If you could choose your favorite 3 favorite athletes in sports history, who would they be?
I would pick Tom Seaver, Dan Marino, and Wayne Gretzkey.

Any sports at all? Did I have to have seen them play? If I do, I think I will go with......

3. Matt Martin of the New York Islanders (hockey)
2. Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees (baseball)
1. Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees (baseball)

Picking three would be too hard to do.? I'm a diehard, true and blue Indianapolis Colts fan, so I'd have to put on there Peyton Manning.? He brought us some great years an a Super Bowl win.? But now he's gone, and I'm 100% behind Andrew Luck and company.

One of my favorites of all time is one no one has ever heard of.? His name is Brandon Burlsworth, he played college football in my home state of Arkansas, for the Razorbacks.? He graduated with a masters degree in 5 years, and was ALL-SEC and was a third round draft pick by, who else, the Indianapolis Colts.? I was stoked to have a razorback playing for the Colts.

But tragedy struck, and he was killed in a car accident on his way home from a church function in Harrison, Arkansas.? I've been to Harrison once, and the roads are curvy and steep.? He had a few practices with the colts, but died before preseason even started.? Now the razorbacks honor him every day in coordination with the Brandon Burlsworth foundation, and bring kids to the game each week who have never been to a game before.? The Colts also have designated a part of the field to him, called "The Burls Zone."? If you ever watch a colts game and wonder why the words Burls zone is there, that's why.

RIP my friend.

Edit: Forgot to mention his story is being made into a major motion picture.  He won't be unknown for long.  I just hope they do this right, it hits close to home for a lot of us around here.  Imdb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2950418/

I never got to watch Tom Seaver play so that doesn't count.

I'd go with Nolan Ryan.  He's a power pitcher with great personality and proves how useless a stat like Wins is for pitchers in baseball.  He's had his number retired by three different professional teams and he has a thousand more strikesouts than the next guy.  He's a killer.

I'd go with Peyton Manning because he's playing out of his mind right now.  He also has great commercials, he's hilarious, especially paired with Justin Timberlake, and he's a professional who leads teams and makes everyone around him better.

Finally, I'm thinking Darko.  I loved Darko when he came to the Pistons and I thought he was going to be great.  He turned into a human victory cigar while the rest of the draft class succeeded and won rings and generally make a name for themselves.  I have no idea where he is but I loved it every time he stepped on the court.