Americans who grew up and got watch Gretzky, Jordan, and Brady all play through their careers, what was it like watching sports like during each of their eras of dominance?

18 comments

1. Ive seen Brady and its a slippery slope asking about Brady without anyone mentioning the Tuck Rule or the DeflateGate scandal.
   My experience is seeing an elite QB with a great Cosch who got the job done when needed to be done. Ive seen better but Brady is considered the GOAT (in my opinion) because of his rings and Superbowl wins.
   Jordan and Gretzky are probably the two GOAT in their sport where everyone agrees that Gretzky and Jordan are the GOAT in their sport. Youd be called crazy if you debate otherwise about Jordan or Gretzky not being the GOAT

2. Gretzky was amazing, but part of what made him amazing was not just his technical and physical skill with the puck…it was his knack for always being in the right place. He just knew how to be in the right place at the right time *all the time.* Also, Marty McSorley deserves a ton of credit. He was The Great One’s enforcer. Nobody would touch Gretzky because they would have to answer personally to McSolrely. You *did not* want that in your life.

   Marty McSorley was so important that when Gretzky was traded to the Kings, as part of the trade Gretzky demanded McSorley be traded there too. A lot of modern skill players get roughed up a ton and never have the same kind of space guys like Yzerman and Gretzky and Lemieux enjoyed in their days.

   As for Jordan’s Bulls…I hated them with the passion of a thousand suns. I rooted for everyone against them. I respected them and Jordan was amazing…but nobody except *maybe* Pippen was likeable on those Bulls teams. Jordan least of all.

   My mother had a crush on Joe Montana. I didn’t watch much NFL in that era.

3. I’m only 31, so too young to appreciate Jordan. I didn’t watch Gretzky, and I hate Brady, at least 50% of which is because of his school.

4. They were all great to watch.

   But they pale in comparison to what Tiger Woods was doing in his prime. That was barely-rivaled domination.

5. It was awesome. There were so many greats though. Tiger, Mike Tyson, Ali, shit I’m old.

6. As a Miami dolphins fan, watching Brady during his better (and luckier) years fucking sucked.

7. I can tell you I’ll never forget the Bird Vs Johnson rivalry. It was incredible to watch. While Jordan was just something else completely. Their rivalry was absolutely beautiful to be able to see.

   I really don’t watch hockey, but I was always more of a fan of Patrick Roy. I’m not saying there won’t ever be anyone better, but IMO it will be a hard task.

   I also never really watched the NFL, but we would go to games to watch the away team. So I got to see Walter Payton and Deon Sanders play. Absolutely amazing! Deon was living in the matrix for real. You could watch him all you wanted. Now you see him, and now you don’t.

8. I didn’t grow watching any of those people, but I was raised rooting for the Giants during the Barry Bonds years and went to many games. I probably saw him hit something like 30-40 home runs in person.

   No other baseball player in history has had the effect that Bonds had on opposing teams. It was insane to be doing the mental math of how many runners might be on base when he walked up to the plate, hoping that they’d be loaded so the other team would actually have to pitch to him. Because when the other team had to pitch to him, it felt like big things happening was almost inevitable.

9. I didn’t watch much hockey as a kid and I didn’t watch the Patriots play unless they were playing the Steelers, but I did watch Jordan during the mid-90s. I don’t care what anyone else says, he *dominated* the court when he played. His raw skill backed up by a great team was almost awe-inspiring to watch if you were a basketball fan back then. There was never a player like him before and there hasn’t been one since. I will die on that hill.

10. I was not into hockey in the Gretzky era sadly so I missed him play.

    Jordan was just wild to watch.

    But it just seems like we always have a GOAT. Gretzky is kind of the only one that still remains GOAT. LeBron is already starting to surpass Jordan. Brady is still playing.

11. I’m not even a big sports fan, but when Jordan was at his peak, even non-sports-fans paid at least *some* attention to the NBA.

    I remember that, for some reason I don’t recall, the Bulls were playing a game within driving distance of where I live, which I guess was some sort of special event since there isn’t really an NBA team within driving distance of where I live (especially back then), and there were people going out of their way to buy tickets because they wanted to see Michael Jordan play basketball. I was kinda interested in going to the game myself, but my father had military obligations (he was a National Guard officer) on that date so it was out of the question.

12. There will always be another GOAT coming down the road. Brady’s lock on the record book will be tough to overcome, but bit by bit it will be chipped away. The game changes, the rules are altered or updated, and things thought impossible 20 years ago are now standard occurrences while other things that used to be routine are now rare (pitching complete games in baseball used to be normal for example). It’s almost impossible to compare players between eras in many sports because the game is so different than it used to be.

13. I mean Peyton is the goat but ok lol

14. Jordan was the most impressive. Brady and Gretzky may have even better in their sports than Jordan was in his, but his athleticism and the display of physical prowess on the court was just something otherworldly. Brady has been the polar opposite. He is so efficient it doesn’t even look like he’s doing much.

15. The tough thing about playing against Jordan was that you always felt like your team was going to lose, like you had no chance, and any victory was a fluke. He was a pathological winner.

16. I can’t describe how amazing it was to watching Jordan in his prime. He always had another level. He took on the Bad Boy Pistons, Lakers, Jazz, Suns and more. Each with top 50 NBA players…and he beat them.

    But regular season games were just as incredible. It’s not like this flag football equivalent of the game that they play today. It was a physical sport.

    LBJ is certainly talented, but he doesn’t have the same will as Jordan. Steph Curry is an incredible shooter, but he benefits from a less physical game.

    The closest I ever saw to Jordan was his little “brother,” Kobe.

17. I grew up watching Gretzky and was living in San Diego when he was in LA so I got to see him play in a few games. It was pretty awesome. Gretzky was great, but we need to remember he played with a lot of good players throughout his career. Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Esa Tikkanen and Luc Robitaille just to name a few. The NHL was really something in the 80’s and early 90’s.

18. It was exciting. Every season, every sport was a “must watch” moment.

    But, I didn’t think of it as historic or how it would be perceived later in my life.