Justin Jefferson has chance to be an all-time great

After three incredible season to start his career, there is an outside shot Justin Jefferson can become the greatest of all-time.

The term G.O.A.T. has been thrown around far too much in today’s social media-driven world. For those who don’t know, the acronym G.O.A.T means greatest of all time. It should be an achievement given to a lone player. Someone who transcends the game and changes how we look at the position they play or the team they play for.

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote an insightful piece on the players that we call the G.O.A.T at certain positions and the players that are playing today that have a chance to dethrone them.

He didn’t do every position. But out of the nine positions that Barnwell chose, one Minnesota Viking made the list. And we all know who it is.

Justin Jefferson, according to Barnwell, has the best chance to dethrone the G.O.A.T of wide receivers in Jerry Rice. Barnwell states that Jefferson has the best opportunity to break Rice’s receiving records, including his absurd 22,895 career receiving yards.

Why? Jefferson has time. He’s only 24. He’s already the focal point of O’Connell’s offense. It’s an offense that is quite advantageous to the number-one option. And, as Barnwell stated, he has that all-important 17th game in the season to work with. It’s all lining up for the former-LSU receiver to compete for those records and possibly overtake them.

Can he do it? Well, Barnwell states that the chances are slim. He would have to keep his stellar play up for 12 more years while staying healthy. That’s a tough ask for any player.

Plus, with how pass-happy the league is now, public opinion may disqualify Jefferson further. They may claim he had an “easier” or “more advantageous” path to the records.

The thought of it is incredible to think about, though. Players like Rice, Tom Brady, Tony Gonzalez, and everyone named in Barnwell’s article come once in a generation. How great would it be to see the emergence of another in Justin Jefferson? Another player worth the mantra of G.O.A.T at his position in purple and gold? That’s rarified air that we can only imagine.

Shannon Sharpe leaves no doubt that Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is NFL’s top TE of all time

Shannon Sharpe gave #Chiefs TE Travis Kelce a full endorsement for greatest-of-all-time status on the New Heights Show this week. | from @TheJohnDillon

Debates about the greatest players of all time are rarely conclusive, and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been the subject of many such discussions in recent years. His uncanny consistency in production and elite awareness has given opposing defenses fits for the better part of a decade, and now with two Super Bowl rings to show for his effort, Kelce’s name is about to be thrown around in these discourses for many years to come.

But Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe doesn’t see this as much of a debate. Known for his popular debate show Skip and Shannon on FS1, Sharpe took to the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast to dispel any doubt that the Chiefs’ tight end stands in a league of his own in NFL history.

“The thing that I love most about him [Travis Kelce], you look at the regular season numbers and he is better in the postseason than he is in the regular season,” Sharpe explained. “What we call him is a big game. The bigger the moment, the bigger he plays.

“Who… [Do] you think Patrick [Mahomes is] going to throw the ball to? He [is] going to throw it to him. They know that. 80,000 people know that, Patrick Mahomes knows that, he knows he’s throwing the ball and the defense knows he’s going to throw the ball. And somehow he still finds a way to come down with the football.”

It isn’t just the intangible part of Kelce’s game that sets him apart either. Sharpe looked at the numbers and determined that Kelce is unmatched to this point in NFL history.

“You look at his numbers,” Sharpe said, “the 1,000-yard seasons, you look at his postseason resume, and you combine those two. . . I don’t know how you say [that he isn’t the best] because I don’t look at a guy and say ‘Well he has the most Super Bowl rings so therefore he’s the best’, no, it’s a team game.”

While some fans won’t take Sharpe’s endorsement seriously, perhaps no other former player in the contemporary media landscape has as much insight into the tight-end position as this Hall of Famer. Even talking about a player on the roster of a former rival, Sharpe couldn’t contain his enthusiasm, and his assessment of Kelce’s game and standing in the pantheon of tight ends all time stands for itself.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwa53mtds520q2 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

Teacher learning why students call them the ‘GOAT’ is the best thing you’ll see today

When you learn what it means to be a GOAT >

By and large, “GOAT” is an acronym most closely associated with sports and hip hop debates. But since the proliferation of its use in the last couple decades, it’s not uncommon to hear people in other fields of work referred to as the GOAT — or the Greatest of All Time — at what they do.

We here at For The Win even celebrated sports legends with GOAT Week.

Sometimes it’s said in jest, and sometimes it’s completely from the heart. But hardly ever is it said without good intentions, which is why it was so cool to see a teacher’s reaction on Reddit after learning what it means to be called the GOAT by their students.

Why do my students call me a goat? from NoStupidQuestions

All of the edits to the teacher’s original post were after the teacher learned that not only was GOAT a compliment, but the ultimate compliment a teacher could receive, which might be my favorite part of the whole thing.

Without knowing whether GOAT was an insult or not, the teacher played along and apparently never lashed out, even calling the kids GOAT (which had to make them feel good).

It clearly made the teacher feel good if it brought them to tears.

That’s what it’s all about.

[listicle id=1917430]

[mm-video type=video id=01g6jss6b8ey76xc4z93 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g6jss6b8ey76xc4z93/01g6jss6b8ey76xc4z93-431cc07ac72d691fe76029f7f171a85a.jpg]

Is Tebow the greatest college quarterback of all time?

On Twitter, CBS Sports raised the question of whether the former Florida passer could be the greatest to ever do it at the collegiate level.

The intensity of “greatest of all time” debates varies from sport to sport. For some (such as hockey), the answer is pretty cut and dry. For others (like basketball), the debate continues to rage on to this day.

But not many sports have more than 150 years of history to compare for, which is why if you ask 15 college football fans who the greatest quarterback to ever compete on the collegiate gridiron is, you may get 15 different answers.

But on Twitter, CBS Sports asked if former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has a case for the title.

In addition to all the numbers mentioned by CBS, Tebow broke 28 individual school records at Florida, and he holds SEC career records for passing efficiency, completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio, rushing yards by a quarterback, total rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns in general. His passing efficiency is also second-best all-time for Division I.

Not many quarterbacks have won two national championships, and even fewer have won a Heisman Trophy in addition. There are certainly two-time national champions like Nebraska’s Tommy Frazier who deserve to be in this competition, and Cam Newton’s single-season at Auburn is arguably the best of any passer in the history of the sport.

Other college greats like Peyton Manning may not have the hardware but were elite at both the college and professional level, unlike Tebow, who struggled to remain in the league after leading Denver to a playoff win in 2011.

Regardless, Tebow is one of the best to ever do it at the college level, and there may never be a player who changes the game the way he did with his incorporation of the run game.

GALLERY: Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators highlights, 2006

GALLERY: Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators highlights, 2007

GALLERY: Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators highlights, 2008

GALLERY: Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators highlights, 2009

[lawrence-related id=35788,27141,27096,13970,11158,8093]

Jordan or LeBron? Notre Dame Football Debates

The GOAT – is it Jordan or LeBron? Kyle Hamilton and Coach Terry Joseph of Notre Dame football both weigh in.

Want to start a debate in a sports bar?  Well, when we’re allowed in bars again, I mean.

A couple of members of Notre Dame’s football team debated exactly that in the wake of “The Last Dance” that recently wrapped up on ESPN.  The older generations got to re-live the dominance of the nineties with the Chicago Bulls while the younger audience got to experience it for the first time.

Those generational stereotypes play out in the latest episode of “The Notre Dame Minute” as star defensive back Kyle Hamilton and defensive pass game coordinator Terry Joesph debated who the actual GOAT is.

As the documentary goes into detail about it wasn’t just ability with Jordan, it was the constant mindset he was in, always wanting to beat anyone at anything.  There was no easy way out or bailing on a team to join a trifecta of All-Stars.

If Draymond Green never goes complete headcase and uses his foot as a weapon in the 2016 NBA Finals, Golden State finishes off that series and the discussion is instead about the greatest team of all-time, not the player.  Hopefully James sends Green a Christmas card each year to thank him for how much he helped LeBron’s legacy.

Give the win to Joseph and Jordan.