Athletes that you hated but had to respect

[Green Habit]

...because they were so damn good, even if it frequently came at your team's expense.

I thought of this thread idea when I mentioned Derrick Thomas to Joey. He's obviously on my list, but here's some others that I can think of right now:
--Marcus Allen (not one, but two AFC West rivals, ugh)
--Bo Jackson (fuck you Hugh Culverhouse for wrecking his college eligibility and pissing him off)
--Junior Seau (I felt so bad for San Diego when he killed himself, tremendous player and person)
--LaDainian Tomlinson
--Derek Jeter (at least he was a Yankee from the very beginning)

At one time, I also had an irrational butthurt hate toward Peyton Manning because he would almost always destroy the Broncos as a Colt. Suffice to say that's been eviscerated. I'm sure there's some posts lurking on the old board where I'd argue with Clubber about Manning's greatness in NFL history that I'd now regret.

[epilogue]

Bo Jackson only played baseball for the Kansas City Royals. So, I have no beef with him at all.

Peyton Manning is easily my #1 on this list.

LT is a good one, too.

[Monkey_Driven]

Tom Brady
Tim Duncan (for the first half of his career)

[daft twat]

Brett Favre

[Simple Torture]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

[Green Habit]

Bo Jackson only played baseball for the Kansas City Royals. So, I have no beef with him at all.

Peyton Manning is easily my #1 on this list.

LT is a good one, too.

I'm sure a part of you wishes that Bo had stuck with baseball, not the least of which to avoid that fateful playoff game against the Bengals.

And i certainly don't begrudge you having Peyton atop your list. As I said, I know how that felt.

[Green Habit]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

For me, the thing is I don't think I ever hated Rivera. Jeter had a few hateable traits but never in the disrespect territory for me.

[doug rr]

oh man, I hated peyton until he was a bronco..

roger clemens
jack nicklaus

many others i can't think of now

[Simple Torture]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

For me, the thing is I don't think I ever hated Rivera. Jeter had a few hateable traits but never in the disrespect territory for me.

Maybe we've just got different definitions of hate. I hated Rivera because whenever he came in, the game felt over. I never really had the same reaction to Jeter because I was never so scared of him, really.

[Green Habit]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

For me, the thing is I don't think I ever hated Rivera. Jeter had a few hateable traits but never in the disrespect territory for me.

Maybe we've just got different definitions of hate. I hated Rivera because whenever he came in, the game felt over. I never really had the same reaction to Jeter because I was never so scared of him, really.

Certainly fair, this entire thread is subjective. I probably don't watch enough baseball to appreciate blown saves more, 2004 ALCS excepted of course.

[Norah]

Jeter/Rivera

[Green Habit]

oh man, I hated peyton until he was a bronco..

You know what I'm talking about.

roger clemens
jack nicklaus

many others i can't think of now

Clemens is complicated to me as a Red Sox fan. The Broncos equivalent would be Bill Romanowski.

Why Jack Nicklaus?

[Norah]

Clemens used to be more complicated for me. But over the years I've decided to just remember him fondly from my earliest baseball memories and love the guy.

[Norah]

The Rocket was the first athlete's nickname I knew.

[verb_to_trust]

Lebron

[Simple Torture]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

For me, the thing is I don't think I ever hated Rivera. Jeter had a few hateable traits but never in the disrespect territory for me.

Maybe we've just got different definitions of hate. I hated Rivera because whenever he came in, the game felt over. I never really had the same reaction to Jeter because I was never so scared of him, really.

Certainly fair, this entire thread is subjective. I probably don't watch enough baseball to appreciate blown saves more, 2004 ALCS excepted of course.

He had 5 blown saves in 47 postseason chances, but the 2 that people remember are huge--the one that ended the 2001 World Series and the one in Game 4 in 2004. But don't forget that he blew Game 5 in 2004 as well!

[Green Habit]

Above any '90s and '00s Yankee, it's Rivera.

For me, the thing is I don't think I ever hated Rivera. Jeter had a few hateable traits but never in the disrespect territory for me.

Maybe we've just got different definitions of hate. I hated Rivera because whenever he came in, the game felt over. I never really had the same reaction to Jeter because I was never so scared of him, really.

Certainly fair, this entire thread is subjective. I probably don't watch enough baseball to appreciate blown saves more, 2004 ALCS excepted of course.

He had 5 blown saves in 47 postseason chances, but the 2 that people remember are huge--the one that ended the 2001 World Series and the one in Game 4 in 2004. But don't forget that he blew Game 5 in 2004 as well!

I certainly didn't forget all three!

I was in college in Portland when that first one happened. Boy, there were a lot of happy, still salty, Mariners fans at that moment!

[Orpheus]

I wish Brady played for any other team so I can enjoy what he does, cause he's one of the greatest ever. But the fucking Patriots, man.

[spike]

Kobe

[Joesanity]

Jordan