Who is the greatest of all time?

A few weeks back, I wrote an article about World Record holder in the Decathlon, Ashton Eaton, and his take on the greatest athletes of all time. While in my mind, any athlete who can do ten events as well as other elite athletes can do one, Eaton begged to differ. While each person may have their own take on who is the best athlete, ESPN decided to take matters into their own hands.

On February 17, ESPN will be starting their bracket of greatest athletes of all time. The playoff-esque voting competition will last for eight days, with each day having one vote between two athletes. Until the 17th, site visitors can vote on who they believe is the greatest athlete in football, out of the 11 picked by ESPN.

The winner will go on to face Dale Earnhardt Sr. in the final match-up of the first round. What happens if you don’t like any of the 11 players chosen for football? Don’t worry! There is a link to write in your own personal favorite.

Besides the winner of the football round vs. Dale Earnhardt Sr., there are seven other match-ups, each equally as bizarre. Day one places Michael Jordan vs. Tiger Woods. The following day Michael Phelps will face off against Anderson Silva.

Wednesday will be a punch out between Muhammad Ali and Mark Allen, with Thursday boasting Bo Jackson vs. Roger Federer. The week caps off with Willie Mays vs. Jackie Robinson, and the weekend will round out with Pele vs. Tony Hawk and Carl Lewis vs. Wayne Gretzky. The match-ups will be televised on Sports Center and ESPN will be doing an analysis each day. The winner will be dubbed, “Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) ), as decided by ESPN.

While I may not consider Dale Earnhardt Sr. an athlete by any means, the competition in itself should be very interesting.

Photo courtesy of Café Press