Troy Aikman – Aikman is considered among the best NFL quarterbacks of all time; he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. The number-one overall selection of the 1989 NFL Draft, Aikman was a six-time selection to the Pro Bowl, won three Super Bowls, was MVP of Super Bowl XXVII, and was the recipient of the 1997 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. Aikman retired after 12 seasons in 2001 as the Cowboys' all-time leader in passing yards (32,942) and touchdown passes (165) and is the NFL all-time leader with a Super Bowl completion rate of 70%.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Kareem is widely considered one of the greatest NBA players of all time. During his 20 years in the NBA from 1969 to 1989, he scored 38,387 points, the highest total of any player in league history, in addition to winning a record six Most Valuable Player Awards. He was known for his "skyhook" shot, which was famously difficult to block because it put his 7' 2" body between the basket and the ball. Abdul-Jabbar's success began well before his professional career; in college, he played on three championship teams, and his high school team won 71 consecutive games. Since retiring from basketball, he has been known as a successful coach, author and actor.
Richard Petty – Nicknamed "The King”, Petty is one of only two drivers (along with Dale Earnhardt) who have won the NASCAR Championship seven times. Petty is widely considered the greatest NASCAR driver of all time. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997 and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. In 1992, Petty was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George H. Bush, becoming the first motorsports athlete ever to be honored with the award. Petty retired in 1992 after racing for 35 years in 1,184 races. He finished with an unprecedented 200 wins, 712 top-10 finishes and 126 races where he started on the pole.
Sugar Ray Leonard – Leonard was named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s and is widely considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, winning an Olympic gold medal in 1976, gaining world titles at multiple weight divisions, and engaging in contests with such celebrated opponents as Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns,. Before he turned 20, Leonard won three National Golden Gloves titles, two AAU championships and the 1975 Pan-American Games crown. Leonard earned a spot on the heralded 1976 U.S. Olympic team and went 5-0 en route to his celebrated gold medal. Leonard won his first 25 pro fights and ended his career with a 36-3-1 record with 25 KO’s. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987.
Emmitt Smith – Smith played for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals and is the NFL's all-time rushing leader with 18,355 yards, a record formerly held by his childhood hero Walter Payton. He is the only running back to ever win a Super Bowl championship, the NFL Most Valuable Player award, the NFL rushing crown and the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award all in the same season. He is also one of four running backs to lead the NFL in rushing three or more consecutive seasons, joining Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, and Steve Van Buren.
Reggie Jackson – Jackson earned the nickname “Mr. October” for his World Series heroics with both the Oakland A's and New York Yankees. In 27 Fall Classic games, where he was awarded World Series MVP honors twice, he amassed 10 home runs – including four in consecutive at-bats – 24 RBIs and a .357 batting average. As one of the game's greatest power hitters, he blasted 563 career round-trippers and 1,702 RBIs. A terrific player in the clutch and an intimidating cleanup hitter, Jackson compiled a lifetime slugging percentage of .490 and earned American League MVP honors in 1973. He currently ranks 11th on the all-time homerun list and 22nd in RBIs and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Joe Namath – Known as “Broadway Joe” or “Joe Willie”, Namath played for the University of Alabama under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Namath played for the New York Jets and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He was selected as one of Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players. He was the only player on the list to have spent a majority of his career with the Jets. He is known for brashly telling the media that he guaranteed that his team would upset Don Shula's NFL Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969, and then delivering on his promise.
Mike Ditka – "Iron Mike" coached the Chicago Bears for 11 of his 14 years as an NFL Head Coach and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as players, assistant coaches and as head coaches. Ditka was the only individual to participate in both of the last two Chicago Bears championships, as a player in 1963 and as head coach in 1985. Ditka led the Bears to six NFC Central titles and three trips to the NFC Championship Game. Ditka's coaching career hit its pinnacle on January 26, 1986 with a 46-10 trouncing of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. He was awarded NFL Coach of the Year honors in 1985 and 1988 by the Associated Press, Sporting News, and Pro Football Weekly. The legendary Chicago Bears head coach now appears regularly on ESPN Radio and ESPN Sunday Morning Countdown.
Julius Erving – Erving, commonly known as “Dr. J”, was the most well-known player in the ABA (American Basketball Association) when the ABA-NBA merger took place after the 1976 season. Erving was a 16-time All-Star and won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined). Many consider him among the most spectacular basketball players and one of the best dunkers ever. His signature dunk was the "slam dunk”, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game.
"Fuzzy" Zoeller – Zoeller became a professional golfer in 1973 and accumulated 19 professional victories, including 10 on the PGA Tour along with 13 Top-10 finishes in major tournaments. He has established himself as one of the game’s premier players by appearing in 571 tournaments, making the cut 70% of the time and claiming nearly $6 million in prize money. Always a gallery favorite for his humor and relaxed approach to the game, Zoeller has won two major championships: the 1979 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club and the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. In 2002, Zoeller joined the Champions Tour and won the 2002 Senior PGA Championship and the 2004 MasterCard Championship. Zoeller is widely considered one of the greatest personalities in sports.
Herschel Walker – Walker played running back for the University of Georgia, where he was an All-American. Walker set the NCAA freshman rushing record and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting as a freshman. He would go on to win the Heisman in 1982, and in 1999 Walker was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. In 12 NFL seasons, Walker gained 8,225 rushing yards, 4,859 receiving yards, and 5,084 kickoff return yards. This gave him 18,168 total combined net yards, ranking him second among the NFL's all-time leaders in total yardage at the time of his retirement. He also scored 84 touchdowns and is the only player to have 10,000+ yards from scrimmage and 5,000+ return yards (all of which were on kickoff returns). He is the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways: rushing, receiving and kickoff returns.
Jim Brown – Brown is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. After being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, Brown was named the Greatest Professional Football Player ever by Sporting News in 2002. In addition to his football accomplishments, Brown excelled in basketball, lacrosse, and track. Brown was taken in the first round of the 1956 draft by the Cleveland Browns. He departed as the NFL record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing yards (12,312), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126) and all-purpose yards (15,549). He was the first player ever to reach the 100-rushing-touchdowns milestone. Brown also set a record by reaching the 100-touchdown milestone in only 93 games, which stood until LaDainian Tomlinson reached it in 89 games during the 2006 season. Brown is the only rusher in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career.
Bobby Hull – Hull is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blinding speed, feared slapshot and powerful physique, earning him the nickname "The Golden Jet”. Hull, along with teammate Stan Mikita, was credited with developing the curved hockey stick, which gave the shooter more velocity and caused the puck to move differently at times. He possessed the most feared slapshot of his day which, on occasion, was clocked at 120 mph. In his 23 years in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHL), Hull was named League MVP twice and First Team All-Star10 times. He scored 40 or more goals 14 times and 40 or more assists 11 times. He retired in 1980 after 1,063 games with 610 goals and 560 assists. Hull was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.
Jerry West – West played his entire professional 14-year career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome. West was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, and chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star game in 1972, the same year that he won his single NBA championship ring. He is the all-time NBA record holder of points averaged during a playoff series (46.3) and, as a testament to his two-way play, a member of the first four NBA All-Defensive Teams. West was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. His left-handed dribbling silhouette has long been used in the NBA's official logo.
Kyle Petty – The son of legendary racer Richard Petty, Kyle was behind the wheel for 846 NASCAR races over 30 years with 173 top-10s, eight wins and eight poles. He was the NASCAR Person of the Year in 1998 and 2000 and the NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year in 1999 and 2000. Aside from his racing career, Petty is active in many charitable causes, such as the Victory Junction Gang camp for terminally ill children, which he established to honor his late son Adam. He has also held the Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America for the last 15 years, where more than 250 motorcycle enthusiasts travel over 3,800 miles through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. Since the Ride began in 1995, more than 6,100 riders have logged 7.9 million cumulative motorcycle miles and donated more than $12 million to children’s charities.
Michael Strahan – Strahan is a former NFL defensive end who played for the New York Giants. He is currently a football analyst on FOX NFL Sunday. He retired after the 2007 season with 141.5 sacks, 794 tackles, four interceptions, 21 forced fumbles and two touchdowns in 200 games. Strahan was also named to the Pro Bowl seven times during his 15-year career.Strahan is the all-time single season sacks leader with 22.5 during the 2001 season. He was named the 2001 NFL Defensive Player of the Year; he was a two-time NFC Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the Super Bowl XLII Championship-winning New York Giants.
Poker Pros Roster
Can you bluff one of these guys? Doubt it!
- Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
- Johnny Chan
- Annie Duke
- Jamie Gold
- Phil Laak
- Gavin Smith
- T.J. Cloutier
- Kenna “Cowboy” James
- Amir Vahedi
- Layne Flack
- Kathy Liebert
- Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiri
- Chip Jett
- Tom McEvoy
- Barbara Enright
- Marsha Waggoner
- Karina Jett
- David Singer
- Marco Traniello
