In general, the glamor in the sports world goes to the offensive side of the game - the players who score baskets, goals, touchdowns, etc. The defensive guys get less attention.
Baseball pitcher seems to be the only marquee defensive position.
Is there any other defensive position in sports that gets as much or more glamor as offense?
I disagree with your premise:
NHL goalie = Tony Esposito, Patrick Roy
NFL Linebacker = Dick Butkus, LT, Lavonte David
NBA point guard = Magic Johnson, Steph Curry
I could name a dozen more at each position…
But Curry is glamorous because he rains down 3s, not because he blocks shots or steals balls.
I’m not sure the defensive/offensive line is very clear. Isn’t getting outs pretty much an offensive goal?
Bowlers in cricket occupy a glamorous role, but it’s also a highly attacking role. And the more attacking the bowler, the more glamorous their treatment. I would have said “pitcher” is quite similar.
Curry’s defensive stats beg to differ with you.
You want someone more “known” for D?
Dennis Rodman
Dikembe Mutombo
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Yup, I agree, I think calling pitching or bowling a defensive position is misleading. Their role to initiate each “play”, and they can do that in an attacking or defensive manner.
Absolutely! NHL goalie was my first thought. I don’t know if “glamorous” is quite the right word for any of this, but great goalies are certainly very important, very much revered by fans, and often very highly paid. They are sometimes considered the only thing that saves an otherwise underperforming team.
Corner backs in the NFL are an extremely hot commodity.
In baseball most shortstops are better known for their defensive skills than their offensive potential. Also, baseball in general recognizes defense with “golden glove” awards.
I think all of the football suggestions are missing the point. Yes, it’s possible to be known as a great defensive player, but if you ask who the most important member of a football team is, the answer will generally be the quarterback, an offensive position.
By contrast, if you ask who the most important member of a baseball team is, the answer will be the pitcher, a defensive position. And yes, the pitcher is defensive, even if they can play aggressively: The pitcher’s ideal is a low score, not a high score.
I always think that the concept of offense and defense is reversed between cricket and baseball.
In fact the pitcher is said to lead the “defense” in baseball. While the bowlers collectives are known as the “attack” in cricket.
Historically the primary objective of the batsman is to not get out. In baseball it is to score. And the bowler/pitcher has the opposite objective.
I think even in soccer, GK’s like Buffon and Casillas definitely elevated themselves to “glamorous” positions. Also, for teams that have had success with a defense-first mindset, the defenders get a lot of the glory. Examples include Cannavaro of Italy and Juventus, Pique of Spain and Barca, etc.
There are many glamourous defensive positions in football. Many keepers have held highly regarded positions as captains and generals. Even more defenders have been seen as the pivotal names in their team. Only needing a single name for worldwide recognition.
e.g. Moore, Beckenbauer, Matthaeus, Cannavaro, Gentile, Koeman, Krol, Baresi, Maldini…I could go on.
One of the most iconic photos in football history has to be Pele and Moore at the end of the game at the Mexico world cup in 1970. And it is iconic because of the stature of the two people involved.
edit - Apologies to JJ, I didn’t see they were making much the same point.
I may be a bit coffee-deprived at this time of day, but huh? While it’s useful for pitchers to be at least decent fielders, that position is about the last one in baseball one would cite as “marquee”, fielding-wise. Ozzie Smith (shortstop), Brooks Robinson (third base) and Willie Mays (center field) are among the top fielders in baseball history. It’s a lot harder to immediately think of great fielding pitchers.*
*Greg Maddux was one of the all-time best.
That was last true probably about 25 years or so ago. Second base? Probably true still.
Those guys aren’t primarily glamorous for their defense. All NBA positions are offensive and defensive, point guard isn’t a “Defensive position.”
I’d agree NHL goalie can be glamorous, though at rather enormous cost. Not much glamour in having Brett Hull zing 98-MPH slapshots at your melon.
No, its’ defensive. Defense is preventing scoring, offense is scoring. Pitchers try to prevent scoring.
Pitching is however an active defensive position in a way being a goalie or a defensive end is not, which is one of the reasons it’s a famous position. The other would be that the pitcher simply dominates the outcome of a game; you would be hard pressed to find a position in ANY team sport where a guy can personally dictate a game’s outcome.
True. And that’s really the ONLY position that gets any special love as well. Some are more prominent than others, but quarterback (and pitcher in baseball) is really the only position where sportscasters will refer to it as "Doofus McStupid and the are in town to play the ", as if it’s 10 guys and a quarterback (or pitcher). Or they’ll refer to the game as being a contest between the two quarterbacks (or pitchers) as if they’re the only people on the field.
Otherwise, being mentioned outside of your team is pretty much dependent on the quality of your play, not your specific position.
The most important player on a team is usually the best batter. The most important player on the field for any particular game is usually the pitcher. But since the pitcher only plays every 5 games, they’re not typically the most valuable to a team.
If you had to pick between Offense and Defense, baseball pitching stats would have to fall under defense. But pitchers are essentially a separate role, not quite defense as we usually use the term.
It feels counterintuitive, but since you can’t score with your pitcher on the mound, it has to be considered a defensive position.
Pass rushers in American football.