To me a baseball player is someone like Cal Ripken Jr. I chose Cal because I never saw Lou Gehrig play. For football it's Johnny Unitas. These guys came to work every day, played injured, and never bitched, or whined, or made bad press. They took their natural skills, and made them better by focus and hard work, NOTHING ELSE. I would take an old Cal Ripken over a young Barry Bonds in a hearbeat. I would take a beat up, injured, 37 year old Johnny Unitas over a piece of crap like Michael Vick in a second. Ripken and Unitas know how to win. Bonds and Vick know how to make excuses.
I'm sure this posting may piss a few people off, but that's how I feel.