Top 10 Athletes of 2010-19

Note: No cheaters allowed. Therefore, no David Ortiz, no Tom Brady, no Sidney Crosby, no Cristiano Ronaldo, no Lionel Messi.

Also, no golfers. Golf is not a sport.

10. Alex Ovechkin. He now has 658 career goals, 3 Hart Trophies (1 this decade), a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

9. Madison Bumgarner. A 4-time All-Star and a 3-time World Champion, his World Series ERA is 0.25. That's even better than Mariano Rivera.

8. Carli Lloyd. 2 World Cups and 1 lost Final, including 9 goals, including 3 in the 2015 Final. 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1 this decade).

7. Patrick Kane. He's knocking on the door of 1,000 career points, will almost certainly finish with 400 career goals and has a shot at 500. He's made 8 All-Star Games (7 this decade), and won a Hart Trophy, a Ross Trophy, and 3 Stanley Cups.

6. Usain Bolt. He's won 8 Olympic Medals, all of them Gold, 6 of them in this decade, including 3 straight 100 meter finals, making him the unofficial "World's Fastest Man" 3 times.

5. Novak Djokovic. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal battled it out for the honor of the greatest male tennis player of the last decade, but Joker is the best in this one: 6 Australian Opens, 5 Wimbledons, 3 U.S. and 1 French.

4. LeBron James. In this decade alone, an All-Star every year, 4 MVP awards, 3 Finals MVP awards, 3 World Championships -- but also 5 Finals defeats, which prevents him from getting any higher on this list.

3. Steph Curry. 6 All-Star Games, 2 MVPs, 3 titles, and, more than any other person, turned the Golden State Warriors from an afterthought franchise into a historical NBA powerhouse.

2. Serena Williams. In this decade alone, 4 Wimbledons, 3 U.S. Opens, 3 Australian, 2 French, for a total of 12 majors. Overall: 7 Wimbledons, 7 Australian, 6 U.S. 3 French, for 23. Think of it this way: Venus has won 7 majors, which is great for almost anybody, and she's not even close to having the most in her own generation of her own family.

1. Michael Phelps. In this decade alone, the greatest swimmer ever has won 9 Olympic Gold Medals and 3 Silvers. Overall, 23 Golds, 3 Silvers and 2 Bronzes.

How Long It's Been: A Washington Team Was In a Final

Last night, the Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 -- in Tampa, no less -- and won the NHL Eastern Conference Championship. They advanced to their 2nd Stanley Cup Finals.

They had previously eliminated the Columbus Blue Jackets and their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Alexander Ovechkin finally getting one over on Sidney Crosby.

The Caps will play the Vegas Golden Knights, a 1st-year expansion team, in the Finals. This will be the 1st Stanley Cup Finals guaranteed to have a 1st-time winner since 2007, when the Anaheim Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators. If you count the current Senators (founded 1992) as an extension of the old Senators (1894-1934), then the last such Finals was 1999, when the Dallas Stars (who were 0-2 in Finals as the Minnesota North Stars) beat the Buffalo Sabres.

This is the Caps' 43rd season of play -- their 44th, if you count the canceled 2004-05 season. And it's only their 2nd trip to the Finals. The 1st was in 1998, and they got swept by the Detroit Red Wings, so they're looking for not just their 1st Stanley Cup, but their 1st win in a Stanley Cup Finals game.

But not since Joe Juneau's overtime goal won Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals over the Sabres in Buffalo on June 4, 1998 have the Caps reached the Finals. In fact, no Washington team has: The Redskins haven't played in a Finals since Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, the Wizards since they were the Washington Bullets in 1979, and the Nationals never have, the last Washington team to reach a World Series being the Senators in 1933.

You could, of course, count D.C. United and their 4 MLS Cup wins, the most recent in 2004. But most people won't. So it's been 20 years since a team representing the Nation's Capital has been to a Finals.

June 4, 1998. Just short of twenty years. How long has that been?

*

The Caps won 7 of their 1st 8 regular-season games, but followed that with a 0-4-6 stretch. By the time they moved from the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, just outside the Capital Beltway, to what's now named the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington in December, they had a 1-5-4 stretch. In January, they went on an 8-1-2 run, but followed that with 0-7-1. Then 6-1. They closed the season 8-2-1, but only finished 3rd in the NHL's Atlantic Division, and had the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Stars included centers Adam Oates, Joe Juneau and Dale Hunter; left wings Craig Berube, Kelly Miller, Brian Bellows, Steve Konowalchuk and the former Edmonton Oiler and New York Ranger star Esa Tikkanen; right wings Peter Bondra, Richard Zednik; defensemen Phil Housley, Sergei Gonchar, Calle Johansson, Mark Tinordi and Sylvain Cote; and the goaltending tandem of rising star Olaf "Olie the Goalie" Kolzig and the former Oilers star Bill Ranford.

The Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings and, yes, the Capitals had not yet won the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks had not won the Stanley Cup since 1961, the Boston Bruins since 1972.

The Stars (since moving from being the Minnesota North Stars), the 'Canes, the Ducks, the Lightning, the new version of the Ottawa Senators, the San Jose Sharks, the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights. had not yet appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. And the Preadtors, the Golden Knights, the new Winnipeg Jets (who started as the Atlanta Thrashers), the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets did not yet exist.

All of those facts have since changed.

The aforementioned Predators, Kings, 'Canes, Jackets, Wild, Stars, Jets and Oilers have moved into new arenas. So have the Florida Panthers, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings, and, here in the New York Tri-State Area, the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders.

Syl Apps, Maurice Richard, Harold "Mush" March of the 1934 and 1938 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks, and Murray Murdoch of the 1928 and 1933 Stanley Cup Champion Rangers were still alive. Henrik Lundqvist, Andy Greene and Rick Nash were in high school. Marc-Andre Fleury was 13 years old; Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Quick and Cory Schneider were 12; Evgeni Malkin and T.J. Oshie were 11; Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Claude Giroux, Jonathan Toews and Brad Marchand were 10; Sergei Bobrovsky, Patrick Kane, P.K. Subban and Ryan McDonagh were 9; Braden Holtby and Steven Stamkos were 8; John Tavares was 7; Aretemi Panarin and Taylor Hall were 6; Connor McDavid was 1; Auston Matthews was 6 months old; and Nico Hischier wasn't born yet.

Current Devils head coach John Hynes was an assistant coach at Boston University. Doug Weight of the Islanders was playing for the Edmonton Oilers. David Quinn, just hired by the Rangers, was an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Pat Shurmur of the Giants was an assistant coach at Stanford University. Todd Bowles of the Jets was the defensive coordinator at Grambling State University. David Fizdale, newly hired by the Knicks, was an assistant coach at the University of San Diego. Aaron Boone of the Yankees was playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Jesse Marsch of the Red Bulls was playing for the Chicago Fire, an expansion team that went on to win the MLS Cup -- Eat your hearts out, Vegas Golden Knights. Mickey Callaway of the Mets was in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' minor-league system. Kenny Atkinson of the Nets was playing in Germany's basketball league. And Patrick Vieira of NYCFC had just helped London's Arsenal FC win the Premier League and FA Cup "Double."

The Caps fell to the Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions. The titleholders in the other sports were the Florida Marlins, the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bulls. Evander Holyfield was recognized as Heavyweight Champion of the World by the WBA and the IBF, Lennox Lewis by the WBC.

The Olympics have since been held in America, Canada, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Britain, Russia and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

The idea that corporations were people, and entitled to the rights thereof, was ridiculous -- but then, so was the idea that people of the same gender could marry, and get all the rights and protections thereof.

The President of the United States was Bill Clinton, and he was under an impeachment inquiry for things far less serious than Donald Trump is under investigation for now. Trump was then married to his 2nd wife, Marla Maples. Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois. George W. Bush was running for re-election as Governor of Texas. Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, their wives, and the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson were all still alive.

Marion Barry, defying his haters and all logic, was once again Mayor of the District of Columbia. The Governor of the State of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of the City of New York was Rudy Giuliani. The Governor of New Jersey was Christine Todd Whitman. As for the current holders of those posts: Muriel Bowser was in graduate school, Andrew Cuomo as U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Bill de Blasio was one of his aides, and Phil Murphy was running the Asia office of Goldman Sachs out of Hong Kong.

There were still living veterans of World War I, the Bolshevik Reovlution, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, and the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. There were still survivors of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the 1904 General Slocum fire, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania.

The holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Jody Williams, for her work to ban landmines. The Pope was John Paul II. Pope Francis, the current Pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had just been named Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chrétien, and of Britain Tony Blair. The monarch of each was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. There have since been 4 Presidents, 4 Prime Minister of Britain, and 3 Popes.

Major novels of 1998 included Blood Work by Michael Connelly, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, and Giles Foden's dramatization of Uganda's dictator Idi Amin, then still alive, The Last King of Scotland. All would be made into major motion pictures. Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency would become a TV series. Stephen King published Bag of Bones, J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and George R.R. Martin A Clash of Kings.

No one had yet heard of Ash Ketchum, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen.

Notable films of the Spring of 1998 included City of Angels, Sliding Doors, Deep Impact, Bulworth, The Horse Whisperer, A Perfect Murder, The Truman Show, Can't Hardly Wait, a terrible new version of Godzilla set in New York, a film version of Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that may have been too weird even for the novel on which it was based, Spike Lee's basketball film He Got Game, and a non-musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.

George Lucas was working on Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. If anyone told him, "Wait a minute... " about any part of it, he didn't listen. Steven Spielberg was about to release Saving Private Ryan. The Next Generation cast was filming Star Trek: Insurrection. Pierce Brosnan was playing James Bond, Dean Cain had just wrapped up playing Superman, and George Clooney (with help from director Joel Schumacher) had nearly ruined Batman, and Paul McGann's one-shot deal was the only appearance of The Doctor since 1989.

Dawson's Creek, Two Guys and a Girl, and Celebrity Deathmatch had recently premiered. Sex and the City soon would. Teletubbies had just been imported from Britain to the U.S. -- their revenge for Yorktown 1781 and New Orleans 1815 complete. Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Living Single, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Grace Under Fire, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and The Larry Sanders Show had all recently aired their last first-run episodes. New York Undercover, Cybill, Family Matters and Ellen soon would. (Yep, she's canceled.)

No one had yet heard of Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning or Jane "Eleven" Hopper.

The Number 1 song in the country was "The Boy Is Mine," an duet by Brandy Norwood and Monica Arnold, both of whom went by only their first names. Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) quit the Spice Girls. George Michael got arrested on what would once have been quaintly referred to in public as "a morals charge." The Red Hot Chili Peppers fired Dave Navarro.

Frank Sinatra had recently died. So had Linda McCartney, wife of ex-Beatle Paul. Bob Dylan was touring in support of his album Time Out of Mind, and Michael Jackson had just become the father of Paris Jackson.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.54 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 32 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.12, a cup of coffee $1.86, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.69, a movie ticket $4.58, a new car $20,238, and a new house $178,800. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 8,870.55.

The tallest building in the world was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mobile phones had become common, but they didn't yet have Internet connections. There was no Wikipedia, no Skype, no MySpace, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Pinterest, no Instagram. There was no iPod, no iPhone, no iPad. The Nintendo PlayStation was the leading home video game system. There were birth control pills, and Viagra was about to debut.

In the Spring of 1998, in events unconnected to sports or the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the Good Friday Agreement ended the 30-year "Troubles" between Great Britain and the Catholic people of Northern Ireland. India and Pakistan both "joined the club," testing nuclear bombs. The world's longest suspension bridge opened, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Shikoku. The first euro coins were minted in Pessac, France. There were riots in Indonesia, forcing out dictator Suharto. A military coup in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau began an 11-month civil war. An earthquake killed 5,000 people in Afghanistan, and a train derailment 101 people in Eschede, the Netherlands.

Justin Fashanu, the 1st British soccer player to come out, hanged himself rather than face molestation charges in America. Comedian Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, who then killed herself. And James Byrd Jr. was beaten and dragged to death by 3 white men in Texas. His name, and that of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered in Wyoming later in the year, would go on federal hate crime legislation passed the next year.

Pol Pot, and Barry Goldwater, and Tammy Wynette died. On the very day in question, so did Shirley Povich, who had covered baseball for The Washington Post since 1924. Elle Fanning, and Patrik Laine, and Markelle Fultz were born.

June 4, 1998. The Washington Capitals clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. No team representing Washington, D.C. had done so since. Until now, the Capitals again.

Can they finish the job this time, and win the Stanley Cup? Stay tuned.

Washington's 10 Greatest Athletes

Today, the Mets started a series away to the Washington Nationals.

Washington's 10 Greatest Athletes

Honorable Mention to Washington Senators in the Baseball Hall of Fame, who didn't otherwise make the Top 10: Sam Rice, Bucky Harris, Goose Goslin, Joe Cronin, Heinie Manush, Rick Ferrell, Early Wynn and Harmon Killebrew. (The Killer only played his 1st 5 seasons in Washington. If the "Old Senators" hadn't moved, or he'd gone to the "New Senators" at some point, he'd be on this list. He will definitely be on it when I do it for Minnesota.)

Honorable Mention to Homestead Grays in the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cumberland Posey, Jud Wilson, Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson. There is a consensus that, at the very least, Bell, Leonard and especially Gibson would have been superstars had baseball been integrated. But we'll never know, and Negro League stats are woefully incomplete.

Honorable Mention to the 3 big stars of the Washington Nationals' 4 (so far) National League Eastern Division Championships in this decade: Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Would any of them be in the Top 10 if the Nats had won so much as a Pennant? I'm not sure. Would any be in it if they'd won the District's 1st World Series title since 1924? As Harper would say, "That's a clown question, bro."

Honorable Mention to Washington Redskins in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who didn't otherwise make the Top 10: Turk Edwards, Wayne Millner, Bill Dudley, Bobby Mitchell, Sam Huff, Paul Krause, Chris Hanburger, Ken Houston, Russ Grimm and Bruce Smith.

Mitchell started in Cleveland and went to Washington, and if he'd spent his entire career in either city, would be a solid candidate for either's Top 10. Huff would be in the Top 10 if he'd spent his entire career in Washington. If he'd spent his entire career in New York, he might be in their Top 10.

Krause spent most of his career in Minnesota, and will be in the Twin Cities' Top 10. Houston spent half his career in the city whose name is his own, and will be in the Houston Top 10. Bruce, who spent most of his career in Buffalo, will definitely be in the Top 10 when I do this for Western New York.

Very Honorable Mentions to Charley Taylor and Art Monk: Each of these Redskins, at one point, was the NFL's all-time leader in receptions. When The Sporting News named their 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, Houston was ranked 61st, Taylor 85th, Monk 91st. None of them was included in the NFL Network's 2010 list of the 100 Greatest Players.

Honorable Mention to Washington Bullets or Washington Wizards in the Basketball Hall of Fame, who didn't otherwise make the Top 10: Bernard King and Mitch Richmond.

Honorable Mention to Washington Mystics stars: Chamique Holdsclaw, Nikki McCray, Alana Beard and Crystal Langhorne.

Honorable Mention to Washington Capitals in the Hockey Hall of Fame, who didn't otherwise make the Top 10: Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy, Dino Ciccarelli and Adam Oates.

Honorable Mention to D.C. United players who were chosen for Major League Soccer's 10th Anniversary Best XI in 2005: Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope, Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno.

10. Rod Langway, defenseman, Washington Capitals, 1982-93. After starting his career with the Montreal Canadiens, and winning the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 1979, he never got close to the Cup again. But he became one of the top defensemen in the game in D.C. (Landover, actually), something he couldn't do with Larry Robinson running the show in Montreal.

He made 6 All-Star Games, 4 with the Caps. He won back-to-back Norris Trophies for best defenseman in 1983 and '84. He only scored 51 goals in his 14 NHL seasons, but had 278 assists. The Caps retired his Number 5, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

9. Wes Unseld, center, Washington Bullets, 1973-81. The big center spent his entire career with the Bullets, arriving in Baltimore in 1968 and making the move down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in 1973. He was both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the NBA in 1969, although both of those were in Baltimore. He was a 5-time All-Star, though only the last was in Washington.

He got the Bullets into the NBA Finals in 1971, 1975, 1978 and 1979, and finally led them to the title in 1978, winning the Finals MVP. The Bullets retired his Number 41 (before becoming the Wizards), and he was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

8. Mike Gartner, right wing, Washington Capitals, 1979-89. He played another 9 seasons in the NHL, and never once appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals -- coming closest when the Rangers traded him in 1994, just before they could win it.

It's too bad, because he was fantastic, scoring 708 goals, and making 7 All-Star Games, 4 with the Caps. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Caps retired his Number 11, and he was named to the 100 Greatest Hockey Players by both The Hockey News in 1998 and the NHL on its 100th Anniversary in 2017.

7. John Riggins, running back, Washington Redskins, 1976-86. He wasn't pretty. He wasn't graceful. He wasn't tactful. He was just a great fullback. He helped the University of Kansas win the 1968 Big Eight Championship, then played 5 seasons for the Jets, and 4 for the Washington Redskins.

Then he held out for the entire 1980 season, and returned, saying, "I'm bored, I'm broke, and I'm back." Good thing he did, because, 2 years later, he was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XVII, the Redskins' 1st NFL Championship in 40 years.

He only played in 1 Pro Bowl, in 1975, but in 1983, he set an NFL record with 24 rushing touchdowns, and won the Bert Bell Award as NFL MVP, helping the Redskins get into Super Bowl XVIII, although they lost. He rushed for 11,352 yards and 104 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Redskins Ring of Fame, and the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team.

6. Sonny Jurgensen, quarterback, Washington Redskins, 1964-74. In 1964, the Philadelphia Eagles named Joe Kuharich as head coach. Kuharich was a massive prude, and the Eagle's All-Pro quarterback, Christian Adolph Jurgensen III, liked the nightlife. So Kuharich traded Sonny to the Washington Redskins for their starting quarterback of the time, Norm Snead.

This trade was so dumb! How dumb was it? Over the rest of the decade, the Eagles floundered, while the Redskins got better, eventually becoming the team (albeit quarterbacked by Billy Kilmer, with Sonny as an aging backup) that won the 1972 NFC Championship.

Sonny also threw more touchdown passes in the 1960s than any other quarterback. Guess which quarterback threw more interceptions in the 1960s than any other. Did I telegraph the punch enough? It was Norm Snead. And Joe Kuharich traded Sonny for Norm.

Sonny had the highest career "quarterback rating" of any player before the 1978 rule changes that opened up the passing game: 82.6. He led the NFL in passing yards 5 times and in touchdown passes twice -- at a time when the other contenders for the title of best quarterback in the NFL were Johnny Unitas, Y.A. Tittle and Bart Starr. Vince Lombardi, who coached Starr in Green Bay and the Redskins in the last season of his life, 1969, said, "If we would have had Sonny Jurgensen in Green Bay, we'd never have lost a game."

Sonny was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team, the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame and the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame. He and Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff formed a beloved broadcasting team for the Redskins.

The Redskins don't officially retire numbers (Sammy Baugh's 33 is the lone exception), but Jurgensen's Number 9 has only been given out once since he retired after the 1974 season. That was in 2002, by new head coach Steve Spurrier, to one of his former University of Florida quarterbacks, Shane Matthews. He also gave Number 7, worn by Joe Theismann, to another of his Florida quarterbacks, Danny Wuerffel. Redskin fans were so angry that, before the regular season started, he switched Wuerffel to 17 (no outcry over getting Kilmer's number) and Matthews to 6. At 83, Sonny remains that beloved in the Potomac Valley.

5. Elvin Hayes, forward, Washington Bullets, 1972-81. The Big E reached the Bullets in their last season in Baltimore, and may still be the best player the franchise has ever had, making 12 NBA All-Star Teams (7 in Washington), and helping them reach the NBA Finals 3 times, winning the 1978 NBA Championship.

His Number 11 was retired by the Bullets (before becoming the Wizards). He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame. and the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

4. Darrell Green, cornerback, Washington Redskins, 1983-2002. Those dates alone should tell you something: He played 20 seasons in the NFL, and not as a placekicker or a punter. He played 295 games, the most of any defensive player in the League's 98-season history. He might be the best Washington football player of the last 70 years, and he might also be the fastest player in NFL history.

He arrived too late to be a member of their team that won Super Bowl XVII, but he got them into Super Bowl XVIII (lost), Super Bowl XXII (won), and Super Bowl XXVI (won). He made 7 Pro Bowls, his last at age 38.

He was the oldest man to play either of the defensive back positions, cornerback or safety, nearly 43. He was the oldest to have a gain of at least 35 yards, also nearly 43. He was the oldest with an interception, nearly 42. He was the oldest to return an interception for a game-winning touchdown in overtime, nearly 36; and the 2nd-oldest to return any interception for a touchdown, nearly 38.

He wasn't just a great player: He was a great guy, winning the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 1996. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, and the Redskins' Ring of Fame.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 81st on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 75th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players. In other words, 11 years later, when other defensive backs had cemented their legacy, Green had actually grown in the estimation of many people.

3. Alex Ovechkin, left wing, Washington Capitals, 2005-present. He's only 32 years old, but already has 604 career goals (making him the all-time leader among Russian- or Soviet-born players), a record 20 of them in overtime. He scored 65 goals, a record for his position, in 2007-08.

When the Maurice Richard Trophy was established for the leading goalscorer in 1998-99, he became the the 1st player to win that, the Art Ross Trophy for leading scorer (goals and assists), the Lester B. Pearson Award (most outstanding player according to a players' vote) and the Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player as judged by the sportswriters) in the same season, 2007-08.

A 9-time All-Star, he's won the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in 2006, the Hart in 2008, '09 and '13; the Ross in 2008; the Richard in 2008, '09 and '13; and Pearson in 2008, '09 and '10; and the Kharlamov Trophy (named for Valery Kharlamov, the great Soviet winger of the 1970s, and given to the best Russian-born player) in 2006, '07, '08, '09, '10, '14 and '15.

Team success has eluded him, as the Caps haven't reached the Conference Finals since he arrived. And he's never competed for Russia in the Olympics. But in 2017, he was named one of the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players. Unless he does something on the level of Pete Rose or O.J. Simpson, he is sure to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and for the Capitals to retire his Number 8.

2. Walter Johnson, pitcher, Washington Senators, 1907-27. As Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig put it in their 1981 book The 100 Greatest Players In Baseball History, "He had only one pitch, a fastball -- but what a fastball!" He used it to build statistics that simply don't look real, and to build a reputation such that, in a 1916 game, Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, doomed to become the only MLB player to die as a result of an on-field injury, walked away from an at-bat. The umpire told him he had 1 strike left, and he said, "Take it. I don't want it."

"The Big Train" debuted in 1907, and won 417 games, 2nd-most behind Cy Young, and the most in American League history. And he did this for the Washington Senators, who, even in his day, were known as "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League." He had a 2.17 career ERA, a 147 ERA+ -- so his greatness wasn't just a result of the Dead Ball Era -- and a 1.061 WHIP.

He had 3,508 strikeouts. Not only did that stand as a record from 1921, when he surpassed the 2,803 of Cy Young, until 1983, when Nolan Ryan surpassed him, but, from July 22, 1923, when he surpassed the 3,000-strikeout barrier, until July 17, 1974, when Bob Gibson also did, he was the only member of the 3,000 Strikeouts Club. While his strikeout record has now been surpassed by 8 pitchers, his record of 110 shutouts has never been approached. (Grover Cleveland Alexander is next-best with 90.)

He led the AL in wins 6 times, ERA 5 times, and strikeouts 12 times. He led the League in all 3 -- the Pitching Triple Crown -- in 1913, 1918 and 1924. In 1913, he went 36-7, with a 1.14 ERA -- an ERA+ of 259, meaning he was 159 percent better at preventing earned runs than the average pitcher that season. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. It took until 1924 for the Senators to win a Pennant, and, after losing 2 games in the Series, he came on in relief in Game 7 and was the winning pitcher. He won another Pennant with the Senators in 1925.

His last game was on September 30, 1927. It was the game in which Babe Ruth set a new record with his 60th home run of the season. Oddly, Johnson came on as a pinch-hitter. He was a decent hitter by pitchers' standards, batting .235 with 24 home runs and 255 RBIs in 21 seasons.

In 1936, he was 1 of the 1st 5 players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sadly, his wife Hazel died of heatstroke in 1930, and he died of a brain tumor in 1946, only 59 years old. A monument to him was erected outside the Senators' Griffith Stadium, and moved to Walter Johnson High School when it was established in 1956 in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where Johnson lived. A statue of him stands outside Nationals Park in Washington.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 4th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players, 1st among pitchers, and trailing only Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ty Cobb among all players. That same year, 82 years after he threw his last professional pitch, he was still familiar enough to fans for them to vote him onto the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

1. Sammy Baugh, quarterback, safety, punter, Washington Redskins, 1937-52. Maybe Slingin' Sammy wasn't quite "the first quarterback," but he was the 1st truly great passer in football. He was drafted by the Redskins in 1937, their 1st year in D.C., and, that year, he did something that no other human being had done before, and none has since: He led a team to the NFL Championship as a rookie quarterback. Johnny Unitas didn't do it. Nor did Joe Montana. Nor did Tom Brady. Otto Graham did it in the AAFC, and in his 1st season in the NFL, but not as a rookie and an NFL quarterback.

A 6-time Pro Bowler, he and Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears reinvented the quarterback position, just as Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers was doing to the position of end, inventing the wide receiver. Baugh and Luckman played each other in 4 NFL Championship Games, with Baugh's Redskins winning in 1937 and 1942, and Luckman's Bears winning in 1940 and 1943.

In 1943, Baugh led the NFL in passer rating, punting yards, and interceptions -- made, not thrown. Think about that: In one year, he was Tom Brady (without cheating), Shane Lechler and Darius Slay at the same time.

He played until 1952, and remains one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, and still has the highest career punting yard average. In 1960 and 1961, he was the 1st head coach of the New York Jets (then the New York Titans.) In 1963, he was a charter inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he turned out to be the last survivor of those, living until 2008.

TCU retired his Number 45, and his 33 is the only number officially retired by the Redskins. He was named to the Redskins Ring of Fame, the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, and the NFL 75th Anniversary Team. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 11th on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2008, ESPN named ranked him 5th on their list of the Top 25 College Football Players of All Time. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 14th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players.

Interviewed for the NFL's 75th Anniversary TV special in 1994, he said, "I love the way they play today. I wish I was playing now." The football world isn't sure if they agree: They might want to watch him, but they wouldn't want to play against him.