Sport Columnist Slams ESPN for Naming Michael Phelps the Greatest Athlete of 21st Century: ‘People Only Give a Sh*t About You for Two Weeks’

Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote took issue with ESPN naming star swimmer Michael Phelps the greatest athlete of the 21st century.

Phelps’ top billing already received significant pushback — most notably from Pat McAfee — when it published the first portion of its list of the 100 greatest athletes of the century. It recently revealed the final names, with Phelps topping them all. Rounding out the top five were Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, LeBron James, and Tom Brady.

To some, Phelps can be considered the obvious pick. With 23 Olympic gold medals, he is widely recognized as the greatest Olympian of all time and one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Cote, however, believes he wasn’t active enough to be given such an honor.

“They had him number one on the list,” Cote said on Tuesday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show, “and I’m just wondering aloud: can you be the number one professional athlete of your century when people only give a shit about you two weeks, once every four years?”

As several of this colleagues in the room appeared stunned by his remarks, Cote doubled down when he brought up gymnast Simone Biles and track legend Usain Bolt.

“Usain Bolt used to be this person in track and field,” Cote said. “We care intensely [for] two weeks every four years about track and field.”

Watch above via The Dan Le Batard Show.