Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. What do these guys have in common? They changed the game, whatever game they were playing. They changed it for the better. They transcended the game. Theres not a day that goes by that someone says so-and-so is the next MJ, or the next Tiger and so on.
There will never be another Jordan, he is the reason why there are huge contracts in the NBA. Lebron James was brought up through basketball being called the next MJ. He never claimed he was, he never claimed he wasn't. He even went as far as to wear the number 23 for his first 7 years in the NBA. Kobe Bryant is closer to being like MJ than anyone has been since he the 1998 season. Jordan transcended the game, he changed it and for the better. Not only did Jordan pave the way on the hardwood for players like Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. But he paved the promotional world for them as well. According to a December 1991 issue of Slam! Magazine. Michael Jordan was making $3.25 million from the Chicago Bulls, but was making upwards of $20 million a year from endorsements. In August if 1991 he signed a 10 year $18 million deal with Gatorade. At this point the top 5 endorsers were 1) Michael Jordan 2) Arnold Palmer 3) Jack Nicklaus 4) Magic Johnson and 5) Greg Norman. In 1991 the NBA salary cap was $12.5m while the average player salary was $1.1m and Jordan was making $3.25m. Three times the average salary. Today the salary cap is $58m and the average player salary is $5.5m. Well over four times what they were in 1991 and the NBA, and especially the superstars of the NBA have no one but Michael Jordan to thank for that.
In the last day or two. Ive heard nothing but Rory McIlroy is the next Tiger Woods. First and foremost. No he isn't, he is very good. He has a great swing and length and his short game is great. Lets look at the numbers, last year at the U.S. Open Tiger Woods was making a strong push at the championship and the ratings were through the roof. This year Tiger isn't playing and the ratings were down 35%. One-Third of the people who watched last year didn't watch on Sunday. That reason is Tiger, he too transcended the game. Even with the ratings down 35% from last year, they are still way up from the pre-Tiger era. The prize money is huge because of Tiger. The golfers on tour love Tiger for this very reason. If a player were to shoot par every round on the PGA tour, he would make $900,000 a year. 30 years ago the top players were splitting the prize money to make more. Now the 30th player in the world is flying around on a private jet.
Now there are other players who have transcended their sports. These two are the most prevalent, but no one before, and only a few since have made the spectacular defensive plays that Ken Griffey Jr. made. There are only a few players since Griffey's heyday in the mid 90's. Also, Barry Sanders changed the game of football for running backs. There has never been a runner with better vision and awareness as him to go along with his speed. He retired at the right time, and i'm unswayable on that. Given that there were only 3 options on his team and an inferior offensive line he took a beating and if he played much longer he would have been forced to retire. I've said for a long time that if Sanders behind the great Dallas Cowboy O-Line or Denver Bronco O-line of the mid to late 90's that he would be the all-time leading rusher and not Emmitt Smith. Deion Sanders changed the game for defensive backs and kick returners. He single handedly shut down whatever side of the field he was on and was repeatedly kicked away from when returning kicks or punts, whatever the case may be. Not only did quarterbacks not want to get picked off, they didn't want to be taunted while it was happening.
I stand by what i say and there will never be another Michael or Tiger.
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