Who was the most INTIMIDATING athlete of all time?

[Exhibitman]

Intimidating IMO means that the guy scares opponents before he does anything just by his presence.

Boxing: Mike Tyson in his heyday. He basically made opponents wet their pants before the bell rang. Add to that the fact that he was a street criminal in his youth, a rapist in his adulthood, and by all admissions of people close to him has violent mood swings, and I think you have a genuinely scary, violent customer.

Baseball: Ty Cobb [vintage] and Nolan Ryan. Cobb won through intimidation, which is why he had so few friends. Ryan took no crap from anyone, ever. Plus his beatdown of Robin Ventura is a classic.



Football: They Call Me Assassin was one of my favorite sports books as a kid, so I have to go with Jack Tatum. Honorable mention to Jim Brown--if he couldn't go around you, he'd just go through you. 5.22 yards per carry for his career, highest all time, and averaged over 100 yards per game for his career.

Basketball: Bill Russell. He changed entire game plans with his defensive play. 22.5 rebounds per game for a career.

Hockey: The Hammer, Dave Schultz. The baddest bad boy on the Broad Street Bullies.

[Ejm1]

Marvin Hagler

Mike Tyson, until he met Robin Givins

John Randle was pretty scary

I always thought Ben Wallace in basketball looked like a bas a**

Clemente had a look to him like he was all business

[Leon]

He's not the world champion anymore but not many folks would like to meet Brock in the alley...

[Gradedcardman]

I've been stewing on this one for awhile...baseball I love Gibson for the pitcher and Ruth for the batter. Football I like Jim Brown. Basketball I like Wilt. Hockey I go with Orr.

[Cat]

On the BB court Maurice Lucas was very intimidating, so was Xavier McDaniel in a different way.

[bundy462]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned Shaq in basketball. He was so big and physical that he changed how the game was played in the paint (for the worse in my opinion, it's more like WWF than basketball under the hoop). Guys would be fouled out in 3 minutes if the game was called the way it was pre-Shaq. He was a beast.