The 35 Winningest Athletes of All-Time
Written by Ben Pogany
Some say winning isn't everything. And that's probably true; after all, there is that next big contract to consider. But for these 35, winning wasn't just everything, for much of their careers it was the only thing.
- Bill Russell--11 championships in 13 years and a gold medal to boot. Just insane.
- Rocky Marciano--Only heavyweight to retire undefeated at 49-0. Not bad for a white guy from Brockton, MA.
- Jack Nicklaus--73 PGA Tour wins, 4 US Open wins, and 6 green jackets.
- Tiger Woods--71 PGA wins, 37 European tour wins, 3 open championships and 4 green jackets.
- Yogi Berra- 10 World Series rings
- Lance Armstrong--7 Tour de France wins, and heck, the guy even beat cancer.
- Henri Richard--Nicknamed "The Pocket-Rocket" (I kid you not), Richard won 11 Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in his 20-year NHL career.
- Michael Jordan--6 championships in 8 years, 2 gold medals, and 1 NCAA championship with the Tarheels.
- Michael Phelps--14 Olympic golds, 23 world championship golds, 37 world records held, and 1 marijuana charge beaten.
- Joe Dimaggio--9 time World Series champion and 1 Marylin Monroe.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-6-time NBA champion, 3-time NCAA champion with the Bruins, and he was even assistant coach of last year's championship Lakers
- Joe Montana--4 time Super Bowl champion and an NCAA national title at Notre Dame.
- Pete Sampras--64 career titles including 7 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens.
- Roger Federer--61 career titles, including 6 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens. Shouldn't be long before he edges Sampras out for the top spot.
- Pele-Only soccer player to be apart of 3 World Cup-winning teams. Pele also led his original club team, Santos, to 10 championships in the Campeonato Paulinista league. And let us not forget his 1977 North American Soccer League championship with the New York Cosmos.
- Alexander Karelin--Though most remembered here in America for his stunning defeat at the hands of Rulon Gardner, "Alexander The Great" went undefeated in international Greco-Roman wrestling competition for thirteen years, the last six of which he didn't even give up a single point.
- Mickey Mantle--7 World Series rings in 12 years and a 1956 Triple Crown.
- Larissa Latynina--9 Olympic golds and 9 world championship golds. Then again, it is gymnastics.
- Carl Lewis--9 Olympic golds and 8 world championship golds. Side note: Lewis was drafted by both the NBA and NFL, though never played a game for either.
- Robert Horry--7-time NBA champion with 3 different teams.
- Martina Navratilova- 167 singles and 177 doubles career titles (both records for men or women) Her singles career includes 9 Wimbledons and 4 US Opens.
- John Havlicek-8-time NBA champion and a NCAA title
- Cael Sanderson
- Bill Dickey- 8-time World Series Champ
- Magic Johnson--5 time NBA champion, 1 gold medal, and enough money to makes AIDS his bitch.
- Bart Starr--5 time Super Bowl champion
- Terry Bradshaw--4 Super Bowl rings and 5 crappy country albums.
- Lou Gehrig--6 time World Series champion and the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
- Shaquille O'Neal--4 time NBA champion, 6 crappy albums and 11 crappy movies (see: Kazaam) And he beat up Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya.
- Babe Ruth--7 World Series trophies with both the Sox and Yankees.
- Derek Jeter--4 time 5-time World Series champion. Aaaand...moving on.
- Tom Brady--3 time Super Bowl Champion, 105-29 career record, and 29 game-winning drives after a Patriots' fourth-quarter tie or deficit.
- Larry Bird--3 time NBA champion and a gold medal. He's also a pretty nasty coach.
- Tim Duncan--4 time NBA champion with the Spurs.
- Steffi Graf
Honorable Mentions: Sean White, Tony Hawk, Kobe Bryant, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada.
