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Page 2's List for coolest athlete in sports history
Page 2 staff


Cool is such an arbitrary term, with different meanings for different people. After much debate, the Page 2 editors came up with our Top 10 coolest athletes of all-time, specifying that their coolness had to extend beyond each person's field, court, park or rink and into the real world.

Page 2 is out to crown the coolest athlete in the history of sports. After you look at our choices, send us a note with your choice for the coolest athlete of all-time.

1. Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Jets quarterback Joe Namath backed up his boast in Super Bowl III.
Broadway Joe: the girls, the guarantee, the furs and the pantyhose, the salary, the smile, the nickname. He had it all.

2. Derek Sanderson
Boston Bruins' young turk of late 1960s and early '70s made checking cool and lived life to the hilt off the ice.

3. Julius Erving
The Doctor, coolest nickname ever. And an afro for the ages.

4. Sugar Ray Robinson
So sweet in the ring, they had to call him Sugar. Nectar to the ladies ... all the ladies.

5. Venus Williams
Marches to her own drummer. If you don't like the number of tournaments she plays, the beads, her father ... hey, that's your problem.

6. Evel Knievel
Inspired kids to be daredevils in every neighborhood in the '70s. The spiritual father of Xtreme sports.

7. Deion Sanders
Neon Deion, a legend in his own mind. But in ours, too.

8. Walt Frazier
Always calm, Clyde led the Knicks to two titles in the early '70s -- and never wore the same outfit twice.

9. Brandi Chastain
If you need to ask, never mind.

10. Mario Andretti
Whipped rednecks on the track, dined with kings off it.

Also receiving votes: Georges Vezina (the Chicoutimi Cucumber), Joe Pepitone, Slick Watts (inventor of the NBA headband), Champagne Tony Lema, Ilie Nastase, Archie Moore (the Mongoose).

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