It's always bothered me that star players like Unitas, Berry, Mackey, Starr, Sayers, Jim Brown, Red Grange, Nagurski, Baugh, Tittle, Otto Graham, Don Hutson, etc. don't get any recognition today. Heck, fans today barely even remember Joe Montana and John Elway.
The NFL and NBA seem to promote only "the here and now". Professional Baseball was popular eons before Football or Basketball, as there was no NFL prior to 1920 and no NBA before 1946. So that explains at least a portion of it.