Exceptional Athletes Quotes

Carl Yastrzemski was the best all-around player. He could run, throw and hit. He had the ability to play a number of different positions. He signed as a shortstop. He could play the outfield, of course, and third base and first, too. He was a tremendous athlete. Mickey Mantle was unbelievable, too.

There are three sportsmen: Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, and Lionel Messi. They perform with excellence, like most of us could never dream of.

People don't realize how talented the NBA is.

If there is one thing I learned by reading Epstein's "The Sports Gene" it is that world-class athletes are, by definition, abnormal: that is, the kind of person capable of competing at that level is necessarily very different from the rest of us physiologically. They are outliers.

There's always going to be some phenom fighter coming up. If they're special athletes and highly trained, they'll do big things.

I've played with some of the best that have ever played, obviously. I don't know if there is anybody that is a better technician than Peyton Manning. Tom Brady is another quarterback that I was fortunate enough to play with for a bunch of years.

There are many stars and a few super-stars in sport. There are champions who bag a coronet now and then, and there are others who dominate some game year after year. In other words there are Bobby Jones and Helen Wills.

Aaron Peirsol was the man. Ryan Lochte is also insane. Like, if Phelps wasn't around, we'd all be talking about Ryan Lochte as the dude who changed everything, because he's insane as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar are phenomenal.

To me, Messi, Neymar and Suarez are among the three best players in the world.

I played with some outstanding players.

A lot of freshmen will come in and say they can do what Carmelo did, but not everybody is Carmelo Anthony. He was a special player. Syracuse was a great fit for him.

I would say that Roger Federer is pretty amazing. And Manny Pacquiao - he's such a tiny, little lightweight guy, but the way he fights makes people so excited.

I only ever give praise to elite fighters.

The Chicago Special Olympics prove a very fundamental fact, the fact that exceptional children - children with mental retardation - can be exceptional athletes, the fact that through sports they can realize their potential for growth.

Just being with some of the best athletes in the world is a marvelous experience.

Power is a big thing in baseball. It can't be cheapened. That is, a fellow has it or hasn't. It isn't a fluke or great accomplishment, like a perfect game. When Mantle connects, it's a tape-measure job. Nobody who ever lived has more power than Mantle.

Messi and Ronaldo are the toughest. But I would also place Eden Hazard of Chelsea, Neymar of Barcelona, and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid on the list.

There's some guys - Michael Jordan and Mariano Rivera and Tiger Woods - that were blessed with the ability just to be... great.

There's been so many unbelievable players in Los Angeles, maybe the best of the best.

Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney are both outstanding players.