The Best 10 Famous Sports Quotes Ever Said

What is the Best Sports Quote?

Finding the greatest quote is impossible since these are all a matter of preference. The most famous sports quotes can be epic or funny, depending on the context. So we’ll do the next best thing and compile the 10 most famous sports quotations:

1. “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical” –  Yogi Berra, New York Yankees icon
2. “Come after me! I’m a man. I’m 40!” – Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State football head coach
3. “I control my life; my life doesn’t control me” – Gabrielle Reece, volleyball star and model
4. “If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough” – Mario Andretti, legendary race car driver
5. “You miss all the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player ever
6. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath, New York Jets legend
7. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” – Vince Lombardi, legendary NFL head coach
8. “I never look back. I look forward” – Steffi Graf, all-time great tennis player
9. “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying” – Michael Jordan, the GOAT
10. “Playoffs?!?” – Jim Mora, Indianapolis Colts head coach

This is just a mixture of famous quotes by sports players and athletes. Some have become famous as “memes,” while others are inspiring and used as motivational wallpapers.

Some of the most legendary players, like Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan, are also on that list. Because of their status, their words became great sports quotes. They hold some of the craziest and most unbreakable sports records of all time.

Others like Jim Mora and Mike Gundy are not as famous as the epic famous sports quotes they dropped. Almost everyone has heard of Mora’s iconic “playoffs?!” sound bite. And while the coach had a solid career, he’ll best be remembered for uttering that one word.

What is the Best Word in Sports?

Like the famous sports quotes, the best word in sports is relative. It depends on the occasion or context, but words like “winning,” “focus,” or “believe” and their derivatives are often used to motivate and inspire.

Even when it comes to sports betting and gambling, which can be considered sports (see the World Series of Poker and others), stars like Phil Helmuth have contributed popular sports quotes. Speaking of such, we can explore a wide range of sports betting options at BetUS.

Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to separate sports betting from sports itself. This makes it so that sports bettors and gamblers can be inspirational figures, as outlandish as that sounds. But why not? Many of these professionals deal with risk and failure every day. As such, check out the most famous gambling quotes that inspire and entertain.

What are Inspiring Quotes For Sports Day?

On inspiring quotes, a recent NBA Championship-winning head coach dropped a bomb worth remembering. Joe Mazzulla just said something raw: ‘We’re All Going to be Dead Soon.’ In full, he added, ‘It really doesn’t matter anymore, so there’s zero pressure. It’s not pressure. It’s an opportunity. We have an expectation to win.”

In context, Mazzulla was asked about the pressure of winning a second straight NBA title for his Boston Celtics. While that quote may be dark at first glance, it may be one of today’s more inspirational and famous sports quotes.

Mazzulla dug deep in his bag of nihilistic philosophies. Nihilism can be seen as a pessimistic take on life as it views everything as meaningless. But you can also look at it positively that if we would all die and nothing matters, then we can live our lives freely–free of pressure, expectation, and that crippling sense of failure.

We didn’t expect the Celtics coach to give such a based response to such a cliched question. It deserves its own section and beats most Hollywood scripts. Incidentally, we can check some famous quotes in our ultimate list of the best sports movies if you’re in the mood.