How well-known are these all-time great sports figures?

[Snapolit1]

I apparently am one of the few Americans who have never heard of him. Plead guilty.

[Michael B]

You are missing a very big name - Jesse Owens!!!

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Michael B

You are missing a very big name - Jesse Owens!!!

Agreed! His name is legendary. I think many people have heard of him.

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Michael B

You are missing a very big name - Jesse Owens!!!

Agree! Especially in the USA!

I bet Usain Bolt would be right now globally...

And Carl Lewis would likely do well in the USA, I think

[h2oya311]

I love all the other responses from wives...I see a pattern here, and these are women who have baseball/sports fans for husbands! At least they recognized most of the high percentage athletes. Looks like you need to drop Joe Frazier down quite a few notches...

I wonder if the recognition of baseball players vs. other sports would be as prevalent for non-collectors and their significant others. Aside from Gretzky, MJ x2 (Jordan and Magic), Larry Bird, Tiger, OJ Simpson, and Bruce Jenner, I'd be surprised if my wife or any of her friends could name many of the top-10 names for each sport (other than baseball or famous football QBs) from the 80's or before. That includes guys like Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz (swimming), Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sugar Ray Robinson, etc.

[bigfanNY]

Hockey esp older hockey stars going to be very small percentage. Gordie Howe would be a good one in midwest Mr Hockey is pretty well known in Hockey Town. But rest of US? Miken again Mr. Basketball in land of 1000 lakes greatest laker is well known but outside Minnesota?

[Butch7999]

Funny timing on this -- the NHLPA just did a survey of current players to find their opinions of the best among their ranks
and the best of all-time in various categories. As fans of hockey, as well as baseball and football (and former
beer-league players in the first two sports, in our much younger days), we engaged in some cordial argument
as to how disappointing or surprising (or not) was the players' knowledge or ignorance of their forerunners and
their game's history. This is the game to which they've devoted their lives, you'd expect them to know better, said one,
but almost all of these guys are under 30, they don't sit around reading about the game's history, countered another,
and a quarter of the players are Russian or European, you can't expect them to know NHL history, added the third.
Anyway, except for the obvious (and, ironically, correct) selection of Orr as best-ever defenceman, every other other guy
among the Top 5 on the All-Time lists (including the also correct choice of Gretzky as best forward, and excepting Dryden
among goalers) played well into the 1990s. Not even icons like Howe, Richard, Hull, or Esposito get a perceptible nod
among the list of forwards, for example, or Plante or Bower among goalers, let alone any guys at all from the pre-expansion era.
Clearly the NHL and the hockey media do a shamefully horrendous job (no surprise at all) of keeping the game's history
(even its relatively recent history) alive.
The few other hockey fans here can observe and argue: http://www.NHLPA.com/player-poll/2017-18

So as we were gathered at one guy's home for another session of dice baseball, and between innings
discussing the NHL Poll and this Net54 thread, we decided to ask the resident Missus how many names she recognized
on Stampsfan Bob's list -- recognition biased by the fact that she knew in advance that this was a list of athletes,
not famous people from any field of endeavour, but recognition affirmed by whether she could name their sport.
It should be noted all parties involved are, um, let's just say well past 60, that the Missus was not a sports fan
of any real stripe until she was married, but that she's had to watch sports with her husband, in person and on TV,
and listen to him rattle on about baseball, hockey, football, and his sports memorabilia for over thirty years.
And now, the results of that trial:
Yes, and the sport they played, to every name on the list except for Bill Russell, AJ Foyt, George Mikan, and Bobby Jones.
Yes, but unsure of the sport ("football?") for Josh Gibson.
Based on posts subsequent to the OP and a few additions of our own, she was also asked about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
Lew Alcindor, Larry Bird, Usain Bolt, Jim Brown, Juius Erving, George Foreman, George Halas, John Heisman,
Gordie Howe, Bruce Jenner, Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Diego Maradona, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Orr, Jesse Owens,
Arnold Palmer, Jerry Rice, Cal Ripken, Sugar Ray Robinson, Ronda Rousey, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Spitz, Lawrence Taylor,
Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, and Cy Young.
She nailed every one of 'em except for Silva (none of us had ever before heard the name either) and Halas,
except that she didn't know Jenner's sport ("diving? swimming?"), and didn't recognize Heisman's or Maradona's names
but immediately guessed their sport (we couldn'a told ya what Heisman was famous for besides the trophy, either,
although we coulda told ya all about Pop Warner and Knute Rockne). She was also able to provide a vague thumbnail history
of the Black Sox scandal, although she thought it was from the early 1930s.

Conclusion from this corner: she is every bit as smart as her hubby always says, she actually does listen to him
contrary to what he always says, and aside from that, pretty much no one under 40 knows or cares the least little damn thing
about anyone or anything whatsoever that happened more than a few months ago, dadgummit, by cracky.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I apparently am one of the few Americans who have never heard of him. Plead guilty.

Considering he did play a century ago, and you obviously are clueless about hockey... your ignorance is forgiven.

Now, regarding the amount of Americans "I reckon" that are "serious hockey fans"... why don't you tell me how many Americans you think have heard of Wayne Gretzky? Or better yet.... how many people in the world? I can guarantee he's known by more people than literaly every athlete on your list.
.... and hockey yet... Go figure.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Considering he did play a century ago, and you obviously are clueless about hockey... your ignorance is forgiven.

Now, regarding the amount of Americans "I reckon" that are "serious hockey fans"... why don't you tell me how many Americans you think have heard of Wayne Gretzky? Or better yet.... how many people in the world? I can guarantee he's known by more people than literaly every athlete on your list.
.... and hockey yet? Go figure.

Just for fun I am going to ask people I see over the next few days if they know who Wayne Gretzky is. Hockey is a sport I never hear get brought up. I just asked my wife and she didn't have a clue who he is.

Please don't think I am in any way putting down your sport. It amazes me how many people don't know who Wanderlei Silva is. He is one of my heroes and for a 10 year period was the scariest MMA fighter on the planet. Win lose or draw extreme violence was a given in his fights.

I just think as fans of a sport we overestimate how popular many of its players are with everyday people. I know I could only name 3 hockey players who have ever played.