Lance Armstrong, Seven "Tour de France" victories in a row:
For a short period of time in the early to mid-2000's Lance Armstrong was the most dominant athlete in the world (except maybe for Michael Phelps). He won the Tour de France, one of the most prestigious cycling race in the world, seven consecutive times and crushed his competition. There were no serious rivals for Lance, it was always him against himself.
While it's true that we might never see a biker win multiple Tours again, Armstrong's legacy is now somewhat tarnished, as it was revealed in 2012 that Lance had been doping and using performance-enhancing drugs during the entirety of his sports career. Nobody ever denied that he was a physical freak, with amazing endurance and an iron will that allowed him to beat cancer... but I guess it wasn't enough, and he felt like he needed to be celebrated more.
Barry Bonds, 120 intentional walks (during one season):
Speaking of steroids, Barry Bonds holds one of the most impressive (and odd) records on our list, because teams would routinely refuse to pitch at him for entire games. There's a good chance we'll never see another batter get anywhere close to this stat, because one only gets "walked" if the opposing pitcher feels that there's no way he can strike the hitter out.
In his prime, there was nobody on earth who could throw past Barry... so they would just get him on base and focus on the rest of his team! Seriously, the odds of a single guy averaging three, four, five intentional walks every week must be some kind a joke because these days, entire teams struggle to average 120 walks a season...But I guess that was the magic of baseball's PED era: Nobody cared, as long as it was entertaining.
Jerry Rice, 22895 NFL receiving yards:
As the all-time leader in yards and the uncontested receiving GOAT, Jerry torched defenses as if he was an adult playing against children. He was fast, strong, smart and could see the field like a quarterback, always knowing where to place himself to get open and find the "soft spot" in defenses. This excellent vision also allowed him to slice up Defensive Backs on corner routes and lull them into a false sense of security... before burning them deep on go-routes. Picture it this way: you need 1000+ yards per season, for 22 seasons, to even hope to tie Rice's performance. That's something that is just not going to happen again, even with all the rule-changes to benefit the offense. Jerry Rice was an incredible athlete who has, since his playing days, set the standard for all other professional receivers to compare themselves to... And even if they'll never equal his total catch record, total touchdown tally and especially, the compilation of his career receiving yards, he's still a great source of inspiration and motivation.
Babe Ruth, .690 overall batting percentage:
It's entirely possible that no other player ever reaches even ten percent of the Bambino's mark. If a batter holds a .300 batting-average over the course of his career, he's already a lock for the Hall of Fame... so needless to say, doubling that percentage is a virtual impossibility in the modern iteration of the sport.
Hitting .600 for a full career means you actually need to be ranking above that grade during the prime of your career, because strength and power lessen with age. A player would therefore need to reach .750 at the height of his playing-days (a number that's only been attained by legends like Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, and Marky McGwire) to be able to then experience a natural decline and still retire with a high enough average. Now consider that Babe Ruth didn't take care of his body or diet the way that modern athletes do nowadays, and it boggles the mind to think he could have been better.
Tom Brady: 7 Superbowl Rings
https://youtu.be/o7IQrkueyWc
You knew this one was coming... The man has more Superbowl Championships to his name that any other NFL franchise, let alone individual player. And he didn't get there all Bill Russell-style either, as Tom (and the refs) have been the main force and driver for his team's success, be it in Foxborough or Tampa Bay. Had Brady lost during his most recent Superbowl bid, then there might have been a small chance for someone to catch up to his total. Now, it seems that that ship has sailed...
The man has almost had a three-peat twice, in two different decades, came within one (1) crazy David Tyree catch from completing an undefeated season, and has joined Peyton Manning as the only other QB to win it all with two different teams. Yeah, the dominance has been overwhelming. As things stand now, it truly appears as if TB12's seven Lombardi trophies will remain the most untouchable milestone in professional team sports.
