Michael Jordan and Jack Tatum were Bad Ass Mofos, guys with big mouths who backed it up. Guys you hated when they were playing your team, but you would’ve killed to have on your team. Bullz-Eye.com is running their list of sports history’s Top 10 Bad Ass Mofos. Who’s #1? Where does Lawrence Taylor fall on the list? What about Mike Tyson?
Check out the feature and then post your thoughts, gripes and suggestions here.
Posted in: Boxing, General Sports, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL
Tags: Bad Ass Mofos, Jack Tatum, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, sports bad asses
Pete Rose was a stud, but it’s hard to call anyone with that haircut a bad ass.
What about NHL players? Who should’ve been on the list? Tie Domi?
As for Rose, I think he deserves mention somewhere in the piece, but I’m not sure he belongs ahead of LT or even Bob Gibson, who, behind Cobb, may have been the biggest prick in baseball history. I love the inclusion of Joey Belle, though.
are you fucking nuts ……. leaving Joe Frazier off this list ……. flush your list down the toilet ……. you guys are a bunch of pussies ……. Frazier almost beat your #1 man to death on three different ocassions ……. just ask Ali. You guys are clueless! And embarrassing!
What about Brett Favre???? Have any of your team sport guys played every game of his career with injuries and personal tragedies???? How bad do you have to be to start 226 consecutive games with broken fingers, sprained ankles and bruised ribs and at a position where everyone wants to kill ya!!!!! YOU guys really blew it here!
Hey Bob - “Down goes Frazier!!!!!!” Remember that famous call from Howard Cosell?!?! Frazier got absolutley destroyed by George Forman. Sure, he and Ali had some great fights, but this one isn’t even close.
As for Brett Favre, he’s just too damn classy to be on the list. Every sportscaster fawns over this guy. He’s the poster child of the NFL. He’s not a MoFo.
favre is a pretty boy, drama queen, tear-jerkin’, class act. when’s he ever talked trash in his life? get outta here.
frazier? you jokin? so frazier “almost” beat ali to death on three different occasions? how ’bout Ali “did in fact” beat frazier to death on two separate occasions. next.
Tie Domi? Please. He skated away from Randy McKay when he was supposed to be the Rangers’ “enforcer.” At least against the Devils he was nowhere to be found when the fighters came out–Troy Crowder would have mopped the ice with him. Then he did that championship belt pantomime after a scrap with Bob Probert suggesting that he’d won the fight when in fact he’d simply fallen on top of Probert after they’d exchanged blows. You want to talk tough in the NHL–at least recently–it’s Scott Stevens, then everyone else.
Yeah, Scott Stevens is definitely a bad ass.
As for Favre, he’s definitely tough and an easy guy to root for. But if anything, he should’ve been lumped in with Tiger, Jim Brown and Nolan Ryan because he’s too classy to be compared to guys like LT and Ali.
JEC, Stevens is nothing but a punk. Lindros’ first game back Stevens goes right for his head. As dirty a player as the NHL has ever seen. Not only that but the league has to shut down for a year to repair what damage (left wing lock, “trap”) the Devils and Stevens have wrought on the NHL. Let’s also talk about the unnecessary hits on Ron Francis and Paul Kariya too ……. you can go on and on. #4 = DIRTY. hE’S NOT A BAD ASS JUST A SMACKED-ASS.
Bob, I’m admittedly not the biggest NHL guy out there, but I’ve seen several Stevens highlights on SC and he’s always laying someone out, which is why I agreed with Bill.
So who’s the NHL’s resident Bad Ass Mofo these days? The two guys that seemed most logical to this NHL outsider, Domi and Stevens, have both been shot down.
What about Charles BArkley. If you’re talking about bad ass sportsman, then you MUST have Sir Charles somewhere on the list. over 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds, thats legend numbers. Plus broken back boards, trash talkin, questionable tactics, and beat up foreign people in the olympics. Some say dirty, but all say bad ass.
Actually, I kind of agree with Herm. Some argued that Barkley didn’t deserve a spot on the list because he didn’t win squat, but what has TO won?
Barkley canno’t compare to the Guys listed. Ali’s daughter won more titles than Barkely!!!
barkley’s close, but no rings.
But again, what has TO won? Barkley was always on winning teams, even if he never won a title, and he talked. Never stopped, actually.
Terrell Owens? Hardly a bad ass. His an kle sprain before the Superbowl was not as bad as he made it out to be and his recovery time was normal. Plus his catches in the game weren’t all that critical. “TO” is a classic case of hype over substance.
Brett Favre shouldn’t be on the list simply because he made the NFL sack record a joke when he laid down for Mike Strahan.
John Riggins should be on the list. During the latter part of his career, he would spend part of the week in traction at the hospital then run for 100+ yards on Sunday. Opposing defenses knew riggins would get the ball, fans knew he would get the ball, people not watching football knew Riggins would get the ball and he would still get 100+ yards.
The signal for the redskins short yardage run up the middle was known by everybody watching live and on tv. When the signal was sent in, fans would start chanting Riggins name. Defenses knew here comes the Diesel up the middle and they still couldn’t stop him. In one game he ran over a Lions defender knocking his helmet off. In Superbowl XVII, he ran over Gerald Mcneil to score a touchdown. Mcneil said that was the hardest he was ever hit in his life and compared it to getting run over by a freight train.
Riggins was so good he didn’t have to talk trash. The only boast he ever made was to Joe Gibbs when Riggins came back to the ’skins. he said “I’m bored, I’m broke and I’m back. And if you give me the football, I’ll win you a Superbowl.” Well they did and he did.
And you were dead on about Ali and tyson. I still hate Ali, but in his prime he would have left Tyson a stuttering fool in the ring.
Riggins was too classy. Doesn’t fit the description.
As for Sir Charles, I think he fits the description. Tough call though to get him into the top ten.
What the FUCK? Terrell Owens?? Michael Jordan? Larry FUCKING Bird??
What a terrible list. And the fact that Tiger Woods is even considered is mind boggling. Those guys arent badasses, they are just great at what they do. Where are the guys who get ejected and fined all the times for fighting? There are some good ones on the list, but give me a break.
Lance Armstrong almost died on a time trial. How about that. Or at least 1 fucking NHL player. Jesus, horrible list.
anyone who mentions Lance armstrong for this list is obviously not reading the list’s requirements. a cyclist? are you out of your mind?
as for the NHL, i have yet to hear anyone name one trash talkin’ NHL player. lots of tough guys……no mofos.
“as for the NHL, i have yet to hear anyone name one trash talkin’ NHL player. lots of tough guys……no mofos.”
So your definition of a mofo is someone who talks trash?
The reason they don’t talk trash is that they will get their ass kicked. Sorry, but any sports list about “Bad Ass Mofo’s” that doesn’t include a single hockey player, is bullshit.
terrell owens, no…larry bird, somebody check the sports guy(espn.com)’s revenge list and cross-check kent benson…as far as hockey- cam neely…others: izzy alcantera(crazy jumping back kick mofo), peter forsberg(i can play-it’s just a ruptured spleen), jim brown bit a guy’s FINGER off, babe ruth(called shot plus ‘why shouldn’t i make more than the president? i had a better year!), oh yeah, clemens threw at his wife during a charity game…BALLS!!
Ali’s photo shows him standing over a man who had just taken a dive.
It seems like a lot of people aren’t reading the description of a Bad Ass Mofo:
“Guys who talked the talk, and then proceeded to walk the walk. Guys with big mouths who backed it up. Guys you probably hate when they’re playing your team, but you’d kill to have on your team.”
Tell me how TO, Bird and Jordan don’t fit that description. Tell me how Lance Armstrong does. Granted, there probably should’ve been one or two NHL’ers on this list, but Colin, how about naming some hockey players who belong rather than just saying one should be on the list? The problem we ran into was we couldn’t settle on any one hockey player who truly belonged.
The greatest hockey players all seemed to have a level of class that kept them off the list. Maybe that’s why they have goons in hockey - stiffs who were tough and could fight but really couldn’t play very well.
Babe Ruth was too cuddly. the called shot is a historical debate, not a proven fact, it’s great, yes, but not very mofo.
even if liston took a dive, so what. that picture says it all. see ali’s lips flappin? you know what ali is sayin’ in that shot? “get up and fight, you big ugly bear, no one will believe this!” bad ass mofo.
Gorilla Mask had it right man Ronnie Fucking Lott…instead of missing a game because he had a broken finger he cut it off…as an Eagles fan i still say fuck TO Ronnie Lott is hardcore
I was going to say Todd Bertuzzi, but then I remember he cried in a press conference after he broke that kid’s neck. What about Claude Lemeuix? I guess he was more dirty that an mofo. Rocket Richard was a mofo. He was the best player of his era and when he got suspened for bumping a ref, there was a riot. That’s a mofo
can’t have two defensive backs on the list. you could fill the damn thing with football players if you wanted to, would be just a football list.
bird makes number 2 because you all hate him. you HATE HIM. enough said.
I am fairly disappointed that there were no hockey players on that list. Especially Bob Probert, this guy was fackin’ insane, I was reading about him for a minute and seen this written on a website, “Bob Probert was arrested Friday in Delray Beach; he was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and disorderly conduct.” Not only has he done this, but he has been arrested for posessing cocaine and would be banned from the NHL. Let’s face it, he was the best fighter the NHL had ever seen, he always struck up for his teammates and fought for all the right reasons, and never once backed down from a fight. Who else in the history of the NHL could amass 398 penalty minutes in 1 season, and still be selected as an all-star with 62 points on the season. If you ask me, I wouldn’t even hesitate to put him #1 without any thought whatsoever.
What about Chuck Bednarik?????
Look, I hate the Yankees, but if you are serious about your list then Billy Martin belongs on it. How many fights did he get in, on and off the field? How many times was he fired? And he didn’t die choking on a piece of quiche, he was driving while drunk. Pete Rose wishes he was Billy Martin.
New category: Fictional Sports team Mofos: The Charlestown Chiefs from SLAPSHOT. Can you say Hanson Brothers?
You want NHL mofos? Good god they may not have talked trash but hockey is the dirtiest game out there. All these Americans calling Todd Bertuzzi a thug are morons, he just defended his captain and best friend and league leading scorer to some bitch who never did anything great. Bertuzzi is a tough guy but not a mofo. As for mofos:
- Bob Probert: This guy laid beatings on EVERYONE. And he made plays, too!
- Tiger Williams: MOFO written all over him. All time NHL leader in penalty minutes, he was the founding father of showboating after scoring goals, often causing fights for his ridiculous taunts.
- Marty McSorley: This guy hacked someone in the face with his stick, concussing him and getting suspended for an entire season! He was the single reason everyone was scared to hit Gretzky, he even followed him from Edmonton to Los Angeles!
- Brendan Shanahan: Pure Canadian Grit. The man is tough. He wins cups. He scores goals. He won the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympic Gold Medal. And he would NEVER back away from a fight. He’s the best aggressive power forward the game has ever seen. (Bertuzzi is like Shanahan, but not as tough since the crying incident.)
- Scott Stevens is a bad ass, I don’t care what anyone says. He took out so many guys who were some of the league’s best and no one could fight back because they were too scared of his shit. (If he had hit Naslund as opposed to Steve Moore doing it, Bertuzzi would NOT have come after him. But Moore is a pussy who didn’t stand up for himself, his fault.)
- Theo Fleury: Did everyone forget about this man? He won cups, he was the captain of his team, he scored ALL the time, and he talked shit like you wouldn’t believe. Later in his career he ran into personal problems and alcoholism, too! This man is as much a mofo as anyone on the list.
- Wendel Clark: A more recent Tiger Williams. Took no prisoners, gave no mercy. This man was gritty. He is the only one I know to have knocked someone out in the NHL more than once and in completely clean hits! He was also the captain of the Leafs, scored goals, made plays, killed penalties, everything. He never won a cup, but should have in 93-94 with Toronto.
That right there, is your list. Honorable mentions to Tie Domi (though he’s a finesse player now :S), Chris Simon (in his hayday he was tougher), Ulf Samuelsson (pure enforcer) and Matthew Barnaby.
And that my friends, is the NHL for you. A few of these guys could easily have cracked the top 10, maybe even the top 3.
Hockey players? How about Ted Lindsay? How many broken bones and stitches did that guy get despite being the smallest guy out there? It wasn’t just trash talk back then; all those guys hated the players on the other team. Tie Domi my ass.
Somebody’s getting their ass sued!
Hockey players?
Gordie Howe, the man who played 32 fucking years until he was 54, ending his career the all time scoring leader, with an (almost) unbreakable amount of goals?
How about MARK MESSIER, who fits the phrase ‘walk the walk and talk the talk’ to a T.
And what about Bobby Clarke? The diabetic who led Team Canada to a victory over the Russians in the 1972 Summit Series? The Bobby Clarke who led probably the meanest team in NHL history to two Stanley Cups in 74 and 75? The Bobby Clarke who before a Flyers 4-1 win vs. the Soviets proclaimed: “(the Soviets) complain about the ice, the practice time. They show up late, they don’t like our gifts. They’re always trying to play with our minds. But that won’t work with our club. We’ve got 20 guys with no brains.”
Hockey isn’t even a major sport. No one gives a shit about it. Bowling got higher ratings on ESPN. The NHL should fold.
First of all, hockey is the only sport. Everything else is just a game. The reason hockey didn’t make this list was to get people into this forum complaining about it. That, and hockey players would have been the only ones on the list. Everyone on this list is a flaming pussy compared to the weakest of Junior hockey players. Hockey is the only sport where fighting is a major part. And before anyone starts crying about boxing, remember this… Hockey players actually take their gloves off before fighting! And so much of boxing is completely rigged anyways… Now, feel free to bitch on! I give you permission…
Didn’t anyone ever hear of a “Gordie Howe hat-trick”? That’s a goal, an assist, and a fight. He was the epitomy of a hockey badass. Domi would be a badass only because he’s a very small guy to be an enforcer, yet has few qualms about mixing it up. McSorley and Probert would eat almost any of these” top 10″ pricks for breakfast. Their first fight in the NHL is legendary and largely considered the greatest NHL fight of all time. I like the Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor, and Pete Rose inclusions, but otherwise this list is very vague.
Bob Probert, Darren McCartey and Joey Kocer. Each came over the boards talking trash and backed it up. Bob Probert is legendary already. McCartey could barely wait for the puck to drop so he could pummell Claude. And Joey, pound for pound the hardest puch in the NHL.
Bob has the best post - the Hansen brothers rule!
With the exception of a few of the dudes on this list (Black Jack Tatum, Lambert and LT), this list sucks. Any list that includes b-ballers, which does not include Rick Mahorn is deficient in the extreme! Mahorn took on the entire Bulls team including that pussy coach, Doug Collins and beat all dey asses! He tossed Collins up onto and over the scorers table. And, as for the hockey boys, NO ONE was a BADDER ASS than GORDIE HOWE! He actually relocated some dude’s nose (a Ranger pussy). I pretty sure that punk never played again! Virtually everyone who played in the early Howe era was a bad ass. No helmets or face masks for those he-men.
if you want football (soccer) psychos then you should look at people from the 60s to 80s where you could legally maim opposing players. have a look at english league players like ron ‘chopper harris’, norman ‘bite yer legs’ hunter, graeme souness, jack charlton (and his little black book of retribution), tommy smith.
but then you had years and years of italians, argentinians, uruguayans etc who were just vicious.
rick mahorn? a thug who sucked. what’d he average, something like 0.8 points a game?
whoever wrote this doesn’t know about ted lidnsay in terms of pain and fighting read this
http://www.maximonline.com/sports/articles/article_6125.html
As for talking, smak after getting death threats from hab fans saying that if he played the next night in montreal they would kill him, not only does he show up but he fucking skates to the middle of the ice uses hands to make 2 guns and mocks shooting at the fans. Not only that but he took on all the nhl owners to start a players union. thats way more bad ass than any guy on this list especailly someone who dunked hard.
First of all Hockey is more of a Regional sport. And other than Howe, Lemiuex and Gretsky who cares!!! If they wanted to fight they should have went into boxing or the WWE for that matter. Maybe they should have had Hulk Hogan in there too….The Road Warriors were MoFos as well. I will say that Billy Martin was a MoFos, although as a manager. Hey Rick Mahorn get off the board if you are just going to promote yourself. Noone other than Mahorn would seriously inlclude him.
I have to throw Darcy Tucker on there as maybe for just a mention, but knocking the crap out of Pavel Bure, busting his mouth and giving him a concussion, also the guy pick a fight with an entire bench, maybe not the badest, but for sure a MOFO
Dude, What about “mean” Joe Green? Joe was bitch slappin’ before pimps. I’ll tell you what, if you put joe green on another Badass Mofo’s i won’t tell him you guys dropped the ball the first time.
good list, but too single minded on three sports. if you want a combination of badass, being a mofo, and having the all around talent YOU NEED TO LOOK INTO SOCCER. look up eric cantona or roy keane. eric cantona has been compared to the greatest footballers in the world, and still took time to KARATE KICK A FAN IN THE FACE. honestly. look it up. roy keane is another one just
like him. oh and as far as the NHL debate goes, there are some decent canidates but none of them that could truly slip into the top 10.
Mean Joe Green is a great suggestion. Of all the complaints, this one is the most valid. The problem is there are so many NFL defensive players to consider, and Jack Lambert is carrying the flag for those great Pittsburgh defenses.
As for Ronnie Lott, he just wasn’t a trash talker. He was dominating, but too classy to make the list.
Don Drysdale - After beaning Micky Mantale with a 90+ fastball in the shoulder , Drysdale walked over to the base when Mantle got to first. “You want me to sign it”? said Drysdale about the huge bruise forming. Also had the great quote “Why walk ‘em with four when I can hit ‘em with one”.
Jack Youngblood - L.A. Rams - Played in the Super Bowl in ‘70 with a broken leg…Bad Ass
Sorry, don’t buy the Clemens accolades one iota. He played the lion’s share of his career in the American League with the DH which protected him from getting beaned himself. That very same protection afforded him the luxury of pitching inside withourt fear of retribution. Can you imagine Gibson ever coming out of a game because he felt some “tightness”? Roger “the dodger” is hardly a war-horse, and muchless a Bad Ass Mofo, IMHO.
Tiger Williams and Marty Mcsorley take the list. These guys scared everybody. Gretzky would have been killed in season one without marty. Patrick Roy is mofo too. Gotta go for the goalie willing to fight. A lot.
another vote for concrete charlie.
chuck bednarik. no 60 of the philadelphia eagles. the last true two-way player - center and linebacker - who played every down of the 1960 NFL championship game (eagles 17, packers 13). he knocked frank gifford out of football for over a year with a single hit, a hit, by the way, which ended the game and put philly in the title contest.
oh - and bednarik is an ivy league grad (penn).
and yo, TO doesn’t have a ring. take his ass off the list.
Just thought of another one. Ron Hextall: first goalie to score a goal when no one thought it could happen, and he never took shit from any player. He was fighting everyone when all the other goalies were pussies. And NOTHING beats a goalie fight.
For those who undermine hockey and say it sucks, you’re ignorant. If hockey were as widely marketed as NFL Football, it might get the respect it deserves. Canada and much of northern europe are obsessed with hockey, asia’s kicking in, too. Even the northern states are becoming obsessed… hockey is by far the fastest, most intense sport in the world, even without fighting. Fighting isn’t a major part of the sport, but the hits will drive you wild. And now that they’re focusing the schedule on rivalries, it’s only going to heat up.
As for bowling out-rating hockey on ESPN… lazy Americans prefer a sport where you move ten feet as opposed to getting an actual workout.
ROBERTO DURAN: I liked the list..not great but good. The guy would drink before fights, talk trash and spit in the face of anyone he didn’t like. And as far as the NO MAS ….. I really can’t fault the guy for that…considering he had 15 minutes to hit last call.
What about the Meanest MoFo’s of UFC (Ultimate Fighter Championship)!!! those guys are real badasses.. broken jaws, broken arms and broken teeth i beleive is what they live for, so please pleeeease consider having them on the mofo list… TANK, TITO ORTIZ, WANDERLEI, FOREST, the list goes on!!
You yanks probably haven’t heard of this guy, but in the rugby world, he’s one of the toughest mofos ever. Wayne “Buck” Shelford, captain of the All Blacks. Got his scrotum ripped open during one game (1 nut hanging out) so he gets the physio to stitch him on field & keeps playing. Just for good measure he also got knocked out and lost a couple of teeth in the same game. Too bad we lost - dirty frenchies!!
RAY LEWIS?!?!
How can you have two basketball players in the top ten and not one hockey player?!?!?! Give me a break
Roberto Duran is a good suggestion, though he probably blew it with his “No mas” stunt against Sugar Ray. His reputation was destroyed overnight.
Good list…Lance Armstrong is a no-brainer… Not exactly your “tradional” candidate, but who can forget Dale Earnhardt. They said he was a bad ass Mofo…
i agree with johnjohn and gregg. dale sr. should make EVERY list of mofo’s, and ronnie lott was and still is the baddest safety the NFL has ever seen. but i have one addition, what about rodney harrison? hes been fined for his hits more than anymore else in the NFL.
Lott is a good suggestion but I don’t remember him being much of a trash talker. I don’t see how Lance fits. Again, this isn’t just about athletes who dominated their sports. That list would be too tough to come up with.
Oh, and Dale Sr. is another great suggestion.
Sorry JESSE, but Ron Hextall lost all MOFO status when Felix Potvin destroyed him in a fight. If a pretty boy like Potvin can send you for stiches your in trouble.
As for Bad-Ass Hockey players, the king is Bobby Clarke. He’s still talking shit as a GM.
Rodney Harrison,
Titles: yes
Most fines for hits ever: yes
And when he was asked about the fines he said that the money goes to charity, he says he makes those insane hits FOR THE KIDS… I love this guy
Love the Dale Sr. suggestion.
Todd Bertuzzi is the NHL’s #1 Mofo right now. Wicked tough, amazing scoring touch and loyal as a pit bull. The Steve Moore hit made him more trash than Mofo, but everything before that, like the epic battle with Chris Chelios and running two defensemen out of the playoffs in one year with shoulder injuires because of clean hits, makes him a bad ass mofo. That and the fact he ahd to be forcibly restrained after a radio sports talk dick called his wife a dog, after he had been driving around Vancouver looking for the guy. For all time NHL? Gordie Howe, Maurice “rocket” Richard and Bobby Clarke. Howe once put me in a headlock and elbowed me in the ribs after signing an autograph…..and hes older than Grampa. Richard started a brawl in the stands, got suspended for th season, then turned that into a full city riot. Bobby Clarke was told to “take care of” a Russian forward in ‘72 Summit Series and chased him around the rink before breaking his ankle with his stick. All mofo’s, all should have been considered for this list.
LOL Adam, I’m a Toronto fan so I loved it when Hextall got his face beat in by Potvin. He started a lot of new things for goalies, probably not worth being on the list, but a mention anyway.
Two NHLer’s: Claude Lemieux if for nothing else his hit on Chris Draper. And a trash talker T.O. wishes he could be like, Essa Tikkinen. If you don’t know who these two are don’t bother chiming in you have no clue… Tikkinen was trash talkin and being a “BadMoFo” before T.O. was even born. Claude Lemieux and Tikkinen were so good at being bad they could swing the momentum of an entire game without ever touching the puck.
TIE DOMI!
I don’t know if somebody already mentioned this guy, i didn’t feel like looking through all the comments, but Lance Armstrong should be one of your Badass Mofo’s, or at least in the honorable mention category, “too classy.” You all know the story: testicular cancer, recovers to win the Tour seven times. This guy is bad ass. The Europeans hate his guts, especially the French, being as he’s taken over and raped their race. Undoubtedly the most tested (drug-wise) athlete in all of sports, it seems those French are just dying for an excuse to take away his glory, even threatening disqualification in the past tour for not wearing the yellow jersey. Lance’s physique is flawless: he has a resting pulse of something like 32 beats per minute and his heart is a third larger than normal. No, this guy takes the cake in my book. NO one can touch him, and he’s in a point in his life where most men are approaching their mid-life crisis with a beer gut and a bald spot. Lets give this guy some credit: he is the bad ass.
what a bullshit list. who’s afraid that Larry Bird or Michael Jordan will put them in the hospital? ooooo…please don’t shoot another 3 pointer Larry…ooooo. why don’t you put billie jean king there too?
Hey Floyd, maybe you, like a few other people who commented on this list, should read the description again. This wasn’t a list of sports’ all-time great thugs.
“Guys who talked the talk, and then proceeded to walk the walk. Guys with big mouths who backed it up. Guys you probably hate when they’re playing your team, but you’d kill to have on your team.”
Bird and MJ fit that description to a T.
Hockey should have its own list as this lists’ creators probably hinted with that disclaimer at the end. Just because of the physical nature of the game (not that violence is required, it’s just a natural evolutionary part of the game). In that vain, rugby should have its own list as well. These sports lend themselves automatically to the idea of creating “badass mofos” just based on survival. In those sports, you’re either part of a thug unit or a finesse unit with talent that is protected by your own designated thug unit. The rare combination of both creates the “badass mofo” in other sports but which becomes a little too common in hockey and rugby to be included on a general list. The standard for those sports is just way different when even compared to American football. I’m not familiarized enough with soccer outside the U.S. so I wouldn’t be able to list any names there, but I think some key omissions from this list were:
Dick Butkus–If there was a doubt about Lawrence Taylor being the best linebacker ever, there is virtually no doubt about Butkus. He’s in the Hall of Fame for both college and the NFL…3 time All-Conference, Rose Bowl Champion, 9 time Pro-Bowler (they didn’t play Super Bowls in his time) AND he challenged the star line-backer of every team before a game to play with a live worm in his mouth. The one who could produce the live worm at the end of the game would be deemed the “winner” in Butkus’s book. Now tell me that THAT’s not badass??? I would take Butkus over Lambert (albeit, he’s a Hall of Famer in his own right) on any given Sunday.
Lance Armstrong–others have tried to make the case for him, I’ll lay it out a little better. Granted, cycling isn’t a contact or an impact sport, but there’s still room to gain a psychological edge. Armstrong when training on a stationary bike before his first Tour De France victory sarcastically asked Jan Ulrich’s (his rivals) trainer whether or not the chain had come off on his bike because he felt no resistance. When Armstrong had lost the lead during his fifth win, he yelled over to the leader with the yellow jacket during the 18th stage of the race, “how are you feeling? Because you’d better fly down that hill like you just stole something if you don’t want me to catch you.” And during his 6th and last win, a German biker tried to spike Armstrong from behind to derail him. Armstrong started playing cat and mouse with the biker by continually forging ahead and falling behind. At one point, on a mountain pass, with Armstrong behind him, the biker became so obsessed with Armstrong that he didn’t watch in front of him and caused a major crash. Armstrong, foreseeing this accident stopped in mid-pedal and CHANGED his course through the rough mountain slope, forfeiting 5 spots in the racing order, but still keeping his momentum…oh, and he purposely ran over the fallen biker’s hand as he started his descent down the tumultuous slope–he’s at least worth an honorable mention.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.–”It’s not the fastest car on the track…it’s the one that refuses to lose.” And, “…don’t let anyone tell you that the draft lane is just used to enjoy the breeze.” These quotes right there just solidify Earnhardt Sr’s spot on the honorable mention list.
John McEnroe–People are probably going to pounce on me for including this guy because tennis is not a contact sport. But this guy fits the criteria to the tee. Opponents hated him, fans loved him. He breathed life in to tennis with his outbursts. If the telestrator “shot spot” technology was available during his time, he might not have been disqualified as much, but even despite all of those deportments and penalties, he still managed to put together one of the longest title runs in tennis history–as a singles AND a doubles tennis player. Guys hated to play against him, but they fell over themselves trying to nab him as a Doubles teammate. He’s at least an honorable mention on the Badass Mofo list.
P.S. Sorry for the long-winded message
You have to be seriously mentally ill not to include any hockey players in the bad ass mofo list. It comes down to physics. Hockey is hands down the hardest hitting full contact sport played professionally in America. The force of impact is calculated by velocity SQUARED times mass. You figure it out…or better yet put on some skates and play one game with some guys who know what they are doing…i would be surprised if you didn’t defecate in your padded pants.
While I enjoyed the “defecate in your padded pants” line, your comment carries little weight for one reason: we’re not watching hockey. Why should we? They nearly killed their f’ing sport by canceling out an ENTIRE SEASON. What a joke. Hockey’s about as relevant to me as NASCAR and professional checkers.
People are right about TO, though. He gets booted from the list.
Hey Jec, what you have to remember is that this was a list of all time bad ass mofo’s. Regardless of wether or not you ever watch a hockey game again, the sport has been around for a long time, and had a rich history of “colorful” characters. If the topic was of CURRENT bad ass mofo’s, you would be right. However it is not, and you are not.[right]
I got Jesse Owens on my list at numnber 7. May not have been a trash talker but:
By the end of his sophomore year at Ohio State, Jesse realized that he could be successful on a more competitive level. Jesse entered the 1936 Olympics, which to many are known as the “Hitler Olympics.” These games were to be held in Nazi Germany, and Hitler was going to prove to the world that the German “Aryan” people were the dominant race. Jesse had different plans, however, and by the end of the games even German fans cheered for him.
Jesse was triumphant in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the broad jump. He was also a key member of the 400-meter relay team that won the Gold Medal. In all but one of these events Jesse set Olympic records. Jesse was the first American in the history of Olympic Track and Field to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
Despite his success, the financial instability of the Owens family continued. Shamefully, at that time in America he was not offered any endorsement deals because he was black. In an effort to provide for his family, Jesse left school before his senior year to run professionally. For a while he was a runner-for-hire, racing against anything from people, to horses, to motorcycles. The Negro Baseball league often hired him to race against thoroughbred horses in an exhibition before every game. Jesse even raced against the some of the Major Leagues fastest ballplayers, always giving them a 10-yard head start before beating them.
Jesse also took numerous public-speaking engagements, and was an articulate and enjoyable lecturer. In fact, Jesse was so well-liked and successful that he started his own public relations firm. He traveled around the country spoke on behalf of companies like Ford and the United States Olympic Committee. He stressed the importance of religion, hard work and loyalty. He also sponsored and participated in many youth sports programs in underprivileged neighborhoods.
In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest honor a civilian of the United States can receive. President Gerald R. Ford awarded him with the Medal of Freedom. Jesse overcame segregation, racism and bigotry to prove to the world that African-Americans belonged in the world of athletics. Several years later, on March 31, 1980, Jesse Owens,66, died in Tucson from complications due to cancer.
Through all the trials, tribulations and successes, Jesse Owens was a devoted and loving family man. He married his longtime high school sweetheart, Ruth Solomon, in 1935. Together they had three daughters, Gloria, Beverly and Marlene. To this day, his widow Ruth and daughter Marlene operate the Jesse Owens Foundation, striving to provide financial assistance and support to deserving young individuals that otherwise would not have the opportunity to pursue their goals. Jesse would certainly be proud of their efforts…………
What about Flyers tough guy Donald Brashear? Nobody in the NHL throws down the gloves more often than this bas ass mofo. Watch his fights and you;ll see what I mean.
what about water payton? charles barkley? chris chelios? aaron pryor (boxer)? get TO the fuck off of that shit
The real top three arent even on the list. Howabout number 3 Ron Hextell, number 2 Um anyone ever heard that a hat trick was a goal an assist and a fight i think you forgot Gordie Howe, and number 1 whatabout the man that was voted toughest basketball player in the game ALLEN FUCKING IVERSON. The man is 6th quickest man to reach 1900 career points just last week and hes 6ft no man in the top 40 scorers of all time is under 6′2 besides AI. Not to mention besides Bret Farve he is the athlete to play through the most injurys. Plus you could say he runs his mouth a little. This list sucks.
where the heck is bill romanowski
No Randy Johnson?!?
i don’t care what ya’ll say, Steve Prefontain, the greatest and most badass runner ever to live in America should be number one
He once ran and ONE a race just days after cutting a gash in his foot so big he shouldn’t have been able to walk
He once said, “I hope it comes down to a pure guts race, because then I’m the only one who can win.”
” L.T. was a badass - but a drug-infested turd. Hall of Shame for L T.
I’d say one of the baddest dudes was Bo Jackson - He could kick your ass in football and jack a baseball - 2 sports. And … ” Bo knows your sister “
Going back a few years - what about Larry Csonka and Earl Campell ? They actually punished the defense.
Romo>Bill Romanowski and Bronco Nagurski.Bronco cracked a brickwall with his head.this guz is a legend.
Okay. There are only 2 names from the hockey world that should not have been left off that list:
1. Dave “The Hammer” Schultz. Philadelphia Flyers. The man was a beast. He’d fight his grandmother to the death if she was on the opposing team.
2. Terry “The Tazmanian Devil” O’Reilly. Boston Bruins. Not your typical goon. O’Reilly went into the stands to beat a fans ass! By the way, he and Schultz hated each other so much, years after they retired, they still refused to speak to each other.
What about Bill Romanowski?
Chuck Bednarik.
“Concrete Charlie”, the last of the 60 minute men.
Wayne Gretzky maybe