Top Five: Most Intimidating Athletes August 18, 2007
Posted by Marquis Chapman in Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Football, MLB, NBA, NFL, Sports, Top Five, UFC.trackback
5. Charles Barkley- Oh sure, you may think that Charles Barkley is just your average NBA analyst with an opinion on everything, but back in his heyday, Barkley was one of the meanest players in the NBA. Standing 6′4” and weighing 252 pounds, players rarely got in his way when he came through the lane. Sir Charles has also been known to get into scuffles on and off the court. Barkley once threw a man out of a plate glass window during a bar fight, and is the only man in NBA history to actually pick up Shaq and slam him down.
4. Albert Belle- By far the meanest, most intimidating player ever to put on a MLB uniform, Albert Belle was not to be messed with. Standing 6′2” and weighing 225, he defiantely intimidated pitchers when he stepped to the plate. Some of his most famous incidents include throwing a baseball and striking a fan who was heckling him, chasing after a fan in the stands after the fan shouted a racist remark, and chasing vandals during Halloween in his car after they threw eggs at his house.
3. Ray Lewis- Don’t let the photo fool you, Ray Lewis is the most feared man in the National Football League. Running Backs choose to run out of bounds when Lewis is near and Wide Recievers dare not go through the middle when he’s playing the pass in zone coverage. Regarded as one of the hardest hitters in the NFL, offensive players are constantly aware where Lewis is at all times. His intensity can not be matched by any other player in the league. Standing 6′1” and weighing 250 pounds, Lewis always makes his presence known.
2. Wanderlei Silva- This MMA fighter may be the smallest athlete on the list standing 5′11” and weighing 205 pounds, but perhaps the most deadly. Nicknamed the “Axe Murderer”, Silva is trained in Muay thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is a knockout artist, and puts fear in the heart of every opponent that dares to fight him. His staredown before fights is extremely intimidating. If you’ve never seen Silva fight before, just click here.
1. Mike Tyson- Being somewhat crazy can really make you intimidating, and no athlete is crazier than Mike Tyson. Tyson’s resume includes threating to eat children, biting part of Evander Holyfield’s ear off, and having numerous fights outside the ring with other boxers and pedestrians. In the ring, Mike Tyson is easily the hardest puncher to ever step in the ring. Altough fairly short standing 5′11”, Tyson packs a lot of power from his 235 pound frame. Earlier in his career, Mike Tyson fights rarely lasted long and he became the youngest fighter to become a champion at age 18. Tyson served time in jail after being convicted of rape and other charges in 1992, and came out even more crazier.
I’m shocked Tiger Woods isn’t on the list. I think he’s more intense than Barkley.
Any 5 of these guys would break Tiger in half
Yeah they would break Tiger in half but Tiger mentally is the most intimidating athlete out there. Maybe I kinda took it out of context talking about the mental game because Jordan was strong mentally too.
Nike invents these steroid icons to sell $300 sneakers.
None of it is real. ESPN/Disney & George Mitchell make BILLIONS on it every year. TV fraud, theater of the absurd.
WWE is the model.
The most intimidating athlete ever, the 1 who I would turn and run from, was Angre the Giant. He would crush my skull like a coconut with 1 hand. If only he had taken steroids……
The Sultan on Sports
http://www.tsos20.wordpress.com
Insulin, corticoids, hGH & Andogel can kill too.
Steroids by a different name.
I agree Tiger has to be up there – for me intimidation comes from power to produce a exceptional performance – the better you are the more intimidating you are.
Nike can fix anything with a bribe–ie: promotional consideration.
btw: Tiger looks to be on the sauce now too with his new trainer and 35 lbs of lean muscle mass sudenly gained after age 25.
Only peptide hormones can do that.
Tiger is definately swole these days.
I like the list, but you are missing Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale. Any man that scared Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and all those other Hall of Famers would scare the crap out of me. And Lewis is nuts but what about Dick Butkus? Or even Ty Cobb? But anyway, one of my cardinal rules is never mess with anyone wearing a mask, anyone over 7 feet tall, and anyone with facial tats. So far, those are words to live by.
What about The Texas Rattlesnake? Stone Cold Steve Austin!
Randy Johnson was sure intimidating, he made Kruk and Larry Walker look stupid in all-star games. I would say Tiger as well, mostly because guys today don’t want to play against him. It’s major news when someone says they think he is beatable.
You have to have LT in there. Lawrence Taylor. You just HAVE to! He was a QBs nightmare. Every QB feared what was about to happen to them from their blind side. Many QBs often called timeouts pre-snap when they were attempting to locate Taylor on the field only to find him standing on the sidelines with a snarly grin. He said several times his intentions were to hurt every player he tackled, just to knock that sonuvabitch out. He didn’t have to tell his intentions. They were obtrusive.
This message is going to reveal my age, but I remembered when I first saw Jack Lambert on TV. Man, if the ringleader of the steel curtain didn’t scare you enough with his play at MLB!
Where is Lawrence Taylor??? Hakem?? Patrick Ewing?? Im not real sure I would buy Sir Charles being on this list!!!
The man threw another grown man out of a window. I just had to put him on there. Lawrence Taylor is the one guy I strongly considered putting on there though.
yeah, you gotta have LT! List is dope though. Let’s not forget about the several stalking charges Belle got against an ex.
plus, as always i gotta say……LT’s a TARHEEL.
Certainly Charles Barkley would be at the top of anybodys list. A lot of tough guys will only pick on people they know they can whip. Charles took on everbody and he stood up for his teammates. tough dude.
hmmmm intimidation comes into a lot of forms…. and i do agree with the other.. Tiger should be added on the list
My Fab. Five:
From history I have read about or seen on film, to those I personally watched:
1.) The Mailman, Karl Malone
2.) Babe Ruth (the answer to almost every sports trivia question!)
3.) Muhammed Ali (my alltime sports and non sports hero)
4.) Bob Gibson (most feared pitcher of the last 50 years)
5.) LT. Even thinking about him scares the *&$# our of me!
has everyone forgotten about bo jackson!!!!
Eric Lindros, anyone?
brian dawkins
ewing? great player, but everytime i think of him, i think of scottie and mj best dunks.
I don’t think Bo Jackson belongs on this list Italian Stallion, and Brian Dawkins was pretty intimidating but didn’t quite make the list Dbow. When I think about Ewing, I think about that layup he missed against the Pacers in the playoffs. He’s still a great player though.
Bill Romanowski was dirty, but at the same time very intimidating.
I think the list is great. The only thing I would probably change is that I would put Barkley #3 on the list. Barkley was extremely intimidating.
Derek Boogaard