Skip to the content

THE MAG.COM PRESENTS:
ALL WORLD POWER RANKINGS

by Ted Bauer

Getty Images
Dollar, Dollar Bill Y'All. Oh wow, we just made a mockery of this guy.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST ATHLETES-TURNED-POLITICIANS, WE'LL TAKE BILL BRADLEY ANY DAY

[Ed's note: Not sure what All-World Power Rankings is? Please click here.]

Tomorrow is November 1st. Three days after that is (cue the violins) "the most important election of our lifetime." We don't dabble in politics, but we do dabble in the intersection of sports and politics. November means we're getting hyped for Gordon Smith (look it up!), so we decided to rank the best athletes turned politicians ever. Before we begin, one question: how many major college football coaches do you think could win an election for Governor of the state they coach in right now? Mack Brown vs. Rick Perry? It'd be unreal. ( Bonus: click through this!)

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
1 (10) BILL BRADLEY Truth: we wrote a college essay on this guy's influence on us. Princeton in a Final Four? Amazing. Funny to think that this guy is probably good friends with Phil Jackson, too.
2 (35) GEORGE WEAH Simply put, he's a fairly amazing man.
3 (62) JIM BUNNING He was a legitimately good pitcher (he won 224 games). He gets thrown under the bus often for his role in the '64 Phillies collapse, but ya know what? The 2007 Mets made that less relevant! We wonder if he gave a congratulatory call to Charlie Manuel.
4 (9) ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER Totally put this here just to link this.
5 (42) GERALD FORD We weren't alive at the time, but apparently he was really good at Michigan. Cue the peanut gallery: "They could use him now!" Seriously, though, Chevy Chase just ruined this guy.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
82 (139) HOWIE MEEKER Who? Read this. Amazingly, he dabbled in politics while playing.
103 (1,870) STEVE LARGENT For our money, he's among the top five receivers in NFL history. He got to Washington before Jim Zorn, but Zorn might last longer there if his Skins can play to potential these next few years. (We figure Albert Haynesworth has to help.) We have no idea how Largent lost that 2002 Governor race, though. ( Oh, ok! )

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT WHAT
PETER BOULWARE (He lost, but we think he'll be back. And how cool is it to say "endorsed by Ray Lewis?")
JACK KEMP (He let Al Gore get a joke in on him. Watch that link. )
For more All-World Power Rankings, CLICK HERE


ESPN Conversation

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine