The 1958 NFL Championship game is called the "Greatest Game Ever Played" which, in a lot of ways, is probably an overstatement. It was the first game to go into sudden death overtime. It had a last minute drive down the field to tie it up with a field goal. It had Pat Summerall, Johnny Unitas, Frank Gifford and a host of other future hall-of-famers. It left a lasting impression on the more than 40 million people who tuned in, marking the beginning of the rise of the NFL. It was all these things but, what made it exciting, was that it was the first of all these things. In the half-century to follow there were more overtimes, more impressive drives, and better players. However, as Ash78 pointed out, not all superior athletes are superior in every way.
I don't propose we all go back to a nation full of Johnny Unitas-style sports heroes, but I am getting a little tired of the faux-gangsta thing. Look at this pic: Even his friends were like "Just give me a second before you take the pic, I'm gonna go stand over there"
Props to Scroggzilla for the pic.