Tuff question to answer as so many variables.
Surprise no mention of Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky
curious on your thoughts.AGree with most of what you say. The only thing I would argue is that I dont think this drive, heart, determination, strength to go on is necessarily unique to those elite athletes. I think its quite possible that lesser athletes possess those same attributes to the very same levels but maybe they cannot reach the elite levels b/c they come up short in other areas such as size, athleticism, talent, etc.
We always hear how Jordan was such a great competitor and everything and I dont doubt that for one bit but I think its quite possible that there may have been even journeyman basketball players who had equal desire, drive, heart as Jordan but just didnt have the talent and thats why they were journeyman and not superstars. But those players arent always gonna get the credit for having the drive/heart etc because those players just arent gonna get talked about or praised as much as the elite athletes. But maybe some of those journeyman players dont even make it to the league without that incredible drive, determination, heart etc. In otherwords what I am saying is I dont think that GREAT determination, drive, heart etc is something that is exclusive or unique to those with immense talent/skill/athleticism and the elite athletes.
These types of things like fire, heart, determination arent always easily quantifiable attributes either so its somewhat subjective. And I think sometimes these qualities are easier to see in certain athletes than others. But just because it may be more difficult to see in some athletes doesnt necessarily mean they arent there. For example - a guy playing offensive tackle may not get the glory and its hard to really see the fire in their eyes because lets be honest - we dont see their eyes as much as we may see the eyes of a QB or a WR but just because its harder to see doesnt mean it isnt there.
my apologies if you already posted your 2 cents but who do you see as greatest athlete?