Golfer, absolutely.
Tiger Woods is now rated the 104th best golfer in the world, and he was still the 6th highest paid athlete in the world last year. Link.
Plus golf is awesome.
Does MMA count? Being the best fighter in the whole world is kind of cool.
Golfers probably have the longest careers. Remember that there’s the Senior Tour too. And there’s much less dependency on engineering than F1.
Asimovian, do you mean Crown Green bowls or bowling at cricket or bowling alley bowls?
Ten-pin bowling. Popular participation sport in the US, but little-followed in terms of the pros. I just happen to be one of the odd balls who follows the pro sport.
Quarterback, but Golfer is not a bad pick either.
2nd Base. Mostly because I played that position most of my youth. I would be like Robbie Cano only less of a douche.
Quidditch seeker, because that would imply that I’m a wizard.
MLB set up man / long reliever. They don’t get enough love.
At my age, golf would be the logical answer. But if age isn’t a factor, then definitely MLB pitcher. Closer would be nice, but my ego would demand multiple Cy Young awards, so starter it would be. And I would only play for the Dodgers, and only at home, except for playoffs. I’m the World’s Best…I can make demands.
Winner!
But otherwise a striker in soccer. I get paid millions of euros, then convert that to dollars and make even more.
Plus I score goals
and by goals I mean bitches!
Ignoring groupies, money etc.
!00m Champion.
Everybody can run. Everybody in their life tries to run as fast as they can. And I’m the best.
Long snapper on a Superbowl winning team.
Well, surprisingly, Ill be the first to offer my services as the world best NFL Quarterback, the undisputed most important single position in all of sports, and here in there USA, the most laid and paid!!! :D:D:D:cool:
Put me in, coach,
I’m ready to play today,
look at me, I can be,
centerfield.
Starting pitcher for me. Work 30-40 days a year, make big bucks, and stay healthy, and I actually enjoy watching baseball.
At night, in those last few minutes before I fall asleep, I am the best starting pitcher the Cardinals ever had. Better than Dizzy Dean or Bob Gibson. The story (possibly apocryphal) is that Dean once went into the opposing team’s dugout before a game and announced how he was planning to pitch to each of the batters. Then, naturally, he went out and still shut them down. I would so do that if I could pull it off. Like Dean (might have) said, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
In real life, being a starting pitcher must kind of suck. The toll on your body must be immense, and the stress would kill me. But if I was, say, Bob-Gibson-in-'68 good, it would be worth it.
I have to agree with AHunter3, the best field goal kicker ever. Master kicker and ninja QB for fakes.
At the most, one play per drive then sit down and wait for the next field goal try.
That’s why I went with centerfield over pitching. Throwing a major-league fastball is hard on the arm, and throwing a major-league breaking pitch, even more so. But there’d be nothing about being 5% better than Willie Mays in every way that would be especially hard on the body.
I’m tempted to get more specific than the OP.
Within each sport, there are specific teams that have particularly glamorous positions.
For a baseball player, playing center field for the Yankees is magical (that’s where DiMaggio and Mantle played).
For a college football player, there aren’t many more glamorous spots than tailback for USC (OJ Simpson, Marcus Allen, Reggie Bush) or quarterback at Notre Dame or linebacker at Penn State.
For a pro football player, how about playing middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears (like Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary or Brian Urlacher)?
For a basketball player, how about being center for the Lakers (like Wilt, Kareem and Shaq)?
- Starting pitcher (MLB)
- Center Fielder (MLB)
- Attacking Midfielder (EPL, La Liga, Serie A or Bundesliga)
- Point Guard (NBA)
A PGA golfer may sound great, but remember that you’ll be busy just about every weekend in the spring and summer (if you’re good).