The All-DNA Hall of Fame
April 8th, 2009
New York, NY
One of the things I genuinely miss about living in Denver is the incredible amount of sports coverage in the city. The print and TV news outlets cover all the hometown teams in amazing depth, and also manage to cover every sports league on a national level well. No other city I’ve lived in comes close. Even New York sports coverage pales in comparison, here you get five different spins on the same story, where Denver gives you five different story lines.
This week I was dying to be back home to follow the news that Jack Elway was leaving Arizona State’s football program. Not because I wanted to hear about a story of his fall from grace, but because there would be multiple stories about the Elway family, its football tradition and at least one thoughtful piece about why Jack walked away from a game that by all accounts, he was quite good at. After all, this is a kid that was a top-flight recruit and all scouting reports say has a tremendous arm strength and football sense.
Not much news on the subject hit New York, and the little bits on the internet covered the same ground over and over. But it got me thinking about how incredibly hard it is for the kids of top-flight, professional athletes to be successful.
Even money, privilege and connections the sheer pressure of competing in “the family business” must be a no-win situation. You will never be judged against your peers, but instead against your mother or father’s entire career.
As a teenager, how could Jack Elway be considered a success when he’s measured against a Hall of Famer who won two Super Bowls, one Super Bowl MVP, nine Pro-Bowls, five All-Pro selections and grew to personify, grace and composure for an entire city?
There’s a very small list of athletes on their way to greatness, even more so than their legendary family.
Here they are, the first All-DNA Hall-of-Fame:
#1 Peyton Manning
#2 Eli Manning
Number one and two respectively. Eli does seem to be a better clutch player and honestly seems to have better physical skills, and both guys are as humble and grounded at their father. Both have been proven winners. Still, if I was going to draft anyone in the league as my QB, it would be Peyton.
Which is one of the reasons he gets the nod as #1. He shows more focus and consistency game after game. Additional bonus points go to him for his leadership, since everyone on the Colts defers to him first and he’s nearly always the first to shoulder responsibility for a loss.
Finally, Peyton’s the better actor, as his performance in ads shows great comic timing and the ability to not take everything so seriously.
#2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
Griff rolls in at number three. His father was a Hall of Fame baseball player and by most accounts held his son to amazingly high standards. It would be easy to rebel against that (see Marinovich, Todd), but instead he embraced the challenge, maximized his natural skills and truly enjoyed playing baseball with the reckless abandon and joy of a child. If I wanted to show my son why you play sports, I’d show him Griffey’s seasons from 1996 to 1998 seasons and say, “you play because it’s fun.”
But losing and injuries make you grow up, and the game becomes a business. He left Seattle, but in an interesting twist went to Cincinnati where his father was legendary. This made an interesting challenge, because expectations were sky high, and this really set him up for failure. Add in the fact he showed flashes of a spoiled, petulant athlete and you can almost feel the anticipation of his failure.
Except for a few temper tantrums, he was a really good player and better citizen. Not able to carry an average (to sub-par) team single handedly, especially because he was really hit by injuries, he still averaged about 25 HR, 100 RBI per year.
Now he’s back in Seattle, and his career is winding down. If he can gracefully be the face of baseball in Seattle, play well on a losing club, get to 700 HR and teach the kids how to be professionals he’s capable of moving up to #2 on my list.
#4 Leila Ali
For Leila, it would be easy to simply enjoy life and take it easy. Her father was the greatest boxer of all time and a political icon to boot. But no one in her family seems to want to take the easy route, and we should all be thankful for it.
I’m not a women’s boxing fan, but you have to respect that Leila Ali has put the sport on the map. While doing this, she dealt with purists who look down on women’s boxing as a sideshow, and did it with class.
Perfect score on all counts. She’s has excellent skills that are keep her matches from being a sideshow, and has fought most of the best women’s fighters. Outside the ring she has conducted herself with grace, style and intelligence never rarely allowing herself to be dragged into a bad argument, or being baited by a fighter looking for ink in a sport that isn’t as classy as it once was.
She’d rank higher, but she can’t come close to meeting her father’s accomplishments. Also, in the last few years she’s pulled out of a few fights, and some truly tough fights haven’t materialized. Still, there’s no way to put those shortcomings fully in her lap. Her father has to be proud.
#5 Brett Hull
He kind of flies under the radar on this list, but think about it: His father was one of the best players to put on skates, was part of one of the most iconic teams in league history and is “The Golden Boy,” hockey royalty. That’s tough to live up to.
Brett wasn’t expected to be good, much less great. But at the end of his career, he had 741 career goals, a Stanley Cup-winning goal and was one (if not the best) American player for years. Also, he was one of the most vocal leaders of every team he’s played for (on and off the ice). As he aged he was less of the high scoring, oft-shooting forward to a player that picked his spots and excelled in the post season. He also had a short-lived career on NBC, possibly because he was too entertaining and honest.
His one black-eye in my book is the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Hull led a team of hard partying and light hitting Americans on the ice to an epic failure, where they didn’t even make medal contention. Still, he gets number five based on maximizing talent alone.
Not on the list
Here are a few that didn’t make the cut:
Kobe Bryant
Yes, he’s one of the best to play basketball. Yes, his Dad is a pro. But he’s disqualified for a few reasons:
First, questionable moral character. I don’t need to go into this, but in my book no matter what you paid, it’s not cool to be accused of violence against women.
Second, I don’t care how much money you have, you can’t rap, so just stop it. It’s embarrassing.
Third, to make this list, your parent has to be great. The reason Kobe knows Italian is because his Dad was working in Italy. ‘Nuff said.
Brian Griese
I’m only putting him on this list to remind everyone he has a weak arm, drinks too much and teammates hate him. Yes, Brian, deny it but we all know you didn’t get the black eye from tripping. You dropped a racial slur and Trevor Pryce knocked you the hell out. God, I miss Trevor Pryce.
Kellen Winslow, Jr.
Stop talking. Start playing. Man, your Dad has to be embarrassed.
Ones to watch
I hope we can revisit this list in a few years and add some names. Like these
Marcus Jordan
Michael Jordan’s youngest son just led high school team to the state title in Illinois. A senior, he’s committed to University of Central Florida, partially because he wants to contribute immediately. That shows some of his father’s competitive drive, which is great.
The other reason is that his best friend is currently on the team, which isn’t exactly showing strong leadership ability. Hoping he can crack this list and make pro basketball interesting again.
Chris Simms
A bit of a jouneyman QB, he has a good opportunity to beat his father’s pro accomplishments. A Super Bowl win and a few Pro Bowls can do it, so not the highest bar in the world. I know some Giants’ fans will disagree.
But in his favor is that he doesn’t the seem to have Dad’s penchant for whining (how can we forget the Monday Night Football game where the Giant’s retired his number and he threw management under the bus for his retiring), and shows real grit by playing hurt. I genuinely like Chris Simms, so here’s hoping he pulls a Brett Hull.
Admittedly, this is a total homer pick. He’s on the Broncos, and I want him to come in and compete hard for the starting QB job. If he doesn’t win it, the competition will make Kyle Orton will play better. If Simms wins it, he deserves it.
With a decent offensive line and some weapons, he can show he’s a legitimate pro QB and rack up some Super Bowl wins (especially if we use those picks we have on defensive talent). OK, I got carried away there. I admit it.
A guy can dream, right?
SIDENOTE: About a month ago, the Rocky Mountain News shut down. A moment of silence, please for the best sports section ever. I’ll miss you RMN.
New York, NY
One of the things I genuinely miss about living in Denver is the incredible amount of sports coverage in the city. The print and TV news outlets cover all the hometown teams in amazing depth, and also manage to cover every sports league on a national level well. No other city I’ve lived in comes close. Even New York sports coverage pales in comparison, here you get five different spins on the same story, where Denver gives you five different story lines.
This week I was dying to be back home to follow the news that Jack Elway was leaving Arizona State’s football program. Not because I wanted to hear about a story of his fall from grace, but because there would be multiple stories about the Elway family, its football tradition and at least one thoughtful piece about why Jack walked away from a game that by all accounts, he was quite good at. After all, this is a kid that was a top-flight recruit and all scouting reports say has a tremendous arm strength and football sense.
Not much news on the subject hit New York, and the little bits on the internet covered the same ground over and over. But it got me thinking about how incredibly hard it is for the kids of top-flight, professional athletes to be successful.
Even money, privilege and connections the sheer pressure of competing in “the family business” must be a no-win situation. You will never be judged against your peers, but instead against your mother or father’s entire career.
As a teenager, how could Jack Elway be considered a success when he’s measured against a Hall of Famer who won two Super Bowls, one Super Bowl MVP, nine Pro-Bowls, five All-Pro selections and grew to personify, grace and composure for an entire city?
There’s a very small list of athletes on their way to greatness, even more so than their legendary family.
Here they are, the first All-DNA Hall-of-Fame:
#1 Peyton Manning
#2 Eli Manning
Number one and two respectively. Eli does seem to be a better clutch player and honestly seems to have better physical skills, and both guys are as humble and grounded at their father. Both have been proven winners. Still, if I was going to draft anyone in the league as my QB, it would be Peyton.
Which is one of the reasons he gets the nod as #1. He shows more focus and consistency game after game. Additional bonus points go to him for his leadership, since everyone on the Colts defers to him first and he’s nearly always the first to shoulder responsibility for a loss.
Finally, Peyton’s the better actor, as his performance in ads shows great comic timing and the ability to not take everything so seriously.
#2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
Griff rolls in at number three. His father was a Hall of Fame baseball player and by most accounts held his son to amazingly high standards. It would be easy to rebel against that (see Marinovich, Todd), but instead he embraced the challenge, maximized his natural skills and truly enjoyed playing baseball with the reckless abandon and joy of a child. If I wanted to show my son why you play sports, I’d show him Griffey’s seasons from 1996 to 1998 seasons and say, “you play because it’s fun.”
But losing and injuries make you grow up, and the game becomes a business. He left Seattle, but in an interesting twist went to Cincinnati where his father was legendary. This made an interesting challenge, because expectations were sky high, and this really set him up for failure. Add in the fact he showed flashes of a spoiled, petulant athlete and you can almost feel the anticipation of his failure.
Except for a few temper tantrums, he was a really good player and better citizen. Not able to carry an average (to sub-par) team single handedly, especially because he was really hit by injuries, he still averaged about 25 HR, 100 RBI per year.
Now he’s back in Seattle, and his career is winding down. If he can gracefully be the face of baseball in Seattle, play well on a losing club, get to 700 HR and teach the kids how to be professionals he’s capable of moving up to #2 on my list.
#4 Leila Ali
For Leila, it would be easy to simply enjoy life and take it easy. Her father was the greatest boxer of all time and a political icon to boot. But no one in her family seems to want to take the easy route, and we should all be thankful for it.
I’m not a women’s boxing fan, but you have to respect that Leila Ali has put the sport on the map. While doing this, she dealt with purists who look down on women’s boxing as a sideshow, and did it with class.
Perfect score on all counts. She’s has excellent skills that are keep her matches from being a sideshow, and has fought most of the best women’s fighters. Outside the ring she has conducted herself with grace, style and intelligence never rarely allowing herself to be dragged into a bad argument, or being baited by a fighter looking for ink in a sport that isn’t as classy as it once was.
She’d rank higher, but she can’t come close to meeting her father’s accomplishments. Also, in the last few years she’s pulled out of a few fights, and some truly tough fights haven’t materialized. Still, there’s no way to put those shortcomings fully in her lap. Her father has to be proud.
#5 Brett Hull
He kind of flies under the radar on this list, but think about it: His father was one of the best players to put on skates, was part of one of the most iconic teams in league history and is “The Golden Boy,” hockey royalty. That’s tough to live up to.
Brett wasn’t expected to be good, much less great. But at the end of his career, he had 741 career goals, a Stanley Cup-winning goal and was one (if not the best) American player for years. Also, he was one of the most vocal leaders of every team he’s played for (on and off the ice). As he aged he was less of the high scoring, oft-shooting forward to a player that picked his spots and excelled in the post season. He also had a short-lived career on NBC, possibly because he was too entertaining and honest.
His one black-eye in my book is the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Hull led a team of hard partying and light hitting Americans on the ice to an epic failure, where they didn’t even make medal contention. Still, he gets number five based on maximizing talent alone.
Not on the list
Here are a few that didn’t make the cut:
Kobe Bryant
Yes, he’s one of the best to play basketball. Yes, his Dad is a pro. But he’s disqualified for a few reasons:
First, questionable moral character. I don’t need to go into this, but in my book no matter what you paid, it’s not cool to be accused of violence against women.
Second, I don’t care how much money you have, you can’t rap, so just stop it. It’s embarrassing.
Third, to make this list, your parent has to be great. The reason Kobe knows Italian is because his Dad was working in Italy. ‘Nuff said.
Brian Griese
I’m only putting him on this list to remind everyone he has a weak arm, drinks too much and teammates hate him. Yes, Brian, deny it but we all know you didn’t get the black eye from tripping. You dropped a racial slur and Trevor Pryce knocked you the hell out. God, I miss Trevor Pryce.
Kellen Winslow, Jr.
Stop talking. Start playing. Man, your Dad has to be embarrassed.
Ones to watch
I hope we can revisit this list in a few years and add some names. Like these
Marcus Jordan
Michael Jordan’s youngest son just led high school team to the state title in Illinois. A senior, he’s committed to University of Central Florida, partially because he wants to contribute immediately. That shows some of his father’s competitive drive, which is great.
The other reason is that his best friend is currently on the team, which isn’t exactly showing strong leadership ability. Hoping he can crack this list and make pro basketball interesting again.
Chris Simms
A bit of a jouneyman QB, he has a good opportunity to beat his father’s pro accomplishments. A Super Bowl win and a few Pro Bowls can do it, so not the highest bar in the world. I know some Giants’ fans will disagree.
But in his favor is that he doesn’t the seem to have Dad’s penchant for whining (how can we forget the Monday Night Football game where the Giant’s retired his number and he threw management under the bus for his retiring), and shows real grit by playing hurt. I genuinely like Chris Simms, so here’s hoping he pulls a Brett Hull.
Admittedly, this is a total homer pick. He’s on the Broncos, and I want him to come in and compete hard for the starting QB job. If he doesn’t win it, the competition will make Kyle Orton will play better. If Simms wins it, he deserves it.
With a decent offensive line and some weapons, he can show he’s a legitimate pro QB and rack up some Super Bowl wins (especially if we use those picks we have on defensive talent). OK, I got carried away there. I admit it.
A guy can dream, right?
SIDENOTE: About a month ago, the Rocky Mountain News shut down. A moment of silence, please for the best sports section ever. I’ll miss you RMN.
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