Truthfully speaking, athletes are otherworldly creatures. If you think about just how long most professional athletes, on average, have been playing said sports you come to the realization that by the time most of them are in their early 20s they've reached the pinnacle of their sports. If you’re doing the math, it means they’ve likely been playing for 10-12 years if not more.
Sports does a great job of filtering people who aren’t built to be the best of the best. Yeah, certain players might be NBA scrubs or NFL washouts, but if you put these people amongst “lesser” competition, you’d see they’re still head and shoulders above your average joe players. And if nothing else, it has to do with the build and athleticism of said athlete.
Even at the pinnacle of athleticism, you’re still going to get people that stand out. The top 1% of the 1% if you will. Athletes who seem to defy all logic when it comes to their ability to play their respective sports with a consistency that makes them otherworldy. In sports, we have a lot of names for these types of athlete,s but I like to refer to these types of players as ...
Cyborgs.
These are men who seem to defy the already high standards set by athletes. By comparison, they seem to be indestructible forces of nature who aren’t privy to the same restrictions other athletes are. So without further ado, I present to you my 2012-2013 All Cyborg Team.
Let’s start with ...
1. LeBron James
Bron was recently linked to a steroid clinic in Miami. Though I’m certain there isn’t anything to it, if there was, it’d make a lot more sense. Every time I’ve ever seen Bron get injured one of two things happens.
1) He goes to the bench for 5-10 minutes and then comes in like he never left or;
2) he ties his shoes just a little bit tighter and whatever injury he just sustained magically disappears.
I remember once someone on Twitter said Bron had gotten injured because he forgot to do his daily firmware update to his body to keep him in tip top shape. Makes perfect sense to me.
2. Russell Westbrook
Depending on who you’re talking to, Westbrook and Derrick Rose are two of the most athletic point guards we have in the league (Eric Bledsoe most assuredly deserves an honorable mention). While you can debate the athleticism, what you can’t debate is the durability. About a week or two ago, I learned that Westbrook has played and started in every single game in his NBA career. At the time, that number was 373. Impressive right? Here’s something more impressive.
Westbrook hasn’t missed a basketball game in his career.
Not in the NBA (5 years). Not in college (2 years). Not in high school (4 years). That’s 11 years of basketball and Westbrook hasn’t missed a game. As a matter of fact, Westbrook currently leads the NBA with the longest active streak of consecutive games played in the NBA.
And given the way he plays? That’s an accomplishment all in itself.
3. Adrian Peterson
The season prior to his 2,097 yards of rushing, Adrian “Purple Jesus” Peterson tore his ACL. And then 8 months later, he was back on the field. In case we’re doubting how impressive this is, let’s take a minute to put it in perspective.
- Derrick Rose tore his ACL a year ago and he’s still not on the court.
- Rajon Rondo tore his ACL and he’s not scheduled to come back til sometime next January.
- RGIII looked like the old person from the “help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercial.
- I recently had a homeboy who tore his ACL in a football-related injury. The guy could barely move his leg and was on crutches every time I saw him.
Adrian Peterson ran for 2,097 yards, 8 MONTHS after he tore his ACL.
That’s insane.
4. Jadeveon Clowney
6 foot 4. 275lbs. And apparently, he ran a 4.5 in the 40. For proper context, the fastest time ran in the combine this year was a 4.27 by Marquise Goodwin. He’s a receiver. If Clowney runs one tenth of a second faster, he’s running the same speed as defensive backs — who tend to be about 5-6 inches shorter and about 70 lbs lighter.
That alone would made Clowney a cyborg ... but then we have to remember the one time he mauled homie for Michigan and then picked up the football with his left hand, which resembled a bear mauling a deer and picking up the leftovers with his paw.
5. Peyton Manning
No, Peyton Manning isn’t as physically gifted as some of the other athletes on this list. But how many of the aforementioned athletes broke their neck, took a year, then came back and were in contention for league MVP?
None?
Didn’t think so.
As we all know, Peyton sat out the entire 2011-2012 year. How good was he last year? He threw the 2nd highest completion rate in his career, the 2nd highest amount of passing yards in his career, had a damn near 4-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio and managed to come within a 70-yard touchdown pass within the final seconds of going back to the AFC title game.
That’s AFTER he broke his neck.
Oh, and before he broke his neck? Peyton hadn’t missed a regular season football game in 13 years.
13.
YEARS.
I don’t care who you are. That’s pretty damned commendable.
So, I’ve named 5 people who I believe qualify for cyborg status. Hit the comment box and let me know who qualifies for YOUR cyborg list.
Peace.
For more on RealGoesRight’s opinions on things non sports related feel free to follow him on Twitter at @RealGoesRight and subscribe to his blog at RealGoesRight.Com
