greenwood, part of the “Steel Curtain”
69 – Mark Schlereth, three time Super Bowl champ
70 – Jim Marshall, he only ran the wrong way once
71 – Alex Karras, he punched out a horse
72 – Carlton Fisk, wore this when his 27 wasn’t available
73 – John Hannah, once called by SI, “The Best Offensive Lineman of All Time.” Enough said.
74 – Merlin Olsen, one of the original “Fearsome Foursome”
75 – Mean Joe Greene, won four Super Bowls and had the greatest Super Bowl commercial ever
76 – Orlando Pace, one of the greatest offensive tackles
77 – Ray Bourque, another great Bruin defenseman
78 – Anthony Munoz, the dominant tackle of a generation
79 – Harvey Martin, co-MVP of a Super Bowl
80 – Jerry Rice, the GOAT
81 – Tim Brown, Heisman winner and Super Bowl champ
82 – Raymond Berry, Johnny U’s favorite target
83 – Ted Hendricks, the prototypical Raider, “out there” but great
84 – Randy Moss, if Brady only had him for his whole career
85 – Nick Buoniconti, leader of the “No Name Defense” that went 17 – 0
86 – Buck Buchanan, the first player ever drafted by the AFL
87 – Sidney Crosby, three Stanley Cups and counting
88 – Dale Jarrett, my favorite race car driver (it is my list)
89 – Gino Marchetti, played on one of the greatest college teams nobody ever heard of
90 – Neil Smith, great Chief and Bronco D Lineman
91 – Sergei Federov, greatest Russian to play in the NHL
92 – Reggie White, the “Minister of Defense”
93 – Doug Gilmour, high scoring defenseman
94 – Charles Haley, five time Super Bowl champ
95 – Bubba Smith, wore it at Michigan State
96 – Cortez Kennedy, great Hurricane and Seahawk
97 – Cornelius Bennett, hopefully I won’t lose my Auburn card
98 – Tony Siragusa, by far the weakest one on my list; will take suggestions
99 – Wayne Gretzky, the “Great One” says it all
There it is, I agree with the great Mr. Reilly on 34 of 100. Of course greats on his list like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are no-brainers if I don’t exclude players I never saw play. Thanks to Mr. Reilly for the great article and the inspiration.
By Dr. Stephen Butler
Stephen L. Butler, Ed.D., is the Dean of Academic Affairs at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at sbutler@ussa.edu.