Coach Prime puts Shohei in the Jordan, Brady echelon of GOATs
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Who is the greatest of all-time?
A discussion regarding the GOAT in all of sports may include names such as Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, LeBron James, Lionel Messi, Muhammad Ali and Serena Williams.
And right now, Shohei Ohtani belongs in that discussion. So says former MLB star, NFL All-Pro and current University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders.
“Ohtani, he’s incredible, man,” Sanders said Tuesday. “You can compare him to the Jordans and the Tom Bradys of the world. That’s who he is. He’s doing things that we haven’t fathomed.”
That is for sure. An All-Star pitcher and hitter in the same player? The baseball world hadn’t witnessed that in a century before Ohtani came along. And who thought we would ever see a player reach 50 homers and 50 steals in a single season? Ohtani achieved it -- in the middle of what may have been the best single-game performance in MLB history. And heck, 60-60 isn't off the table yet.
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Sanders knows a little something about legendary days in sports like the one Ohtani had last week. The two-sport star once appeared in a game for the Falcons and then suited up for the Braves for their playoff game that night, though he did not get into the game.
Of course, what separates Ohtani from Jordan, Brady and others is championships. Ohtani didn’t get a chance to play playoff baseball through his first six big league seasons with the Angels. But that will change this October as his historic game helped his Dodgers clinch a postseason berth.
What will Ohtani do under the bright lights of the postseason? If history is any indicator, probably something we have never seen before that will only strengthen his case as baseball’s GOAT.