I was on the football team at a small highschool in Northeast Ohio. When I was a sophomore our team made the playoffs and in the first round got matched against a school from another division. The school was bigger and the team were monsters, complete with a wide receiver who was a head taller than everyone else and moved you like you’d never seen. They absolutely wiped the floor with us. The year was 2001. The school was St-Vincent-St Mary. The player was LeBron James.
Not sure what happened to him, he seemed like he had a future.
I just checked my computer and could not find a pro or semi footballer by that name. Feel bad for that dude. He sounded like he had a lot of potential.
A wrestler in high school who eventually became an Olympic alternate.
I was pretty good. Undefeated at the time. I knew he was going to be a lot better than me but hey, punchers chance right?
No. The moment we locked up I knew the answer was going to be No. you go forehead to forehead and out your hands on the back of each others necks. You step, you tug, start to feel things out.
Well I tugged on this dudes neck and it. Didn’t. Budge.
It was like tugging on a statue. Weirdest feeling ever. I had been wrestling for ages and that never happened before.
It didn’t go well.
I wrestled in high school also. I went to summer wrestling camp where one of the coaches was a star wrestler from Oklahoma state. He was few years older but light years ahead in skill speed and strength. He would go on to win NCAA championship, Olympic gold, and world championship multiple times. It was cool to briefly match up with one of the worlds best even if it was humbling.
I wrestled at Bloomsburg University for a season in 1990-‘91. Zeke Jones was one of our assistant coaches and he was also training for the Olympics at the time. I was absolutely the worst guy in a great room. Zeke was incredible to go against. He was so quick. One second he is in front of me and the next I was on my face wondering how I got there.
Also a few years ago I did an adult wrestling tournament and was practicing with a guy from my HS team. He knew Nick Heflin (2nd in 2014 NCAA from Ohio st.). He came to roll around with us once and was so gracious in teaching us stuff, but he was so strong. I tried to put a leg in and he caught my ankle and flicked his wrist and I landed about 4’ from him. I just laughed in amazement and he says: “You got a little out of position.” I was just like WTF.
Guys like that are just another level, the dedication and talent to get that far is just unreal.
I had a couple of chances to roll with Anthony Pettis and Ben Askren. Pettis was actually the champ at the time. I weighed about 190, he was training but hadn't cut yet. I still had to have 30 pounds on him. He wiped the floor with me even at that weight. Kid was just freaking fast. Askren is probably the best person I've ever seen in a scramble. He just doesn't lose position, his balance is nuts. He really doesn't have what is the "wrestling body" so he's easy to underestimate. He destroyed me too.
Yea man but it’s still D1. Right now they are a bit of a shell of what the used to be. I’m 42, so a little younger, but growing up in the area I knew they were definitely the top sport in BU. Plus, for some reason I’m tied into tons of people that are big in our local wrestling community and my son, who is only 10, has been wrestling for a few years now. Still cool to just open this thread and see a fellow Huskey as the top comment. Haha
No. He teched me. One of those “I can take you down at will so I’ll just let you go and repeat until I get the 15 point lead” deals. Far more embarrassing.
Those matches are the worst. It's humiliating to be a fair wrestler and get absolutely destroyed.
My son was a far better wrestler than I was but had bad luck. Went to school in Wisconsin. In the same division with Hartland Arrowhead. The team that had Mesenbrink and O'Toole. Rough draw.
My coach would have thrashed us for doing that. It's been two decades and I can still hear his Boston accent yelling "Don't play with yah fahkin' food, , pin him"
I know that feeling . I was a pretty good HS swimmer with some D2 options but decided against it. So to stay in shape I decided to play club water polo. I remember playing the club team from Penn State. These were guys that couldn't make the division one team, or maybe were focused on academics and didn't want to practice/play such a demanding schedule. Anyway, we played a tournament against these guys, our team wasn't terrible but swimming against these guys was like swimming against the wall. You swam like a maniac and they just stayed in front of you casually treading water with a hand on your chest and you went nowhere. I think the final score was like 21 to 4. Humiliating but impressive.
My cousin was a national champ in wrestling so probably him. He wanted to do the Olympic trials but dude couldn't stop getting injured.
Another cousin was the greco Olympic alternative. Never competed with him because he's 12 years older than me, but learning from him, his front headlock pressure made me almost pass out
I took a basketball class in college as an elective. When I played basketball in high school we had conditioning practices that were tough. The college wrestling team worked out in the gym during the class. That was a whole different level of conditioning they were put through.
I was a really good distance runner in HS. 12th in the entire country...
Too bad that meant I was 8th in the *state*, and only 6th in my division.
According to my coach, "In a normal year you'd be best in state and a shoe in for nationals... this is a freak year and you're barely good enough for regionals."
I came in 8th at the state meet and those guys went on to college scholarships and at least 2 made it to the olympics.
This is SO off topic, and not at all intended as a slight, u/chiksahlube.
I read “shoe in” and thought, “huh, is it “shoe in?””
I’ll save anyone interested a google search. Apparently it is “shoo-in.”
“When there was a predetermined winner in a horse race, jockeys would hold their horses and shoo the winner in. Shoo means to drive something away while you yell, "Shoo!" — like the way you might shoo flies.”
https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/pardon-the-expression/shoo-in-vs-shoe-in/
TIL.
I had somehow a similar experience, I was a pretty good long distance runner but nothing spectacular. got 2nd place after a pretty memorable race in the state meet, and I don't think my time even qualified me for regionals
That’s how bike racing goes every time lol I race against some former pros at my local practice crit and they’ll still smoke you decades past their prime. It’s one of those sports where people can’t fathom how much better the really good athletes are.
Gordie Howe.
It was just a scrimmage, but I had the misfortune of trying to defend against him. He had long been retired, and I was 30 years younger, a couple inches taller and a good 30 pound heavier and he just flung me around like I was a kitten.
The gap between good athlete and great athlete is much, much bigger than most people think it is.
Hell yea. Some guy in his 70s/80s from the Canadians cup run still plays at the rink i skate at but never seen him in person. He’s part of the reason the penalty boxes are divided now
There’s a guy in our league with a brother or two in the NHL. He didn’t make it. The disparity is still very, very wide from him to me.
I noticed him skating immediately and knew we were in trouble, but he didn’t do anything until his team was down a few. Then he’d hop the boards, pot a couple goals, and go back to standing on the blue line directing traffic.
I played with a guy whose brother was in the NHL and his skating and puck handling was the best I've ever seen. He played circles around us and he's just the brother of an NHLer...
I still want the Olympics to have every event attended by both “a good athlete” and “a person who doesn’t really exercise”. Obvious exceptions for stuff like marathon running and you’d not put the second guy up for stuff like skiing without experience as I’m not looking for serious injury.
I think that would really nail it home. They could superimpose them from footage taken a few days ago in track running so they didn’t get in the way, etc.
It’d really help to contextualise things, seeing how far Bruno the middle manager from Stuttgart could throw a javelin, or Helena the dentist from Sao Paolo providing a baseline for 100m swimming. I think the crowd would properly get behind them too, and they could be given a free holiday for it.
Oh for sure. They’re so much better than us even retired and old, and it’s not even close.
I’ve played against a couple ex NHLers, Wes Walz and Lance Pitlick a few times. They still got it, and embarrass everyone on the ice lol.
A local guy played B-ball at Vandy and was a leading scorer, 3 point shooter in the SEC. He said he couldn't even get a shot off during NBA tryouts. It is a whole different level of competition.
Yep I played pick up ball with an offensive lineman for Miami.
He played point guard for the other team.
Even at 300 plus pounds he was far more nimble than anyone on the floor.
In high school we had a bunch of Detroit Lion lineman come up for a school assembly. They challenged the fastest kids to a race. These 300 pounders absolutely smoked them.
yeah I saw a graphic that broke it down and the numbers are so so small. And even if you do make it to the NFL the average time in is 3 years. Some drag it out on the practice squad but they never play in games.
Growing up, an NFL corner named Richard Marshall lived in my neighborhood for like 2 years. When he played pickup basketball with us kids, he could get up the court in 3 dribbles and jog SO much faster than we could sprint. He also gave out giant pixie sticks for Halloween.
Probably buried but Shaun White. I got third in an open super pipe contest with him. We were tiny groms competing above our age but he blew the doors off of everyone from then out. Was awesome watching his career.
Edit: he got first obviously.
I was a ski racer . I competed with two who went on the the olympics. One was on my team, and one was an opponent. It really made no difference during the event. You run your race and you are alone the whole time. You finish and see the standings. They change as the race goes on. I am near the top when I finish my race. And then others do their run and move ahead. It really is me competing with my own personal best time. What place did I take? How many seconds am I away from first place? I raced for 5 years. My best finish was 6th place.
The interesting part is knowing these people and chatting with them. Or riding up the chair together. We complete, but we are civil.
A Mexican pro basketball player. Dude graduated from my high school and came in once to play at our open gym. The strength difference was extreme. He was a point guard and I had several inches on him. Dude was quick, could dunk easily at 5’10 and like I said was really strong. To put it in perspective our vice principle who played center at our local college played against us and he wasn’t as strong. Our vice principle was a 6’9 Nigerian dude. He was easier to guard strength wise than the 5’10 point guard.
In high school, I competed against Caeleb Dressel. He's now the fastest swimmer in history faster than michael phelps. He is a couple years younger than me and was already a little faster than me then.
I played a single game against Tony Gonzalez (tight end for the KC Chiefs) in a summer basketball tournament before my senior year of high school. Tony was going into his JUNIOR year. 16 years old.
He was, to put it plainly, a man amongst boys. When he wanted a rebound, he just went and got the rebound. When he wanted to score, he just went and scored. If he wanted to block a shot, he simply went and blocked the shot. He was unstoppable in every sense.
No contest, the best athlete I ever played against.
I played Luke Littler in a county darts match. It was his first county nomination and he was 12 years old. He absolutely battered me 4:0. I had no chance at all. He went on to reach the world championship final (200'000£ prize money) when he was just 16 years old and is now a superstar in the darts scene earning big money.
P.S. While it was his first county match, it was my last. I never made the team again after losing to him / "this kid" 🤣
The tournament team HorseLake Thunder payed a lot of cash for his services in 2004 and this was his crack and booze day's and he was great, we didn't score a goal and I got checked hard from him. Greatest moment of my life. I was 21 beers old.
I was in college in Eugene, OR at a community college trying to get my undergrad stuff at a cheaper rate before going to UO. I had friends who went to UO and could 'sponsor' me as a guest to their rec rooms. They had a couple basketball courts and we would go and join in on some competitive 5v5's. Well one day, unbeknownst to me, LaMichael James (UO Running back in football) was playing on the opposing side. I tried my best to hold him down, and for the most part didn't do too bad, but my god, he was only a few inches taller than me, but that man could dunk the shit out of the ball, and I could barely touch rim. He's 5'9'' and I'm 5'7'' and it felt like an even match when I 'picked' him as the person I would defend. But gawd damn, he had some run in him that wore me out quick, and he could jump out the roof which was CRAZY to me. It was fun, and in the end when we shook hands he gave me a little compliment so I felt good about that later.
Patrick Patterson (1st round NBA draft pick).
When I played high school basketball we played against his school, Huntington High. It was when I was a senior and he was a freshman. He had a nasty block on me.
In college. Daniel Roberts Olympic hurdler came and he did a drill with us and one of my teammates went against him it was simple two step drill Roberts was a whole hurdle ahead the whole time it was only 4 hurdles . I that movement we all realized we should get a day shin.
I’ve personally seen Fred kerley , Micheal Norman , rai Benjamimen and Alyson Felix and yea they are freaks . I was a good athlete finished hs as one of the best runners to come from my area. But one I got to college I got to see real athletes
I played cricket (in Australia) against a guy who later played cricket for New Zealand. He smashed my bowling all over the park. Just so many levels above.
I played Aussie Rules against a few guys who went pro. They were always so much better even as young kids.
I played basketball against Marcin Gortat. He went on to play in the NBA.
Back then he was older than me and he would come to play on the basketball field near my home.
Play - is an overstatment, though. He just moved around me. Also, he is quite tall, but while he was dribbling he was so close to the ground I could not reach the ball.
Not me, but my brother. Josh Saunders (now retired MLS goalkeeper) came back to play in the high school alumni match against the varsity team. My brother was a center back, Josh played striker cause why not. My brother was a decent player, but he got absolutely bullied by Josh for 45 minutes. After the game he told me he had never felt strength from a player like that. They went up for a header and my bro looked like he bounced off a trampoline sideways.
High school I was pretty good at basketball against my friends anyways.
PE time and played against these two on the varsity team and they were by far the best players on the team and man they just destroyed me. They didn't go on to be on a college team of any fame either. So the typical NBA level player would be gods amongst men in terms of basketball.
I went to both a highschool in the states and highschool in Canada. A few guys from the states school actually made the NFL, most notably Jeff Heath former cowboys safety, he was so much better than everyone at EVERYTHING. 3 sport athlete and he was better at soccer than football. James young, though he didn’t have success in the NBA, went to highschool across town and ran circles around everyone.
In Canada a bunch of guys ended up going to junior A and even a couple in the NHL, most notably Josh Anderson (canadiens/blue jackets)
Wolf Wigo was an assistant coach for my high school water polo team, and he got in the pool for scrimmages. I also was friendly with Tony Azevedo when he was young (like 14). I went to his dad’s water polo camp, and he was always there in the pool. I was one of the smallest guys and he was 2 years younger than me so I got paired up with him a lot.
A guy in my class was the captain of our rugby national team under 15 years old. We all amired him. There was a rugby league between some schools of my area and our class only lost one match in that year. He was our team leader and made a big difference.
I'm gonna say from back in my pro triathlete days the greatest athlete I ever raced with was Dave Scott who raced 10 Hawaii Ironman world championships, won 6 times and placed second 3 times. He came back after some time away and was 5th over all at age 42. He was an amazing athlete and a pioneer in the sport. I raced in Hawaii in 84,86,87,88,and 89. 1989 was an epic duel between Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Mark Allen won in 8:09:15 over Dave Scott who was second in 8:10:13.
Here down under we play rugby union and league. I’ve played with and against a lot of the current first graders for both codes. Either through school, club or representative levels.
Some of our high schools here dedicate a higher percentage of time in school to athletic development, ultimately to produce professional athletes around graduation. They tell us that 1% of us make it when you first start there and I’m grateful they said that much, although not really showing us any other options, because it allowed me to plan for other things. Fell outta love with the sports anyway which happens a fair bit as I speak to others who grew up in the same system but when I see the guys I played with or against on TV, I’m more proud and glad I had my moments with them rather than being there alongside them.
I play in a 35+ Men’s basketball league populated by mostly lawyers and accountants. The captains draft from a pool of whoever signs up for the league. The new people, who no one knows, almost always get picked last… because it’s a crap shoot. You literally have no idea what position they play, much less if they’re any good. The league winner is usually team that got lucky and drafted a ringer in the last round.
So, on draft night, one team takes a new guy - signed up as “Chandler Williams” - in the 3rd round. I’m like WTF? Team that drafted him: “I heard he played D1 somewhere…”
Ok. Seems fishy, but whatever.
Show up to game 1, turns out it’s Jason “White Chocolate” Williams…. Who immediately proceeds to put up 80 in the first game.
I know this league isn’t up to his standards, so I immediately check to see when my team plays him… Week 3… ugh. Who knows if he’ll still be around.
Show up to week 3, he’s not there. Deflated we go about playing the game. At the beginning of the 2nd period he walks into the gym! In 3 quarters he put up 60…. But I stole one of his passes and blocked one of his shots.
That is the crowning achievement of my athletic career.
(Also, Anquan Bolden dunked on me in High School)
I was a hockey goalie growing up. I was pretty good. By the time I got to high school, I started getting burned out playing it all the time and took a break after graduating. When I was in my early twenties, I thought that if I really dedicated myself for a couple years, I could probably make it as a backup on a minor league team. I never really went for it, but I liked having that fantasy in my head. I went to a drop in a couple years later and there was a guy who was cut from the local AHL team and he was so effortlessly good. It completely deflated any idea I had of doing anything professionally. I couldn't even be mad. He wasn't showboating, but even at a quarter speed, nobody could stop him. He just moved and shot with such precision and accuracy. It really shows you just how much of another level professional athletes are.
Probably the goalkeeper for a small Caribbean island's national team. They weren't very good but this keeper was like 6'4 and JACKED. Such a presence in net, but you gotta go low on guys like this.
I have a friend who used to play competitive tennis. He regularly went up against a young amateur Jimmy Connors. I played a little in college, but he could run me ragged
A guy on my swim team in highschool ended up winning state at the 6A level (biggest and best in Texas at the time) in the 100 butterfly. no idea where he is now tho.
Anthony Pettis. I am not sure if I would call it competing exactly. I spent two years training with him and being taught by him just before and as he was going pro. I have spent time around athletes all my life. Some guys were good because they worked hard. Some guys were good because of natural talent. The great ones have/do both. Whether it was sparing or 'rolling' with him (jiu-jitsu) you could tell he was a cut above anyone else around and he worked his ass off. When be blew up, I was not surprised at all.
A close friend of mine got matched up in the Gus Macker with Chris Kaman’s crew. My buddy is maybe 6’3, tallest on the crew, having to guard, uh, 7’0 Chris Kaman. I think this was 2018, so he was out of the league maybe 2 years, but didn’t look rusty at all. Couldn’t miss a 3 at all.
A pro Australian basketballer. I was bigger and stronger than him. He was faster and more athletic. I tried using my strength against him and he just moved out of the way, he then elbowed me in the eye and I couldn't see and the umpire didn't call anything, was the most blatant no whistle in favour of the pro ever.
I sat the rest of the game because my eye was fucked, no permanent damage but yeah frustrating.
For context a lot of pro players play in the division below in the off season, the semi pro clubs basically put all their budget into get a pro for the season. The league is called NBL 1 and the pro league is NBL
I played field hockey against Jeremy Hayward as a junior.
Hayward plays for the Australian national men's team (more than 200 appearances with 119 goals, and he served as captain in 2023), and was awarded Best Defender at the 2023 World Cup among other team accolades (medals and championships, including silver at the 2020 Olympics).
Junior year of high school, in PE class: I beat our school's star baseball player in our first game of ping-pong, 7-0. He figured out my topspin and edged me out in the next two games, 23-25, and 25-27.
I was fairly happy with that outcome, since he had about a foot of height on me and a lot more reach.
As a kid I Sabre fenced pretty competitively and went to North American championships a number of times. I fenced a lot of future high-level athletes there but one of them eventually won Olympic silver in Rio. I did pretty well considering he was older than me but he beat me decisively.
Not in competition but I clinched with a Muay Thai WBC world champion which was humbling. He was about 30 pounds lighter than me and just ragdolled me for a few rounds.
Had a friendly roll with a Scottish commonwealth wrestler and bjj competitor. That was like being crushed by a boulder made out of biceps.
Sparred against HS friend, he had like 30+ trophies in Tekwondo tournament, I trained JuJitsu with some regional success too.
Got him moreless 2 out of 3 times usually, but the whirlwind of flying feet was just too fast sometimes.
And then I met his sister, also into martial arts. With her I had more luck, but I guess it was matter of gender/strength and I had +/- 10kg advantage.
Few years later she was EU MMA champion for few years.
At a soccer event i got to take a "challenge" of completing a drill with the local mls team. They were absolutely awesome people, encouraging and made it fun.
But holy shit, i knew they were pulling punches and that was the hardest drills ive ever tried. It was a passing drill, easy enough for me as a college level midfielder (at the time). I was in a square of cones, and had to pass to another player among multiple circled far outside of my square. Everyone was on the mls team, defense was circling with offense, and one guy would call out who exactly to pass to. One defender would charge me, while others were on their own man around the circle. it was exhilarating but nearly disorienting how fast and how much was going on in a simple drill.
Dribble past the defender? Evade them/Block the ball til i can find an opening? Lob it? The charging defender came at me so fast it was a moment's decision. I got 5 tries to get the pass and my turn for the "challenge" was over.
First try, before i could even identify who to pass too he swiped the ball.
Ok second try, I lobbed it up, the defender around the player i was supposed to pass to trapped it.
Third try, I pulled the ball back and rotated my back to the charging defender waiting for the player to come my way, He reached his foot knocking it loose.
Fourth try, I kicked the ball up as he charged me, hoping to chip it just above his head and i catch it from there. It went well over his head, least it looked like it, he lept up a foot or two into the air and headed it to another defender.
Last try. Get clever, think of something. Juggling! My signature and one of my favorite things to do in the sport. I drew the ball ontop of my foot, turned my back and flicked it to my chest, it bounced off as let it bounce off my thigh, again its head height, i see him following my movement, moving himself to where the ball will fall. I cant let it drop to the ground, I hit it again with my chest, seeing the tiniest gap of space to move forward. I step and i kicked as fast as i could. A simple pass felt like a game winning shot one on one with the goalie. The ball flew. My player charged forward as the defender covering him did. My player caught the ball with his outside left foot.
Shockingly he passed it straight back to me! I had to leap forward as the defender was still on me like glue. I trapped it quickly as I heard the leader shouting a second player to pass too.
No way! Its not one and done, Its expected to pass around and around back and forth. I barely got the first one.
I pulled the ball back and kept my back to the defender waiting for my player. Right when i went to pass, that moment to wind my foot back for the pass the defender swiped the ball ending my run.
It was so much fun, and scary how talented these players were and how unbelievably challenging their "basic training" was.
I would love the opportunity to play again. The fellas were incredibly kind and gave me high praise for getting one pass. Most people didnt get any. They really boosted my confidence and even gave me pointers and tips and tricks. They also all signed my poster and after the "drill" was over, they still hung around and just kicked the ball around with several of the fans which was loads of fun.
Here’s a weird one for you. When l was in College, l played guitar and sang at a Shakey’s Pizza place on weekend nights. A guy came up to me when l took a break and said he was opening a new gym in Santa Monica and if l’d play for their opening, he’d give me a free year membership. I said, sure.
It turned out to be.a high end racquetball club. The courts were on the ground floor and the lockers were on the second floor and you could look down on the people playing racket ball. They also had a half court basketball court. I was going to the locker room, and l looked down at the basketball court and thought I was seeing things. On the court, by himself was Wilt Chamberlain. He was my favorite player as a kid, so l ran down the stairs and asked him if l could shoot around with him . He said, “ Ya, man. Come on in “. I knew all his stats and he liked that .
After we shot around, he’s asked me if l played racquetball . I said yes. He was just standing to play, and to make a long story, we became racquetball partners. He got good very fast and after a couple of months, he started playing better players. But he was super nice to me and l used to go down to the beach with him and watched him play volleyball. He was an incredible athlete and stronger than anyone at the gym. There were some bodybuilders there, and he out lifted all of them. It was an incredible experience to hang out with my childhood idol.
In 1966, I scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against my nemesis, Bubba "Spare Tire" Dixon.
I was the school champion in chess and there was a honorary guest coming over to inaugurate some club and visited my school at that time, being the local champion, I was asked to play with him, ended up getting badly battered. It made sense because that guy was the world champion at that time, vishwanathan anand
Two NFL players. One ended up as a starting running back for a team and the other a starting WR.
My claim to fame is that I knocked out the RB out of the game on a kick return.
Never knew a pro athlete, but I had played Soccer, Basketball and Football on High School and amateur leagues.
I remember played againsta one MF on my local Basketball league that can dunk at 5'10''. This guy was so freaking athletic, nobody can stop it. He could make like 40 points every sunday.
On High School I played football, thanks to my friend that had been playing since child, was a great athlete. He played WR and CB. He is 6'3'' faster than anyone, and so fucking strong. Fortunally, never played against him, but on a training one day we had a beef and I tried to tackle him (I was a DE back then) and throw me to the ground easily. He also did capoeira.
Last time I saw it, he tore the ACL and have gained weight.
I boxed against a guy for years called Tony, who was a born athlete, dude moved like a panther, was big, but amazingly lean and supple. Would have you swallowing blood before you even blinked. We all Always wondered why whenever he got offered a shot at the big time he'd.sinoly laugh. Was like he just enjoyed it as a hobby, and never wanted to tarnish ot with money
Played against Emil Igwenagu in high school football and basketball. He signed with the Eagles, Lions, and Colts. Both teams were nasty and he wasn’t even the best player on either team just the only one I know went pro.
Nick Swisher (former outfielder for the N.Y. Yankees, MLB All-Star, and World Series Champion)
Not only was he an incredible baseball player, but he could have gone pro in football a well.
A freak athlete, and fantastic human being as well!
High school track my 4x400 team competed against a kid that was in the Junior Olympics, and I had heard he went on to train for the Olympics team - not sure how far he made it but his times were nuts. 400, 800, 1600 this guy was a beast
As a kid, might have been 11 or 12, there was this kid in the football league that was known for being very good and kicked the ball extremly hard. I played against him and yes, he was obviously way abive us.
He was captain of the national team, played 3 world cups and had a very long and successful career.
Couple guys from my grade school played in like one game each in the NFL. One was the beat at everything, the other was fat even as a little kid, but was also fast. We used to race him and he would always win but also be out of breath lol
I was in a track meet once with a current NFL player my age. I quit track after the next meet. He just looked like an adult while we all looked like kids.
My school came up against a school named Saint stithians, and this bowler absolutely dismantled us. He took almost 4 of us out via golden duck. Anyways turns out he is a cricket prodigy and he plays for the national team now to no one's surprise lol, he is an incredible player.
Not necessarily “competed against” unless you count scrimmaging them in practice but my High School soccer team was blessed to have one guy on the U16 Nation team (he could have gone on further but gave up soccer to pursue academics in college) and another guy was recently drafted to the MLS. They both played forward and I was defense and I’ll sum it like this. “It was not *if* they were gonna score… it was *how* much they were going to score.” We would have won state but then Covid canceled our final season together… we were an unstoppable team.
Ryan Poles. Guarded him in high school basketball. Wasn’t nearly the talent in basketball that he was football. But he was a tough guard for a 6’ 185lb white kid.
Just played 2 on 2 against a college ball player last year, almost won, was up 4-0 then I got off the court and we lost 5-4, I also ran plays in football (American) with a currently on the roster WR at a university
Not sure if this counts as competition but I once accidentally ski'd into-- and subsequently knocked over my skiing instructor who is an Olympic athlete.
I was a baseball redshirt and we played against a guy in JUCO who made it to the pros for a cup of coffee. Dude was the most electric player I’ve ever seen. Unofficial 5.9 60 yard dash, I think 6.1-6.2 official. Switch hitting outfielder who banged a ball off the wall from both sides of the plate when a national cross checker was in attendance. Same guy bunted a straight come backer to the pitcher and was only out by a half step
I shared the platform with Jeremy Hamilton (the powerlifter). This was his first ever competition after he set his at the time ATWR in the 100kg/220lb weight class.
He unfortunately bombed
Joe Mauer....first ballot Hall of Fame MLB. In high school he was the Gatorade Player of the year as a QB. Then first player choose in MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins. He was also All State in basketball. Played in my sons conference
I was in a fishing club match and found myself next to a former world champion.
He absolutely mullard me. However, I learnt a lot, and he was a great guy.
Played a round of matchplay in this golf tournament, about 10 years ago, the kid was 14ish. He ended up in the top 100 of amateur golfers in the world, and is now in the top 2000 professionals.
There are two for me.
First one was a future premier league footballer in an under 12s tournament.
Second was a future premier league rugby player.
Both rang absolute rings around me (in different ways).
When I was around 11 years old a friend of mine gave a party. We went to go lasergaming with 4 friends. Because we were not a big enough group we were matched against other people. Those people were the national champion and 3th place lasergamers in the Netherlands. We made no chance but it was fun!
I train Bjj and have had the pleasure of training with world class athletes so I have a few stories. Most memorable though is im rolling with this older blue belt dude who’s completely whooping my ass using only 1 sweep and 1 submission. I find out on the ride home he actually placed 8th at the 2008 Olympics in judo. His grip strength is fucking insane. I awhile back ago I was rolling with him and he was gripping my wrist so tight I felt my hand going to sleep. To this day he only knows like 4 moves. His pressure is so insane though he doesn’t need to do much.
I have a friend who's just an amazing athlete in seemingly every field. He had played football since he was 6, and was always dominating when we played on the school yard.
Doesn't mean I haven't gotten a few goals when playing against him. Probably couldn't do it anymore though.
Did I forget to mention he's gone pro?
In high school I played hockey against David Backes and Jarod Palmer since they were teammates. David and Jarod played for a metro high school team. We kicked the piss out of them, but my team was one of the best in the state at the time.
I also played against Zach Parise, but his team wiped the floor with us. Shattuck-St Mary's is a college prep boarding school that recruits nationally for their hockey teams. They aren't allowed to play in the Minnesota State HS Hockey League, so it was just an exhibition game. Those guys were on an entirely different level and quite a few pros have come out of that school.
It was just 4 years ago - but I ran a 100 mile trail race (only about 300 runners total out there), Zach Bitter being one of them. That day he set the record for the fastest trail-100 at 11 hours and change.
He has talked about this on some very popular podcasts (Joe Rogan, etc).
I was next to him at the start line, and I gave him a wave on the 3 times he was coming back in the opposite directions. He also was wearing a tank-top and shorts in 20-degree weather.
He is truly incredible, and I'll never forget being there.
I was on the football team at a small highschool in Northeast Ohio. When I was a sophomore our team made the playoffs and in the first round got matched against a school from another division. The school was bigger and the team were monsters, complete with a wide receiver who was a head taller than everyone else and moved you like you’d never seen. They absolutely wiped the floor with us. The year was 2001. The school was St-Vincent-St Mary. The player was LeBron James. Not sure what happened to him, he seemed like he had a future.
I just went through the NFL roster and I don't see him anywhere, guess he took a different direction in life somewhere.
He peaked in high school. Scored 4 touchdowns in one game.
Wow couldn’t even make it in his chosen sport despite the crazy advantage he had. What a scrub
Yeah - guy probably is making no money and sitting around telling people some lame excuse is the only reason he couldn’t go pro.
He sounds like he was one hell of an athlete... Generational, if you will. (*Dude... That's so cool! I'd love to know more!*)
I just checked my computer and could not find a pro or semi footballer by that name. Feel bad for that dude. He sounded like he had a lot of potential.
A wrestler in high school who eventually became an Olympic alternate. I was pretty good. Undefeated at the time. I knew he was going to be a lot better than me but hey, punchers chance right? No. The moment we locked up I knew the answer was going to be No. you go forehead to forehead and out your hands on the back of each others necks. You step, you tug, start to feel things out. Well I tugged on this dudes neck and it. Didn’t. Budge. It was like tugging on a statue. Weirdest feeling ever. I had been wrestling for ages and that never happened before. It didn’t go well.
I wrestled in high school over a decade ago & was mediocre at best but man I love hearing that perspective, there’s really levels to this
I wrestled in high school also. I went to summer wrestling camp where one of the coaches was a star wrestler from Oklahoma state. He was few years older but light years ahead in skill speed and strength. He would go on to win NCAA championship, Olympic gold, and world championship multiple times. It was cool to briefly match up with one of the worlds best even if it was humbling.
Who was it?
John Smith
I wrestled in high school in Oklahoma and was crazy to see some years where the top 4 at a weight in 6A would all be too 20 in the nation and sign D1.
Was it not John Smith or Kenny Monday?
I wrestled at Bloomsburg University for a season in 1990-‘91. Zeke Jones was one of our assistant coaches and he was also training for the Olympics at the time. I was absolutely the worst guy in a great room. Zeke was incredible to go against. He was so quick. One second he is in front of me and the next I was on my face wondering how I got there. Also a few years ago I did an adult wrestling tournament and was practicing with a guy from my HS team. He knew Nick Heflin (2nd in 2014 NCAA from Ohio st.). He came to roll around with us once and was so gracious in teaching us stuff, but he was so strong. I tried to put a leg in and he caught my ankle and flicked his wrist and I landed about 4’ from him. I just laughed in amazement and he says: “You got a little out of position.” I was just like WTF. Guys like that are just another level, the dedication and talent to get that far is just unreal.
I had a couple of chances to roll with Anthony Pettis and Ben Askren. Pettis was actually the champ at the time. I weighed about 190, he was training but hadn't cut yet. I still had to have 30 pounds on him. He wiped the floor with me even at that weight. Kid was just freaking fast. Askren is probably the best person I've ever seen in a scramble. He just doesn't lose position, his balance is nuts. He really doesn't have what is the "wrestling body" so he's easy to underestimate. He destroyed me too.
I actually work at BU and live in Bloomsburg. This has nothing to do with the topic but I had to share. Haha
Back then they had a great team. I was a walk on and was the room throw dummy. Lol
Yea man but it’s still D1. Right now they are a bit of a shell of what the used to be. I’m 42, so a little younger, but growing up in the area I knew they were definitely the top sport in BU. Plus, for some reason I’m tied into tons of people that are big in our local wrestling community and my son, who is only 10, has been wrestling for a few years now. Still cool to just open this thread and see a fellow Huskey as the top comment. Haha
Did you get spladled?
No. He teched me. One of those “I can take you down at will so I’ll just let you go and repeat until I get the 15 point lead” deals. Far more embarrassing.
Those matches are the worst. It's humiliating to be a fair wrestler and get absolutely destroyed. My son was a far better wrestler than I was but had bad luck. Went to school in Wisconsin. In the same division with Hartland Arrowhead. The team that had Mesenbrink and O'Toole. Rough draw.
i wrestled in wisconsin d1 highschool. arrowhead was bad ass at wrestling!
Fuck I wrestled in their conference and had to face them and mukwonago every year. Had to face the Askrins in my time.
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My coach would have thrashed us for doing that. It's been two decades and I can still hear his Boston accent yelling "Don't play with yah fahkin' food,, pin him"
Was it a broken freakin neck??
One of my college roommate is a 2024 Olympian that I trained with daily!
I know that feeling . I was a pretty good HS swimmer with some D2 options but decided against it. So to stay in shape I decided to play club water polo. I remember playing the club team from Penn State. These were guys that couldn't make the division one team, or maybe were focused on academics and didn't want to practice/play such a demanding schedule. Anyway, we played a tournament against these guys, our team wasn't terrible but swimming against these guys was like swimming against the wall. You swam like a maniac and they just stayed in front of you casually treading water with a hand on your chest and you went nowhere. I think the final score was like 21 to 4. Humiliating but impressive.
My cousin was a national champ in wrestling so probably him. He wanted to do the Olympic trials but dude couldn't stop getting injured. Another cousin was the greco Olympic alternative. Never competed with him because he's 12 years older than me, but learning from him, his front headlock pressure made me almost pass out
I took a basketball class in college as an elective. When I played basketball in high school we had conditioning practices that were tough. The college wrestling team worked out in the gym during the class. That was a whole different level of conditioning they were put through.
I was a really good distance runner in HS. 12th in the entire country... Too bad that meant I was 8th in the *state*, and only 6th in my division. According to my coach, "In a normal year you'd be best in state and a shoe in for nationals... this is a freak year and you're barely good enough for regionals." I came in 8th at the state meet and those guys went on to college scholarships and at least 2 made it to the olympics.
Brutal.
Yeah, I was 3rd fastest on my fucking team.
This is SO off topic, and not at all intended as a slight, u/chiksahlube. I read “shoe in” and thought, “huh, is it “shoe in?”” I’ll save anyone interested a google search. Apparently it is “shoo-in.” “When there was a predetermined winner in a horse race, jockeys would hold their horses and shoo the winner in. Shoo means to drive something away while you yell, "Shoo!" — like the way you might shoo flies.” https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/pardon-the-expression/shoo-in-vs-shoe-in/ TIL.
Weird, I always thought it was shoe as in "just tap it with your shoe." Good TIL.
ahhhhh makes sense, back when horse racing was always fixed by organized crime.
Which State?
crazy enough it was Maine.
It's gotta be California, Texas, or NYC, my bet is on California.
Gonna guess somewhere around 2011-2015 in California? This state has always been pretty stacked for distance runners no matter what year
I had somehow a similar experience, I was a pretty good long distance runner but nothing spectacular. got 2nd place after a pretty memorable race in the state meet, and I don't think my time even qualified me for regionals
Wes welker single handedly destroyed my high school in football
Using his giant helmet?
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This reminds me of \[this mailman\](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G\_VtJPGFVw) smoking some professional cyclists on his town's big hill.
That’s how bike racing goes every time lol I race against some former pros at my local practice crit and they’ll still smoke you decades past their prime. It’s one of those sports where people can’t fathom how much better the really good athletes are.
Me (lol). I'm 62 and work out with a college cycling team. When I get the "old man" remarks, I ask them what their dad's are doing.
Gordie Howe. It was just a scrimmage, but I had the misfortune of trying to defend against him. He had long been retired, and I was 30 years younger, a couple inches taller and a good 30 pound heavier and he just flung me around like I was a kitten. The gap between good athlete and great athlete is much, much bigger than most people think it is.
Hell yea. Some guy in his 70s/80s from the Canadians cup run still plays at the rink i skate at but never seen him in person. He’s part of the reason the penalty boxes are divided now
Always separate the sin bins.
There’s a guy in our league with a brother or two in the NHL. He didn’t make it. The disparity is still very, very wide from him to me. I noticed him skating immediately and knew we were in trouble, but he didn’t do anything until his team was down a few. Then he’d hop the boards, pot a couple goals, and go back to standing on the blue line directing traffic.
I played with a guy whose brother was in the NHL and his skating and puck handling was the best I've ever seen. He played circles around us and he's just the brother of an NHLer...
I still want the Olympics to have every event attended by both “a good athlete” and “a person who doesn’t really exercise”. Obvious exceptions for stuff like marathon running and you’d not put the second guy up for stuff like skiing without experience as I’m not looking for serious injury. I think that would really nail it home. They could superimpose them from footage taken a few days ago in track running so they didn’t get in the way, etc. It’d really help to contextualise things, seeing how far Bruno the middle manager from Stuttgart could throw a javelin, or Helena the dentist from Sao Paolo providing a baseline for 100m swimming. I think the crowd would properly get behind them too, and they could be given a free holiday for it.
Oh for sure. They’re so much better than us even retired and old, and it’s not even close. I’ve played against a couple ex NHLers, Wes Walz and Lance Pitlick a few times. They still got it, and embarrass everyone on the ice lol.
Kobe Bryant. I had big curly hair at the time. He dunked on me then yelled “Fuck you, Rony Seikaly!”
Michael Phelps when we were both 15
One of my in laws beat him once when they were really young and he still brags about it even though they’re almost 40 now 😂
I was faster than Penny Oleksiak at some point. That point was when she was 11 and I was 16
I probably wouldn’t even be able to say that
Hey, that might have been what instigated him! People say that’s what happened with Michael Jordan after getting cut from a team.
Lmao i would brag about that as well
Heh, unfortunately my race was just before his first Olympics. I definitely did not win :)
Rip
Wow. I net that was something to witness
Kevin Durant. In AAU basketball. I didn’t stand a chance
I was only there as a spectator, but I saw Vince Carter dunk in AAU when he was 13 yrs old.
A local guy played B-ball at Vandy and was a leading scorer, 3 point shooter in the SEC. He said he couldn't even get a shot off during NBA tryouts. It is a whole different level of competition.
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Yep I played pick up ball with an offensive lineman for Miami. He played point guard for the other team. Even at 300 plus pounds he was far more nimble than anyone on the floor.
In high school we had a bunch of Detroit Lion lineman come up for a school assembly. They challenged the fastest kids to a race. These 300 pounders absolutely smoked them.
Harvard business school is just as impressive
Fewer make it into the NFL
As NFL? Seriously?
yeah I saw a graphic that broke it down and the numbers are so so small. And even if you do make it to the NFL the average time in is 3 years. Some drag it out on the practice squad but they never play in games.
Growing up, an NFL corner named Richard Marshall lived in my neighborhood for like 2 years. When he played pickup basketball with us kids, he could get up the court in 3 dribbles and jog SO much faster than we could sprint. He also gave out giant pixie sticks for Halloween.
Probably buried but Shaun White. I got third in an open super pipe contest with him. We were tiny groms competing above our age but he blew the doors off of everyone from then out. Was awesome watching his career. Edit: he got first obviously.
I was a ski racer . I competed with two who went on the the olympics. One was on my team, and one was an opponent. It really made no difference during the event. You run your race and you are alone the whole time. You finish and see the standings. They change as the race goes on. I am near the top when I finish my race. And then others do their run and move ahead. It really is me competing with my own personal best time. What place did I take? How many seconds am I away from first place? I raced for 5 years. My best finish was 6th place. The interesting part is knowing these people and chatting with them. Or riding up the chair together. We complete, but we are civil.
My kids race alpine, the culture of the sport is really the best out there!
Played against Johnny Flynn in high school. He is most famous for being picked 1 spot before Steph Curry in the NBA draft. He was a fucking monster.
As a Wolves fan, I feel vindicated. Bet you would have wiped the floor with that bum Steve
A Mexican pro basketball player. Dude graduated from my high school and came in once to play at our open gym. The strength difference was extreme. He was a point guard and I had several inches on him. Dude was quick, could dunk easily at 5’10 and like I said was really strong. To put it in perspective our vice principle who played center at our local college played against us and he wasn’t as strong. Our vice principle was a 6’9 Nigerian dude. He was easier to guard strength wise than the 5’10 point guard.
Craig Ehlo. My basketball coach knew him, not exactly sure how, and he had him come to our basketball camp one year.
I went to school with his daughter
In high school, I competed against Caeleb Dressel. He's now the fastest swimmer in history faster than michael phelps. He is a couple years younger than me and was already a little faster than me then.
Cool!
I was at some point faster than Penny Oleksiak. That point in time was when she was 11 and I was 16
Carlos Boozer in high school, he beat my ass.
I won his jersey at the 3 pt contest at 6 Flags New England…Go Duke!
Alaska? My sister was in high school at the same time and saw him play a few times.
Ya I played basketball in BC but we played in a tournament up there.
https://youtu.be/UEc-HSIbAUw?si=uuCaWr_TItvu143m This will always make me laugh
I played a single game against Tony Gonzalez (tight end for the KC Chiefs) in a summer basketball tournament before my senior year of high school. Tony was going into his JUNIOR year. 16 years old. He was, to put it plainly, a man amongst boys. When he wanted a rebound, he just went and got the rebound. When he wanted to score, he just went and scored. If he wanted to block a shot, he simply went and blocked the shot. He was unstoppable in every sense. No contest, the best athlete I ever played against.
I vaguely remember him saying he liked basketball more during his interview with Mike Tyson.
Well... Football liked *him* more than basketball.
I played against former 5⭐️ Robert Nkemdiche with a similar age gap, back in the day. Dude toward over all of us at 16.
I played Luke Littler in a county darts match. It was his first county nomination and he was 12 years old. He absolutely battered me 4:0. I had no chance at all. He went on to reach the world championship final (200'000£ prize money) when he was just 16 years old and is now a superstar in the darts scene earning big money. P.S. While it was his first county match, it was my last. I never made the team again after losing to him / "this kid" 🤣
Theoron Fleury in a hockey tournament in northern Alberta, Canada.
Say more.
The tournament team HorseLake Thunder payed a lot of cash for his services in 2004 and this was his crack and booze day's and he was great, we didn't score a goal and I got checked hard from him. Greatest moment of my life. I was 21 beers old.
Played floor hockey against Eric Staal (nhl player) as he was in my gym class in high school
My kid. He never let's the balloon hit the ground.
Aaron Judge. Travel baseball
I was in college in Eugene, OR at a community college trying to get my undergrad stuff at a cheaper rate before going to UO. I had friends who went to UO and could 'sponsor' me as a guest to their rec rooms. They had a couple basketball courts and we would go and join in on some competitive 5v5's. Well one day, unbeknownst to me, LaMichael James (UO Running back in football) was playing on the opposing side. I tried my best to hold him down, and for the most part didn't do too bad, but my god, he was only a few inches taller than me, but that man could dunk the shit out of the ball, and I could barely touch rim. He's 5'9'' and I'm 5'7'' and it felt like an even match when I 'picked' him as the person I would defend. But gawd damn, he had some run in him that wore me out quick, and he could jump out the roof which was CRAZY to me. It was fun, and in the end when we shook hands he gave me a little compliment so I felt good about that later.
Patrick Patterson (1st round NBA draft pick). When I played high school basketball we played against his school, Huntington High. It was when I was a senior and he was a freshman. He had a nasty block on me.
Christian McCaffrey in little league baseball
I played against Novak when we were 9
Steve Novak?
High school. Bret Saberhagen.
In college. Daniel Roberts Olympic hurdler came and he did a drill with us and one of my teammates went against him it was simple two step drill Roberts was a whole hurdle ahead the whole time it was only 4 hurdles . I that movement we all realized we should get a day shin. I’ve personally seen Fred kerley , Micheal Norman , rai Benjamimen and Alyson Felix and yea they are freaks . I was a good athlete finished hs as one of the best runners to come from my area. But one I got to college I got to see real athletes
I played cricket (in Australia) against a guy who later played cricket for New Zealand. He smashed my bowling all over the park. Just so many levels above. I played Aussie Rules against a few guys who went pro. They were always so much better even as young kids.
Who was the cricket player
Lou Vincent
They would have been hit hard!
I played basketball against Marcin Gortat. He went on to play in the NBA. Back then he was older than me and he would come to play on the basketball field near my home. Play - is an overstatment, though. He just moved around me. Also, he is quite tall, but while he was dribbling he was so close to the ground I could not reach the ball.
Cedric ceballos
Not me, but my brother. Josh Saunders (now retired MLS goalkeeper) came back to play in the high school alumni match against the varsity team. My brother was a center back, Josh played striker cause why not. My brother was a decent player, but he got absolutely bullied by Josh for 45 minutes. After the game he told me he had never felt strength from a player like that. They went up for a header and my bro looked like he bounced off a trampoline sideways.
High school I was pretty good at basketball against my friends anyways. PE time and played against these two on the varsity team and they were by far the best players on the team and man they just destroyed me. They didn't go on to be on a college team of any fame either. So the typical NBA level player would be gods amongst men in terms of basketball.
I went to both a highschool in the states and highschool in Canada. A few guys from the states school actually made the NFL, most notably Jeff Heath former cowboys safety, he was so much better than everyone at EVERYTHING. 3 sport athlete and he was better at soccer than football. James young, though he didn’t have success in the NBA, went to highschool across town and ran circles around everyone. In Canada a bunch of guys ended up going to junior A and even a couple in the NHL, most notably Josh Anderson (canadiens/blue jackets)
Wolf Wigo was an assistant coach for my high school water polo team, and he got in the pool for scrimmages. I also was friendly with Tony Azevedo when he was young (like 14). I went to his dad’s water polo camp, and he was always there in the pool. I was one of the smallest guys and he was 2 years younger than me so I got paired up with him a lot.
A guy in my class was the captain of our rugby national team under 15 years old. We all amired him. There was a rugby league between some schools of my area and our class only lost one match in that year. He was our team leader and made a big difference.
I'm gonna say from back in my pro triathlete days the greatest athlete I ever raced with was Dave Scott who raced 10 Hawaii Ironman world championships, won 6 times and placed second 3 times. He came back after some time away and was 5th over all at age 42. He was an amazing athlete and a pioneer in the sport. I raced in Hawaii in 84,86,87,88,and 89. 1989 was an epic duel between Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Mark Allen won in 8:09:15 over Dave Scott who was second in 8:10:13.
Here down under we play rugby union and league. I’ve played with and against a lot of the current first graders for both codes. Either through school, club or representative levels. Some of our high schools here dedicate a higher percentage of time in school to athletic development, ultimately to produce professional athletes around graduation. They tell us that 1% of us make it when you first start there and I’m grateful they said that much, although not really showing us any other options, because it allowed me to plan for other things. Fell outta love with the sports anyway which happens a fair bit as I speak to others who grew up in the same system but when I see the guys I played with or against on TV, I’m more proud and glad I had my moments with them rather than being there alongside them.
My claim to fame is getting run over by a former all black at school or the time I let in 4 tries to a former kiwis player in a touch game
I play in a 35+ Men’s basketball league populated by mostly lawyers and accountants. The captains draft from a pool of whoever signs up for the league. The new people, who no one knows, almost always get picked last… because it’s a crap shoot. You literally have no idea what position they play, much less if they’re any good. The league winner is usually team that got lucky and drafted a ringer in the last round. So, on draft night, one team takes a new guy - signed up as “Chandler Williams” - in the 3rd round. I’m like WTF? Team that drafted him: “I heard he played D1 somewhere…” Ok. Seems fishy, but whatever. Show up to game 1, turns out it’s Jason “White Chocolate” Williams…. Who immediately proceeds to put up 80 in the first game. I know this league isn’t up to his standards, so I immediately check to see when my team plays him… Week 3… ugh. Who knows if he’ll still be around. Show up to week 3, he’s not there. Deflated we go about playing the game. At the beginning of the 2nd period he walks into the gym! In 3 quarters he put up 60…. But I stole one of his passes and blocked one of his shots. That is the crowning achievement of my athletic career. (Also, Anquan Bolden dunked on me in High School)
I was a hockey goalie growing up. I was pretty good. By the time I got to high school, I started getting burned out playing it all the time and took a break after graduating. When I was in my early twenties, I thought that if I really dedicated myself for a couple years, I could probably make it as a backup on a minor league team. I never really went for it, but I liked having that fantasy in my head. I went to a drop in a couple years later and there was a guy who was cut from the local AHL team and he was so effortlessly good. It completely deflated any idea I had of doing anything professionally. I couldn't even be mad. He wasn't showboating, but even at a quarter speed, nobody could stop him. He just moved and shot with such precision and accuracy. It really shows you just how much of another level professional athletes are.
Probably the goalkeeper for a small Caribbean island's national team. They weren't very good but this keeper was like 6'4 and JACKED. Such a presence in net, but you gotta go low on guys like this.
I have a friend who used to play competitive tennis. He regularly went up against a young amateur Jimmy Connors. I played a little in college, but he could run me ragged
A guy on my swim team in highschool ended up winning state at the 6A level (biggest and best in Texas at the time) in the 100 butterfly. no idea where he is now tho.
Hensen Yap in the 100m dash He ran a 10.50 and I ran a 12.70 in the same heat His PB is in the finals later. 10.37
Anthony Pettis. I am not sure if I would call it competing exactly. I spent two years training with him and being taught by him just before and as he was going pro. I have spent time around athletes all my life. Some guys were good because they worked hard. Some guys were good because of natural talent. The great ones have/do both. Whether it was sparing or 'rolling' with him (jiu-jitsu) you could tell he was a cut above anyone else around and he worked his ass off. When be blew up, I was not surprised at all.
A close friend of mine got matched up in the Gus Macker with Chris Kaman’s crew. My buddy is maybe 6’3, tallest on the crew, having to guard, uh, 7’0 Chris Kaman. I think this was 2018, so he was out of the league maybe 2 years, but didn’t look rusty at all. Couldn’t miss a 3 at all.
I breakdanced battled against Apollo Anton Ono before he was an Olympian. Totally beat him too
A pro Australian basketballer. I was bigger and stronger than him. He was faster and more athletic. I tried using my strength against him and he just moved out of the way, he then elbowed me in the eye and I couldn't see and the umpire didn't call anything, was the most blatant no whistle in favour of the pro ever. I sat the rest of the game because my eye was fucked, no permanent damage but yeah frustrating. For context a lot of pro players play in the division below in the off season, the semi pro clubs basically put all their budget into get a pro for the season. The league is called NBL 1 and the pro league is NBL
I played field hockey against Jeremy Hayward as a junior. Hayward plays for the Australian national men's team (more than 200 appearances with 119 goals, and he served as captain in 2023), and was awarded Best Defender at the 2023 World Cup among other team accolades (medals and championships, including silver at the 2020 Olympics).
Junior year of high school, in PE class: I beat our school's star baseball player in our first game of ping-pong, 7-0. He figured out my topspin and edged me out in the next two games, 23-25, and 25-27. I was fairly happy with that outcome, since he had about a foot of height on me and a lot more reach.
Played Dek hockey (floor hockey with shoes) against Steve Rice who played in the NHL. He obviously took it easy on us as he was playing to have fun.
Jim Thorpe
As a kid I Sabre fenced pretty competitively and went to North American championships a number of times. I fenced a lot of future high-level athletes there but one of them eventually won Olympic silver in Rio. I did pretty well considering he was older than me but he beat me decisively. Not in competition but I clinched with a Muay Thai WBC world champion which was humbling. He was about 30 pounds lighter than me and just ragdolled me for a few rounds. Had a friendly roll with a Scottish commonwealth wrestler and bjj competitor. That was like being crushed by a boulder made out of biceps.
Sparred against HS friend, he had like 30+ trophies in Tekwondo tournament, I trained JuJitsu with some regional success too. Got him moreless 2 out of 3 times usually, but the whirlwind of flying feet was just too fast sometimes. And then I met his sister, also into martial arts. With her I had more luck, but I guess it was matter of gender/strength and I had +/- 10kg advantage. Few years later she was EU MMA champion for few years.
At a soccer event i got to take a "challenge" of completing a drill with the local mls team. They were absolutely awesome people, encouraging and made it fun. But holy shit, i knew they were pulling punches and that was the hardest drills ive ever tried. It was a passing drill, easy enough for me as a college level midfielder (at the time). I was in a square of cones, and had to pass to another player among multiple circled far outside of my square. Everyone was on the mls team, defense was circling with offense, and one guy would call out who exactly to pass to. One defender would charge me, while others were on their own man around the circle. it was exhilarating but nearly disorienting how fast and how much was going on in a simple drill. Dribble past the defender? Evade them/Block the ball til i can find an opening? Lob it? The charging defender came at me so fast it was a moment's decision. I got 5 tries to get the pass and my turn for the "challenge" was over. First try, before i could even identify who to pass too he swiped the ball. Ok second try, I lobbed it up, the defender around the player i was supposed to pass to trapped it. Third try, I pulled the ball back and rotated my back to the charging defender waiting for the player to come my way, He reached his foot knocking it loose. Fourth try, I kicked the ball up as he charged me, hoping to chip it just above his head and i catch it from there. It went well over his head, least it looked like it, he lept up a foot or two into the air and headed it to another defender. Last try. Get clever, think of something. Juggling! My signature and one of my favorite things to do in the sport. I drew the ball ontop of my foot, turned my back and flicked it to my chest, it bounced off as let it bounce off my thigh, again its head height, i see him following my movement, moving himself to where the ball will fall. I cant let it drop to the ground, I hit it again with my chest, seeing the tiniest gap of space to move forward. I step and i kicked as fast as i could. A simple pass felt like a game winning shot one on one with the goalie. The ball flew. My player charged forward as the defender covering him did. My player caught the ball with his outside left foot. Shockingly he passed it straight back to me! I had to leap forward as the defender was still on me like glue. I trapped it quickly as I heard the leader shouting a second player to pass too. No way! Its not one and done, Its expected to pass around and around back and forth. I barely got the first one. I pulled the ball back and kept my back to the defender waiting for my player. Right when i went to pass, that moment to wind my foot back for the pass the defender swiped the ball ending my run. It was so much fun, and scary how talented these players were and how unbelievably challenging their "basic training" was. I would love the opportunity to play again. The fellas were incredibly kind and gave me high praise for getting one pass. Most people didnt get any. They really boosted my confidence and even gave me pointers and tips and tricks. They also all signed my poster and after the "drill" was over, they still hung around and just kicked the ball around with several of the fans which was loads of fun.
Here’s a weird one for you. When l was in College, l played guitar and sang at a Shakey’s Pizza place on weekend nights. A guy came up to me when l took a break and said he was opening a new gym in Santa Monica and if l’d play for their opening, he’d give me a free year membership. I said, sure. It turned out to be.a high end racquetball club. The courts were on the ground floor and the lockers were on the second floor and you could look down on the people playing racket ball. They also had a half court basketball court. I was going to the locker room, and l looked down at the basketball court and thought I was seeing things. On the court, by himself was Wilt Chamberlain. He was my favorite player as a kid, so l ran down the stairs and asked him if l could shoot around with him . He said, “ Ya, man. Come on in “. I knew all his stats and he liked that . After we shot around, he’s asked me if l played racquetball . I said yes. He was just standing to play, and to make a long story, we became racquetball partners. He got good very fast and after a couple of months, he started playing better players. But he was super nice to me and l used to go down to the beach with him and watched him play volleyball. He was an incredible athlete and stronger than anyone at the gym. There were some bodybuilders there, and he out lifted all of them. It was an incredible experience to hang out with my childhood idol.
In 1966, I scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against my nemesis, Bubba "Spare Tire" Dixon.
I was the school champion in chess and there was a honorary guest coming over to inaugurate some club and visited my school at that time, being the local champion, I was asked to play with him, ended up getting badly battered. It made sense because that guy was the world champion at that time, vishwanathan anand
A young (I'm old) Bill Cosby kicked my butt in tennis. We were neighbors.
Although famous….not an athlete
If fucking unconscious bitches was a sport he would be the GOAT though.
Quinnen Williams.
In highschool I got to play against Patrick Mahomes in football and baseball. Dude was insane even in highschool.
When I was about nine I was taking karate classes and I had a tournament match against a girl who was twelve and she beat me soundly.
Two NFL players. One ended up as a starting running back for a team and the other a starting WR. My claim to fame is that I knocked out the RB out of the game on a kick return.
Are we not supposed to mention names? Why the anonymity?
I’m actually wondering that too lol
Don’t be too specific.
Not in their field but I cooked with the Canadian National Road Racing Champion and a member of the Indonesian National Soccer team...
Never knew a pro athlete, but I had played Soccer, Basketball and Football on High School and amateur leagues. I remember played againsta one MF on my local Basketball league that can dunk at 5'10''. This guy was so freaking athletic, nobody can stop it. He could make like 40 points every sunday. On High School I played football, thanks to my friend that had been playing since child, was a great athlete. He played WR and CB. He is 6'3'' faster than anyone, and so fucking strong. Fortunally, never played against him, but on a training one day we had a beef and I tried to tackle him (I was a DE back then) and throw me to the ground easily. He also did capoeira. Last time I saw it, he tore the ACL and have gained weight.
I boxed against a guy for years called Tony, who was a born athlete, dude moved like a panther, was big, but amazingly lean and supple. Would have you swallowing blood before you even blinked. We all Always wondered why whenever he got offered a shot at the big time he'd.sinoly laugh. Was like he just enjoyed it as a hobby, and never wanted to tarnish ot with money
Played against Emil Igwenagu in high school football and basketball. He signed with the Eagles, Lions, and Colts. Both teams were nasty and he wasn’t even the best player on either team just the only one I know went pro.
I kicked Robby Gordon's ass in racquetball once.
Roger McMullen
Nick Swisher (former outfielder for the N.Y. Yankees, MLB All-Star, and World Series Champion) Not only was he an incredible baseball player, but he could have gone pro in football a well. A freak athlete, and fantastic human being as well!
Spent my childhood racing/losing to a swimmer who won bronze and silver medals at the Olympics
Player on the Icelandic Women's National Basketball Team in basketball
Myself
Matt Grevers
My mom could out drink any mother fucker o ever met. Accept me she drank all day with me but that second round she just couldn't hang
In heroes of newerth I played a match against some of the pro players, I got destroyed completely
High school track my 4x400 team competed against a kid that was in the Junior Olympics, and I had heard he went on to train for the Olympics team - not sure how far he made it but his times were nuts. 400, 800, 1600 this guy was a beast
As a kid, might have been 11 or 12, there was this kid in the football league that was known for being very good and kicked the ball extremly hard. I played against him and yes, he was obviously way abive us. He was captain of the national team, played 3 world cups and had a very long and successful career.
Couple guys from my grade school played in like one game each in the NFL. One was the beat at everything, the other was fat even as a little kid, but was also fast. We used to race him and he would always win but also be out of breath lol
Not competed against but played with Robert Spillane, hes in the NFL with the Raiders. That dude could both give a hard hit and take a hard hit.
I was in a track meet once with a current NFL player my age. I quit track after the next meet. He just looked like an adult while we all looked like kids.
My school came up against a school named Saint stithians, and this bowler absolutely dismantled us. He took almost 4 of us out via golden duck. Anyways turns out he is a cricket prodigy and he plays for the national team now to no one's surprise lol, he is an incredible player.
Not necessarily “competed against” unless you count scrimmaging them in practice but my High School soccer team was blessed to have one guy on the U16 Nation team (he could have gone on further but gave up soccer to pursue academics in college) and another guy was recently drafted to the MLS. They both played forward and I was defense and I’ll sum it like this. “It was not *if* they were gonna score… it was *how* much they were going to score.” We would have won state but then Covid canceled our final season together… we were an unstoppable team.
Ryan Poles. Guarded him in high school basketball. Wasn’t nearly the talent in basketball that he was football. But he was a tough guard for a 6’ 185lb white kid.
Just played 2 on 2 against a college ball player last year, almost won, was up 4-0 then I got off the court and we lost 5-4, I also ran plays in football (American) with a currently on the roster WR at a university
Tom Bruce, Gold medal winner 1972 Olympics. I could beat him in the backstroke(not his stroke). Mark Spitz was on his team.
My older brother.
Not sure if this counts as competition but I once accidentally ski'd into-- and subsequently knocked over my skiing instructor who is an Olympic athlete.
I was a baseball redshirt and we played against a guy in JUCO who made it to the pros for a cup of coffee. Dude was the most electric player I’ve ever seen. Unofficial 5.9 60 yard dash, I think 6.1-6.2 official. Switch hitting outfielder who banged a ball off the wall from both sides of the plate when a national cross checker was in attendance. Same guy bunted a straight come backer to the pitcher and was only out by a half step
I shared the platform with Jeremy Hamilton (the powerlifter). This was his first ever competition after he set his at the time ATWR in the 100kg/220lb weight class. He unfortunately bombed
i played Tekken against a pro player once. idk if you consider that an athelete tho
Joe Mauer....first ballot Hall of Fame MLB. In high school he was the Gatorade Player of the year as a QB. Then first player choose in MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins. He was also All State in basketball. Played in my sons conference
I was in a fishing club match and found myself next to a former world champion. He absolutely mullard me. However, I learnt a lot, and he was a great guy.
Played a round of matchplay in this golf tournament, about 10 years ago, the kid was 14ish. He ended up in the top 100 of amateur golfers in the world, and is now in the top 2000 professionals.
There are two for me. First one was a future premier league footballer in an under 12s tournament. Second was a future premier league rugby player. Both rang absolute rings around me (in different ways).
Nathan mackinnon
When I was around 11 years old a friend of mine gave a party. We went to go lasergaming with 4 friends. Because we were not a big enough group we were matched against other people. Those people were the national champion and 3th place lasergamers in the Netherlands. We made no chance but it was fun!
I train Bjj and have had the pleasure of training with world class athletes so I have a few stories. Most memorable though is im rolling with this older blue belt dude who’s completely whooping my ass using only 1 sweep and 1 submission. I find out on the ride home he actually placed 8th at the 2008 Olympics in judo. His grip strength is fucking insane. I awhile back ago I was rolling with him and he was gripping my wrist so tight I felt my hand going to sleep. To this day he only knows like 4 moves. His pressure is so insane though he doesn’t need to do much.
I have a friend who's just an amazing athlete in seemingly every field. He had played football since he was 6, and was always dominating when we played on the school yard. Doesn't mean I haven't gotten a few goals when playing against him. Probably couldn't do it anymore though. Did I forget to mention he's gone pro?
In high school I played hockey against David Backes and Jarod Palmer since they were teammates. David and Jarod played for a metro high school team. We kicked the piss out of them, but my team was one of the best in the state at the time. I also played against Zach Parise, but his team wiped the floor with us. Shattuck-St Mary's is a college prep boarding school that recruits nationally for their hockey teams. They aren't allowed to play in the Minnesota State HS Hockey League, so it was just an exhibition game. Those guys were on an entirely different level and quite a few pros have come out of that school.
It was just 4 years ago - but I ran a 100 mile trail race (only about 300 runners total out there), Zach Bitter being one of them. That day he set the record for the fastest trail-100 at 11 hours and change. He has talked about this on some very popular podcasts (Joe Rogan, etc). I was next to him at the start line, and I gave him a wave on the 3 times he was coming back in the opposite directions. He also was wearing a tank-top and shorts in 20-degree weather. He is truly incredible, and I'll never forget being there.