GOAT (sports culture)

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Due to the abbreviation for "Greatest of All Time" (GOAT), iconography of goats is sometimes used by sports media Flickr - law keven - Goat - Colchester Zoo - Colchester, Essex, England - Monday November 5th 2007..jpg
Due to the abbreviation for "Greatest of All Time" (GOAT), iconography of goats is sometimes used by sports media

In sports culture, both spectators and participants have been documented to engage in discussions regarding a sport's greatest of all time, often referred to by the abbreviation "GOAT". The origins of the term as an acronym with positive connotations is often credited to the mid-20th century boxer Muhammad Ali. Its ubiquitous usage in sports conversations and debates was popularized in the 21st century.

Contents

The assessment of players as the greatest in a sport is often made by sportswriters and other media members based on wide-ranging criteria. Both objective measures, such as statistics and championships, as well as subjective commentary regarding an athlete's intangible traits are often considered. Sportswriters have noted issues with GOAT debates, including recency bias, as well as the improvement of nutrition and training over time, which some view as making it a challenge to compare players across eras. Many sports have no consensus for their single greatest all-time player. Cross-sport discussions have been held, also to no consensus. The assessment of a woman as a sport's greatest athlete or inclusion in cross-sports commentary as an all-time singular greatest athlete has been discussed.

Players themselves have also commented on GOAT conversations, with a mixed sentiment amongst them. Some refuse to include themselves in conversations, often highlighting other players' accomplishments, though some have proclaimed themselves as the greatest in their sport. Meanwhile, some find the topic misguided or foolish. Players have also been associated by themselves or others with imagery of the animal.

History and terminology

Etymology

The term GOAT (or G.O.A.T.) is derived as an abbreviation of "greatest of all time". [1] The term being written as an all caps or punctuated acronym is important, as the all lowercase term goat has been historically used in sports contexts to refer to "an athlete who failed, garishly, hilariously, and at the worst possible time". [2] New York Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo drew portraits of "goats" from each World Series game, depicting players with horns for ears. [3] American sportswriter Frank Deford speculated that "the designation of the goat as the figure of ridicule derives from the medieval sign of the horn[s] for a cuckolded husband". [3]

Boxer Muhammad Ali is credited with the term's origin Muhammad Ali, gtfy.00140 (cropped).jpg
Boxer Muhammad Ali is credited with the term's origin

As a positive connotation, the term traces its origins in boxer Muhammad Ali proclaiming himself "the greatest" multiple times during his career. [4] [5] Later, in 1992, Ali's wife Lonnie incorporated "Greatest of All Time, Inc." (or G.O.A.T. Inc.), a company intended to manage the then retired boxer's intellectual property for commercial purposes. [3] [6] While Ali has since been widely credited with popularizing the acronym, [7] Kurt Streeter of The New York Times wrote "Some say GOAT's origins actually spring from a flamboyant, blond-tressed wrestler, George Wagner, who was known as Gorgeous George and who in the 1940s and '50s earned lavish paydays by turning trash talk into fine art". [5] Streeter noted Ali drew inspiration from Wagner in his braggadocio. [5] American rapper LL Cool J released the album G.O.A.T. in 2000, another early usage of the term as an acronym. [6] The rapper has cited Ali as an inspiration, telling Rolling Stone in a 2016 interview that without Ali, "there would be no 'Mama Said Knock You Out', and the term G.O.A.T. would have never been coined". [6]

Sportswriters' rankings and assessments of athletes as the greatest predate the 21st-century popularization of the term. For example, ESPN's SportsCentury panel in 1999 named Michael Jordan as the greatest athlete in North American sports of the 20th century. [8] Sports Illustrated also named golfer Jack Nicklaus and multi-sport athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias as the century's best individual male and female athletes, respectively. [9] However, it was not until the early 21st century that the term GOAT gained traction in the general sports lexicon. [6] [10] Media coverage and fandom around professional sports leagues in the United States further popularized the term. [11] In 2018, the term's pervasive usage in sports commentary prompted the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to recognize the term as an acronym and noun. [5]

The goat emoji as it appears on Twitter. On social media, athletes who are considered GOATs are often associated with the animal. Twemoji2 1f410.svg
The goat emoji as it appears on Twitter. On social media, athletes who are considered GOATs are often associated with the animal.

Since the popularization of term GOAT, athletes have begun to be associated with the animal. During training camp in 2017, Tom Brady's teammates on the New England Patriots celebrated his 40th birthday by bringing five live goats to the team's facility, representing each of his then five Super Bowl championships. [12] The goat emoji is used in social media posts, often by general users but also by athletes themselves. [13] [14] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reviewed data covering a two-year period from 2017 to 2019, finding that "on any given day, there are roughly 40,000 tweets with the goat emoji". [13] [15] The WSJ also found that a significant sports moment was related to each of the top 20 single-day usages of the emoji, with Brady's win in Super Bowl LI leading to the highest single-day of over 330,000 tweets using the emoji, representing a 750% uptick. [15] Twitter has implemented special goat-themed emojis to render for specific hashtags during sporting events. [16] For the Summer Olympics in 2021, the Twitter hashtag for gymnast Simone Biles ("#SimoneBiles") was accompanied by an emoji of a goat in a sparkling red leotard. [17] Biles herself has worn leotards emblazoned in rhinestones in the shape of a goat. [18] After Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025, the team he was most associated with during his playing career–the Seattle Mariners–released a "digital short" in which he is featured ushering a goat through the team's clubhouse. [19] American basketball player Stephen Curry, often included by those in sports media as in the conversation for the GOAT at his position (point guard), [20] is serving as a producer for Goat , an animated film scheduled for release in 2026. [21]

The phrase has also lent itself to the adjective goated , a slang description of someone or something considered to be the greatest of all time. [22] Both GOAT and goated have since become used in non-sports contexts as well. [a] Jordan would become the namesake of "the Michael Jordan of", a similar turn of phrase to describe the greatest in a field. [25] [26] When awarding Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama stated, "There is a reason you call someone 'the Michael Jordan of' [...] They know what you're talking about because Michael Jordan is the Michael Jordan of greatness". [27] Writing for Bleacher Report , former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Steve Nash described the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as "the Michael Jordan of soccer". [28] Sportswriters and veteran athletes have also used the variant phrase Young GOAT to refer to a young player they view as having great potential. [29] Another term adjacent to GOAT conversations in sports is Mount Rushmore, referencing the United States landmark that came to symbolize American presidential greatness, and used by commentators to have expanded or broader conversations on all-time greats in sports, rather than comment on a singular greatest. [30] [31] [32]

GOAT assessments and discussions

Sportswriters and media members assess players based on various and wide-ranging criteria; this often includes objective measures, such as an athlete's individual statistical performance, championship victories, and career accolades relating to athletic merit and prowess. However, discussions on the greatest athletes of all time have also included subjective assessments of intangible traits, such as an athlete's "killer mentality", clutch, or competitive spirit. [b] Players' peaks or "prime" years, as well as their overall longevity are also common considerations. [37] Adam Wells, for Bleacher Report , credited Czech–American tennis player Martina Navratilova for possessing both noteworthy "longevity and peak dominance". [37] Voting for Reggie White over Lawrence Taylor as the greatest edge rusher in National Football League (NFL) history, reporter Tim McManus conceded that Taylor "flashed the brightest", but mentioned the former as "a relentless, unstoppable force for the better part of two decades" when explaining his choice. [38] Commentary on a sport's GOAT has been made by sportswriters and athletes alike on both retired and active players, with the latter group often being discussed in speculative terms regarding their potential to eclipse a previous player's status as the GOAT, and analyzing whether the active player has achieved enough for genuine consideration. [39] [40] Speaking to the Times of India in 2018, former cricketer Kumar Sangakkara spoke on Virat Kohli, saying he had the potential to "become the greatest ever Indian batsman". [41]

In the 2000s and 2010s, the term indeed became pervasive in sports culture. [5] This coincided with the early 21st-century increase in debates and discussions by sportswriters and media regarding the greatest athletes of all time. [42] In particular, GOAT conversations in NBA circles have been notably polarizing and have influenced the increase of similar conversations in other sports. [1] [43] Oftentimes, there is not widespread consensus on a sport's singular greatest of all-time player, prompting sportswriters and media members to have broad "GOAT conversations", in which multiple potential candidates are given consideration and have their "cases" argued for. [44] [45] In 2012, ESPN's David Schoenfield, for example, listed eleven pitchers with "varying claims" to be greatest pitcher in the history of baseball. [46] For these sports with less clear-cut scenarios, some writers altogether object to there being any singular definitive "GOAT". [44]

Recency bias, positional considerations, and cross-sport discussions

Additionally, the discussion is dynamic, with consensus about a sport's "GOAT" having changed over time in some sports. [47] Sportswriters, participants, and spectators alike have noted that a particular sport's evolution, as well as improvements in sports overall relating to nutrition, equipment, and training, renders it difficult to compare players from different eras to each other. [4] [5] [48] [49] Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel noted that recency bias favors more contemporary athletes. [50] When selecting Roger Clemens over Walter Johnson as baseball's greatest pitcher of all time, Schoenfield wrote that "If I had to rank ... well, I give the edge to the guy from the more modern times". [46] Writing about the greatest race horses of all-time, NBC Bay Area's Scott Ross also noted this phenomenon, writing "It's likely that horse racing fans, like most people, favor those whom they saw with their own eyes when discussing the greatest of all time". [51] Wetzel additionally examined how this recency bias affects the assessment of individual sports compared to team sports, writing that "Generally when it comes to sports, the newest phenom wins. Some of this is because of individual sports, where times are timeless [...] [Jesse] Owens fans can argue that if their guy enjoyed modern training and technology he would have been fastest, but that's hypothetical. Team sports are different. Subjectivity is everything. To hold on for long is nearly impossible". [50] Although recency bias is a consideration, some sports have players from previous eras still widely considered the greatest; Zach Kram of The Ringer noted that in baseball, Babe Ruth "is now a mythical figure whose legend has never died, who remains discussed as the best in his sport's history despite playing before living memory". [52]

Due to team sports having players take on specialized roles or positions, some sportswriters categorize the greatest players in these sports by position or skill. [c] In team sports which require players to participate on both offense and defense, a two-way player refers to those who excel at both. However, for sports where this is not a requirement, being a two-way player can be rare, which has led to high-level multi-faceted players receiving high praise from some sportswriters. The aforementioned Ruth is often discussed as the greatest player in baseball for being able to dominate when both pitching and batting. [57] [58] Shohei Ohtani rose to prominence in the sport a century later for his two-way play and has since earned similar praise. [52] Some individual sports also get discussed in specialized contexts, such as boxing, which has prompted writers to distinguish the sport's different weight divisions when assessing its greatest fighters. [59] Even in sports with these considerations, some writers still aim to determine a sport's singular greatest athlete; in boxing and other combat sports, this can be seen in "pound for pound" rankings. [60]

The issue of athletes competing in team sports versus those competing in individual sports has also been considered by those assessing the greatest athlete of all time, cross-sport. [61] Cross-sport discussions have no clear consensus on a singular greatest athlete. Regarding this, while discussing the increasing prevalence of the topic and also citing the "craziness", "foolishness", and "fun" of GOAT conversations, Streeter issued four personal candidates for the GOAT in sports: baseball player Willie Mays, American football player Joe Montana, and tennis players Roger Federer and Serena Williams. [5] There has also been commentary on female athletes' consideration for being a sport's singular greatest player, regardless of gender, [5] [62] or in the conversation for greatest athlete in cross-sport discussions. [61]

Response from players

Roger Federer (7898189402).jpg
LeBron James, 25 November 2023 02 (cropped 2).jpg
Athletes themselves have commented on GOAT debates, with varying opinions. Tennis player Roger Federer (left), often included in tennis GOAT debates, has called the topic "silly". Meanwhile, basketball player LeBron James (right) has proclaimed himself as his sport's GOAT.

Players themselves, both active and retired, have also weighed in GOAT debates. [63] Some have called themselves the GOAT or worthy of being in the conversation. [64] [65] On winning the 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James declared "that one right there made me the greatest player of all time". [66] Pointing to his statistical output, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo called himself the "most complete player to have existed", as well as the "best goal scorer in history", though stated he had respect for those who "like Messi, Pelé, Maradona," calling the discussion a matter of taste. [67]

Meanwhile, others have declined to include themselves in the relevant discussions or refused to entertain reporter questions on the subject, instead opting to highlight others' candidacies. [68] [69] Finding it uncouth to include himself the conversation, Jordan pointed to great players from previous eras to his. [70] In 2018, Formula One (F1) driver Lewis Hamilton similarly gave credit to earlier drivers Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio, calling them the "GOAT" and "Godfather" of the sport, respectively. [69]

Further still, some players find the topic absurd or misguided in the discussion of their sport. [71] [72] In an article for Newsweek , retired NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar opined that the topic "runs through the media like a nasty STD", added that "it's like asking, how big is the horn on a unicorn?", and bemoaned James' self-proclamation as basketball's GOAT. [71] Federer said the topic lends itself to "good conversation" and "fun debate", but called it "silly", stating "I think it's a phenomenon of (social) media. Everybody calling each other 'GOAT.' 'GOAT.' 'GOAT.' 'GOAT.' 'GOAT.' 'GOAT.' I'm like, Come on, OK? There cannot be possibly that many 'GOATs'". [72]

List of sports players considered the greatest

General

Simone Biles Simone Biles Rio 2016d.jpg
Simone Biles
List of athletes considered the greatest
SportPlayerSources
All sports Simone Biles [note 1]
Kelly Slater [note 2]
All team sports Wayne Gretzky [note 3]
20th century, female athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias [note 4]
20th century, individual male athlete Jack Nicklaus [note 5]
20th century, North America Michael Jordan [note 6]
21st century Michael Phelps [note 7]
Olympic Games Michael Phelps [note 8]
Valentina Vezzali [note 9]
Paralympic Games Sarah Storey [note 10]
Trischa Zorn [note 11]

By sport

Tom Brady Second Photos 97 (50832408453).jpg
Tom Brady
Lionel Messi Rus-Arg 2017 (16).jpg
Lionel Messi
Pele Pele Schiphol 1962 (cropped).jpg
Pelé
Shohei Ohtani Dodgers at Nationals (53677190975).jpg
Shohei Ohtani
Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Shiffrin.jpg
Mikaela Shiffrin
Katie Ledecky Katie Ledecky 2016e.jpg
Katie Ledecky
Serena Williams Serena Williams US Open 2013.jpg
Serena Williams
List of athletes considered the greatest
SportPlayerSources
American football Tom Brady [note 12]
Jim Brown [note 13]
Jerry Rice [note 14]
Archery (women's) Sara López [note 15]
Association football (men's) Lionel Messi [note 16]
Pelé [note 17]
Cristiano Ronaldo [note 18]
Association football (women's) Marta [note 19]
Australian rules football Gary Ablett Sr. [note 20]
Baseball Willie Mays [note 21]
Shohei Ohtani [note 22]
Babe Ruth [note 23]
Basketball (men's) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar [note 24]
LeBron James [note 25]
Magic Johnson [note 26]
Michael Jordan [note 27]
Basketball (women's) Diana Taurasi [note 28]
Boxing Muhammad Ali [note 29]
Floyd Mayweather [note 30]
Sugar Ray Robinson [note 31]
Canadian football Doug Flutie [note 32]
Chess Magnus Carlsen [note 33]
Competitive eating (men's) Joey Chestnut [note 34]
Competitive eating (women's) Miki Sudo [note 35]
Cricket (men's, any form) Sir Donald Bradman [note 36]
Virat Kohli [note 37]
Cricket (men's, ODI) Virat Kohli [note 38]
Esports: League of Legends Faker [note 39]
Fencing Edoardo Mangiarotti [note 40]
Field hockey (in general and men's) Dhyan Chand [note 41]
Field hockey (women's) Luciana Aymar [note 42]
Formula One Jim Clark [note 43]
Lewis Hamilton [note 44]
Michael Schumacher [note 45]
Futsal Falcão [note 46]
Goalball Sevda Altunoluk [note 47]
Golf Tiger Woods [note 48]
Gymnastics (men's) Kohei Uchimura [note 49]
Gymnastics (women's) Simone Biles [note 50]
Horse racing (Jockeys, flat racing) John Francome [note 51]
Bill Shoemaker [note 52]
Horse racing (Thoroughbreds, flat racing) Armed [note 53]
Citation [note 54]
Man o' War [note 55]
Phar Lap [note 56]
Secretariat [note 57]
Swaps [note 58]
Ice hockey Wayne Gretzky [note 59]
Gordie Howe [note 60]
Lacrosse (men's) Gary Gait [note 61]
John Tavares [note 62]
Para cross-country skiing Brian McKeever [note 63]
Road running (men's): Marathon Eliud Kipchoge [note 64]
Rugby league Cameron Smith [note 65]
Rugby union Gareth Edwards [note 66]
Jonah Lomu [note 67]
Richie McCaw [note 68]
Skateboarding Tony Hawk [note 69]
Skiing (women's) Mikaela Shiffrin [note 70]
Snowboarding Terje Håkonsen [note 71]
Shaun White [note 72]
Softball Lisa Fernandez [note 73]
Sumo Hakuhō Shō [note 74]
Surfing Kelly Slater [note 75]
Swimming (in general and men's) Michael Phelps [note 76]
Swimming (women's) Katie Ledecky [note 77]
Tennis (men's) Novak Djokovic [note 78]
Roger Federer [note 79]
Rafael Nadal [note 80]
Tennis (women's) Margaret Court [note 81]
Serena Williams [note 82]
Track and field (men's): Overall Carl Lewis [note 83]
Track and field (men's): Sprinting Usain Bolt [note 84]
Volleyball (men's): Beach and indoor variants Karch Kiraly [note 85]
Wheelchair basketball Patrick Anderson [note 86]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Examples of non-sports-related usage of GOAT and goated include: [23] [24]
  2. ↑ Examples of these objective and subjective measures being assessed or discussed as criteria for inclusion in "GOAT" conversations can be seen in the following sources: [33] [34] [35] [36]
  3. ↑ Examples of sportswriters considering a player's role, position, or specialization when assessing them in "GOAT" conversations can be seen in the following sources: [53] [54] [55] [56]
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References

  1. 1 2 Young, Ryan (February 15, 2019). "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: LeBron James is bigger than the 'GOAT'". Yahoo! Sports . Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  2. ↑ Pierce, Charles P. (July 23, 2018). "Goat vs. G.O.A.T.: The History Behind Sports's Antithetical Animal Analogy". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Deford, Frank (June 22, 2011). "Who Wants To Be The GOAT?". Morning Edition . NPR . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Clarey, Christopher (August 29, 2022). "Is Serena Williams the GOAT? Yes. No. Probably. Maybe. Without a Doubt" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Streeter, Kurt (July 3, 2023). "GOATs Are Everywhere in Sports. So What Really Defines Greatness?". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Curtis, Charles (August 4, 2017). "Just when did we all start using GOAT anyway?". USA Today . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Everything you need to know about the NBA GOAT debate". ESPN. October 15, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Kiger, Fred (1999). "Air supreme". SportsCentury . ESPN . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 "The 20th Century Awards". Sports Illustrated . December 2, 1999. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2025– via CNN.
  10. 1 2 Hill, E. Garry (February 27, 2019). "From The Editor — So Who Is The G.O.A.T. Of Men's Track & Field?". Track & Field News . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  11. ↑ "From hat-trick to GOAT: quirky football terminology explained". FIFA.com . November 12, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  12. ↑ Brinson, Will (August 3, 2017). "LOOK: Patriots celebrate Tom Brady's 40th birthday with a five-goat petting zoo". CBS Sports . Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  13. 1 2 Beaton, Andrew; Cohen, Ben (January 29, 2019). "If Goat Emojis Are Flooding Your Twitter Feed, Blame Tom Brady" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  14. ↑ Rapp, Timothy (February 4, 2019). "LeBron James Uses Goat Emoji to Describe Tom Brady After Super Bowl LIII Win". Bleacher Report . Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  15. 1 2 "LeBron James Uses Goat Emoji to Describe Tom Brady After Super Bowl LIII Win". Sports Illustrated . January 29, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  16. ↑ Cohen, David (February 5, 2021). "Twitter Sports Tries to Get Football Fans' GOAT". Adweek . Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  17. ↑ Hernandez, Emely (July 23, 2021). "For Simone Biles, a Twitter GOAT emoji to match her gymnastics greatness" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  18. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Emily (June 7, 2021). "Simone Biles Knows She's the G.O.A.T., and Says It With Rhinestones". Vanity Fair . Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  19. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (March 19, 2025). "GOAT talk? Ichiro joins that discussion, with real live goats". MLB.com . Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Former NBA Players Weigh In: Is Stephen Curry really the greatest point guard of all time?". Marca . March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  21. ↑ Henderson, Cydney (February 15, 2025). "Warriors' superstar Stephen Curry weighs in on GOAT debate with new animated film". USA Today . Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  22. ↑ "GOATED". Merriam-Webster Dictionary . Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  23. ↑ Sadler, Armon (January 14, 2025). "Kanye West Declares Himself The "GOAT Of All GOATs Of Any GOAT Ever GOATed" Due To Yeezy Success". Vibe . Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  24. ↑ Ortiz, Gerald (November 21, 2024). "The Best Cashmere Sweaters for Men Are Literally Goated". GQ . Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  25. ↑ Cohen, Ben; McGinty, Tom (February 13, 2015). "Meet the Michael Jordans of Everything". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  26. ↑ Freking, Kevin (November 22, 2016). "Obama awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Michael Jordan, Ellen DeGeneres, others". PBS NewsHour . PBS . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  27. ↑ Kozlowski, Joe (February 19, 2024). "Michael Jordan Has Trash-Talk History With Obama and Clinton". Newsweek . Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  28. ↑ Nash, Steve (2018). "Why Cristiano Ronaldo Is the Michael Jordan of World Football". Bleacher Report . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
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