Athlete-Musician Comparisons
 

Thought this might make an interesting thread.

Rules: Offer a comparison. Provide support from both careers and respective talent levels. You don't have to list specific character flaws. For example, if one was caught with a teenaged prostitute, the other needn't be.

I'll start with a short example:

Tiger Woods was the Michael Jackson of golf.

Both were revolutionary racial figures. Tiger won the most famous golf tournament at a time when people from a similar racial background were either excluded or discouraged from the game. He was the product of a maniacally driven father and was known to the public from a very early age. His first complete breakthrough into the public discourse came in record setting fashion and is considered the greatest singular accomplishment in the history of the sport. His dominance increased golf's popularity to unforeseen heights and opened it up as a potential possibility to a group of individuals who would have never considered it previously. He was so dominant in his twenties that people already acclaimed him the greatest to ever step into his field.

Meanwhile, Jackson, for all his fame as a child and through his first single album, could not receive airplay on MTV until a music executive from Sony threatened to withhold all videos from the company. He released the best selling album ever when just 23 years old, and he also starred in what many to believe is the best music video of all time. He is also credited with changing music video into a legitimate artform. Before he was 30 years old he was also considered the greatest entertainer in history.

What do you say?

Who is the LeBron james of music? The Katy Perry of football?

Proceed.

Len Bias was the Amy Whinehouse of basketball.

Hours after being selected #2 overall by the Boston Celtics in 1986. Len Bias signed a $3 million deal with Reebok and proceeded to go out and get some coke. He died that night after abusing cocaine and alcohol. A bright future in the NBA was in front of him.

Much like Amy Whinehouse, who was young in her music career, already making millions and receiving several awards. Had a promising music career in front of her. Whinehouse died from alcohol poisoning in 2011.

Jerry Sandusky was the Michael Jackson of college football coaching.

Sandusky was never as successful as Jackson. And Bias was a much better basketball palyer than Winehouse was a singer, IMO.

What about Bias and Andrew Wood?

Tommie Frazier = Bob Marley

never heard of Andrew Wood. I guess you could put Bradley Nowell in there instead. Or Layne Staley.

True. Jackson got himself acquitted.

Thought about Staley, but AIC actually made it. Mother Love Bone was on the verge of making it huge, and had two of the members of Pearl Jam in it, Ament and Gossard.

Brooks Berringer-Randy Rhodes

Matt Cassel-kenny g

Rick Ross-Pete Rose

Jim Abbott = Rick Allen

LMAO

Mickey Mantle = John Phillips

Jovan Belcher - Jim Morrison

Meatloaf - John Kruk

Jared Allen - Randy Travis

Mickey Mantle raped his Daughter?!?

Ryan Leaf = Leif Garrett

Jovan Belcher - Ike Turner

Man, Hamas...this was a really cool idea...and deceptively more difficult than I thought it would be. I thought I'd be able to just whip these out....no, takes a lot of thought.

Cool freaking thread.

Too soon?

Jim Morrison didn't blow his head off. You could go with Kurt Cobain & Jovan Belcher.

Junior Seau is the Kurt Cobain of NFL linebackers.

Both were born on the West side.

The majority of both of their careers unraveled on the West side.

Both of them committed suicide via self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Both of them were well-known for the passion they put into their professions.

Both of them are widely known as being the most influential at their professions.

Both were highly accomplished at their professions.

Both of them had psychiatric issues (depression), which presumably was a factor in their decision to take their own lives.

Both of them had physical ailments that went hand-in-hand with their professions which were presumably factors that led to their decision(s) to take their own lives. With Seau it was, chronic traumatic encephalopathy from being consistently and repeatedly hit hard in his years playing football. With Cobain, it was: chronic bronchitis and a debilitating stomach condition, potentially brought on by drug abuse which is very consistent with musicians.

Both were seemingly respected by those they worked with. Their "co-workers" were seemingly heartbroken after they took their own lives.

Both had domestic issues with their partners. Seau's girlfriend turned him into the police after an alleged domestic "incident." Courtney and Kurt's relationship had been described as "tumultuous." Some fans even went as far as blaming Courtney for Kurt's suicide, some claiming he wouldn't have done it if it were not for her, some going as far as stating that they believe Courtney actually pulled the trigger (not saying I believe this).

Both allegedly had substance abuse issues to a certain extent.

Bo Jackson - Les Paul

Both were bad asses at what they did. Both overcame potential career ending injuries and got back to doing what they do...albeit not at the same level of performance...but they got back to doing it!

Bo Jackson - hard to argue that this man may very well have made the hall of fame in TWO sports! Last I knew he had ran the fastest 40 of all times at the combine....4.1. At age 28 the infamous hip dislocating tackle occurred and Bo was never the same. He did come back to baseball with the White Sox and hit a home run in his first at bat.

Les Paul - In 1948, a near fatal car accident in Oklahoma hospitalised Les Paul for nearly a year. The worst injury was his right arm which had been broken in three places and his elbow totally crushed. Doctors proposed amputating it but in the end it was set into a fixed position at a 90 degree angle towards his belly button which would (hopefully) allow him to strum. It took him nearly 2 years to recover and he had to adapt his playing style to accommodate the fixed position of his right arm. Additionally, Les was plagued by bad health in his elder years including a stroke and heart attack in 1975 as well as having to undergo quintuple-heart bypass operations in 1980. Yet he continued to perform until his passing in 2009.