What athletes have gone far despite having the 'wrong' body type for their sport?
What athletes have gone far despite having the 'wrong' body type for their sport?
e.g.
Chiyonofuji: sumo wrestler with low body fat
Mike Tyson: heavyweight boxer who is short
Spud Webb - 5'6", won the 1986 NBA dunk contest
74Watching him dunk looks so unnatural. He was amazing.
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10Holy shit that's awesome. So that's what the guy in Haikyuu would look like in real life (anime about volleyball where one of the protagonists is a short guy who makes up for it because he can run fast and jump real high).
2
There was a short black kid like that in high school, saw him in the gym in '87 or '88. I'm 5'8", maybe an inch shorter then? This guy was clearly shorter than me.
Eating lunch in the risers and my friend started pointing, "There he is! Check this dude out!"
That guy had cannonballs for calf muscles. Like Spud, it was eye-popping to see him spring.
5Muggsy Bogues, too. Though I don’t think he won a dunk contest.
3
I came into this expecting a thread full of Stanley Cup champion, elite athlete at the highest level, and prime example of perfected male physique, Phil Kessel, but haven’t seen a single mention of him. So I’ll start it.
55Just noticed the tear in the underwear lmao
3The hotdog man himself.
2
Tim Lincecum. It literally required his engineer father to analyze and perfect every part of his pitching mechanics to be able to compete at the highest level. Everything about his pitching delivery was so goddamn weird that he is simply known as The Freak. But for a short time he was as good as anyone, throwing 2 no hitters, and winning 2 cy young awards and 3 world series.
27And let's not forget the Giants' amazing reliever, Pablo Sandoval (0.00 ERA and 0.00 WHIP)!
For those not in the loop, he was a (seemingly) overweight 3rd baseman who made phenomenally athletic plays and hit monster home runs (especially in the postseason, leading to 3 World Series trophies and a WS MVP), earning the nickname "Kung Fu Panda."
Then, in the twilight of his career, he also pitched 2 innings without allowing a baserunner, becoming a bit of an SF meme, including at least one "Let Pablo Pitch" bobblehead.
4
Muggsy Bogues
25Small highlight reel of the Lil speed demon.
4
Donald Trump. He's really not fit for anything. Kinda weird though being 6'4" and 240lbs of pure muscle...
20Nonsense. I'm sure there's an orange jumpsuit that fits him perfectly.
26reddit-tier dumbfuckery: comment makes no sense but you fangirls will still upvote coz ur boyfriend got mentioned
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You see, what I fear in Tyson is not his height, but his arms.
17Yes, it's just long people usually have long arms.
12
There was a lot of chatter when the Seattle Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson about how he was too short to throw over the linemen. In his second year as a quarterback he led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl victory, and led them to another appearance and almost a second victory the following year.
14I similarly thought of Michael Vick. Man, I miss watching him play every Sunday.
2On the note of short QBs there's a really cool ESPN documentary on Doug Flutie which is a good watch
2
Tommy Caldwell is a high level outdoor rock climber and he’s missing most of his left index finger.
13Mugsy Bogues was pretty short but did well in the NBA.
13Fedor Emelianenko always looked frumpy compared to everyone he fought. That was the last thing most people thought before they woke up from hard reboot anyway.
12Loris Baz a motorcycle racer. He’s 190cm (6’3”) in a sport where the average is 172cm 5’8”. He isn’t super accomplished when it comes to podiums or anything. But he still managed to drive in the MotoGP class which is the highest motorcycle racing class.
12Sebastian Jankowski was an NFL kicker listed at 6'1" and 260 lbs. While not much taller than average he was 65 lbs heavier.
Also while there have been a handful of 5'6" or under NFL players, I love the fact that the Eagles have had two of them in the last 5 years. Darren Sproles and Boston Scott.
11*Janikowski. You mistyped and left out the "i".
My favorite NFL kicker. He absolutely had the leg to break the NFL record for farthest field goal for a while, but the few chances in a game he was given to do it, he didn't quite manage. Still makes me sad to this day.
Guy went 18 years as an NFL kicker. That's crazy! The average career for a kicker is only 5 years. Not the longest career kicker (Morten Anderson with an ungodly 25 seasons) but still much longer than most.
4When he was in college, him and some teammates snuck out of their hotel in New Orleans to party. Everyone else got suspended and they asked Bobby Bowden why Janikowski wasn’t suspended and he said, “I like him; we have an ‘international rule.’”
3
Tyson being relatively short and stocky might've breen what helped him in the heavyweight division against all those guys with a wider wingspan that couldn't really catch him when he got close.
I think Fedor fits this category more where he didn't look fit but just kept winning against everyone.
11Short also helps in weight based competition by allowing more muscle mass.
4Fedor is proof that dad bods can be just as scary as roided muscle bods, for sure.
Shogun was kinda built like that, too, and had a hell of a run in Pride.
3
Hunter Pence has multiple world series rings and had the goofiest throwing and batting style. Turns out he has a back condition that caused his thoracic vertebrae to fuse giving him basically zero flexibility through his mid spine. Also just a fun weird guy.
11Hunter Pence is a great example, but one of the things that's great about baseball is that there is a place for every body type. If you're in shape (and sometimes even if not) no matter where your athletic gifts are, you can imagine a role on a baseball team.
Bartolo Colon was my pick for OP. If he can be an in demand pitcher into his 40s, any body type can.
3
Bartolo Colon aka Big Sexy - the legendary pitcher who retired from the MLB at 50 years old but apparently will pitch in an upcoming Pakistani baseball league on a team called the Karachi Monarchs managed by none other than Miguel Tejada with Adrian Beltre at GM.
9Walter Payton
edit: he was small for a power back at 5’10” 200lbs. No one thought someone that size would do what he did in the NFL.
6That man was a joy to watch. Hell, the '85 Bears were probably the most entertaining NFL team of all time.
Cocky, asshole quarterback that threw heat-seeking missiles, a household appliance for a lineman, old-school tough-guy coach, MTv video, solid Super Bowl win, all that. Gods, so much more. "Yep. Singletary again. Figured."
One of the few plays I ever remember was I think the '85 championships? Maybe the Super Bowl? The defense tried to fucking kill that asshole McMahon. Hit him so hard he spun horizontally like a pinwheel. "Holy shit! Can they get away with that?!"
Another win, which was a foregone thing, they handed the ball to The Refrigerator and he walked it in. Dudes hanging all over him, just kept walking.
They simply whipped everyone who took the field. LOL, no one tuned in to see if they would win, we tuned in to see a 55-gallon barrel of whoop-ass opened on the opposition.
3
Messi had genetic issue, but he went to winning valid 6 baloon d'or. The last two were questionable.
6Isn't he extra short too?
1
Tony hawk has said he's a bit too tall and lanky for skateboarding
6Drew brees. Apparently he is too short to be a QB
2Brendan Gallager
1Interesting question, I don't know any unfortunately
-9I found this kinda clickbaity article with some examples: https://web.archive.org/web/20200308145022/https://globalsportmatters.com/science/2020/01/16/too-tall-too-short-too-big-athletes-breaking-body-stereotypes/
3