The 2024 NHL season is underway, and one of many main storylines on the ice this season considerations one participant’s pursuit of a file beforehand thought unreachable.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin started the yr 40 objectives shy of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894 profession NHL objectives. However with Ovechkin off to a scorching begin this season the Capitals star is now simply 15 objectives shy of Gretzky, with 879 profession objectives. Aim #16 would put Ovechkin atop the leaderboard.
That pursuit obtained us considering right here at SB Nation.
What are the remaining unreachable objectives in sports activities?
Right here is our listing.
Jerry Rice profession receiving yards
Jerry Rice has 22,895 receiving yards, which is 5,403 yards forward of second place Larry Fitzgerald, and 9,192 yards forward of Julio Jones who isn’t but retired and thus the main energetic receiver on the all-time receiving yards listing. If we glance by way of gamers which have performed lower than ten seasons and thus might nonetheless have some huge numbers in them, we get to Tyreek Hill. He has 10,601 yards, which suggests he’s not even midway to Rice.
Right here’s an much more spectacular stat from Jerry Rice. He turned 30 on October 13, 1992. Since that date, he has hauled in 13,546 receiving yards. If we make a profession out of simply Jerry Rice’s receiving yards after he turned 30, he would rank seventeenth. And let’s not overlook that his post-30 profession contains his age 35 season misplaced to a torn ACL!
What makes these all of the extra GOAT-level numbers is the period through which he achieved all this. Defensive gamers might do nearly no matter they needed to offensive gamers. The league wasn’t doing all the pieces it might to guard quarterbacks and large receivers and enhance the offensive performances. Whereas Joe Montana, Steve Younger, and others have been getting destroyed by cross rushers, Rice was having to battle off prime quality defensive backs that would get further bodily with him. If we gave Rice the principles we see now to guard offensive gamers, he very properly may be up over 30,000 profession yards.
Bruce Smith 200 profession sacks
Bruce Smith’s 200 profession sacks would possibly by no means be reached.
Smith holds that file by simply two over Reggie White, however there’s a substantial drop-off after these two sack masters. Kevin Greene is third on the all-time listing with 160 profession sacks.
The energetic chief? Von Miller with 129.5.
Cameron Jordan is subsequent on the energetic listing with 118.5 sacks, however each Miller and Jordan are nearing the top of their respective careers. Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt might need essentially the most reasonable shot, as he at the moment has 108 sacks. However he would want to place up some monster numbers to get inside true putting distance of Smith on the prime. For instance, Watt would want to match or surpass his yearly common of 15.5 sacks for greater than six extra seasons to succeed in Smith.
Emmitt Smith 18,355 profession speeding yards
When Emmitt Smith walked away from the NFL on the finish of his lengthy profession, he did because the league’s all-time speeding chief with 18,355 yards to his credit score.
He additionally did in order a member of the Arizona Cardinals, however that could be a story for an additional time.
The league’s energetic speeding chief? That might be Derrick Henry, who’s coming of an impressive season with the Baltimore Ravens. In his first yr within the AFC North Henry ran for 1,921 yards because the Ravens gained the division.
That introduced Henry’s profession mark to 11,423 yards, 6,932 yards shy of Smith’s file.
At his profession common of 1,428 yards per season, Henry would want one other 5 seasons of such manufacturing to succeed in that mark. With Henry about to play his tenth NFL season, it’s a chance, however he would want to maintain up an unimaginable tempo to succeed in Smith.
Past Henry, the following energetic leaders are Ezekiel Elliott (9,130), Joe Mixon (7,428) and Saquon Barkley (7,216).
Wayne Gretzky 1,963 profession assists and a couple of,857 profession factors
Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s 894 profession objectives might even see the Capitals star catch The Nice One.
However a few of Gretzky’s different information, particularly his profession help mark and his profession factors mark, are seemingly out of attain.
For instance, on the subject of profession assists Sidney Crosby is the energetic chief, with 1,045. That places Crosby 918 shy of Gretzky’s mark.
Crosby can be in his twentieth NHL season, and has already hinted on the finish of his profession.
The Pittsburgh Penguins star can be the energetic chief in factors, with 1,654. He trails Gretzky by 1,203, and once more, Crosby is in his twentieth NHL season.
A participant to look at may be Connor McDavid. The Edmonton Oilers star simply joined the 1,000-point membership, turning into the fourth-fastest participant in league historical past to succeed in that milestone.
With 1,053 profession factors, McDavid would want to common no less than 100 factors for greater than 18 seasons to succeed in Gretzky’s factors file.
Cy Younger’s 749 profession full video games
The fashionable MLB has seen a progress in the usage of aid pitchers. From the monitoring of pitch counts to watch the damage and pressure on participant’s arms, to the usage of gamers at varied levels of video games to both shut them out, and even get a single hitter out, has seen the whole recreation turn into a factor of the previous.
Which implies that Cy Younger’s mark of 749 full video games, barring a large shift in how the game is performed, won’t ever be reached.
Why? The energetic chief in full video games proper now could be Justin Verlander.
With 26.
Don Bradman’s profession check cricket batting common of 99.9
It’s inconceivable to understand simply how unbreakable this file is due to how few individuals observe cricket in the US — however I’m going to attempt. The best trendy cricket participant, India’s Sachin Tendulkar had a profession batting common of 53.4 runs-per-game, which is really astonishing.
Australian legend Donald Bradman nearly doubled it.
Relating to RBIs in baseball Albert Pujols is in second place with 2,218 and Hank Aaron owns the file at 2,297. So think about for a second that Tendulkar is Pujols, and Aaron is Bradman. To ensure that the file holder to personal the file to the extent Bradman does it might require Hank Aaron to have 4,059 RBIs.
Each single time Bradman was at bat he’d common a century. That might be like stepping foot on the sector and hitting 1.5 RBIs each recreation, and doing that in your complete profession. Nothing will ever break it.
Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive video games
The Iron Man stands alone in not simply baseball, however each single sport. To take the sector each single recreation for 16 YEARS is totally inconceivable. It’s not nearly being powerful and enjoying by way of ache, however managing to keep away from a minefield for accidents for over a decade and a half.
With athletes pushing themselves more durable than ever it feels totally inconceivable anybody will attain this mark once more.
Night time Prepare Lane’s 14 interception season
Night time Prepare Lane set this file for the Los Angeles Rams again in 1952, and over 70 years later it nonetheless stands. Not solely have solely three individuals ever registered 13 INTs, however Lane did it when the season was solely 12 video games lengthy.
We had a second in 2021 when Trevon Diggs reached 11 INTs, however he was nonetheless brief in a 17 recreation season.
Within the final 24 years we’ve solely had seven gamers register 10 or extra INTs in a season, and the best has been Diggs with 11. That is an period of Darrelle Revis, Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey — Corridor of Fame cornerbacks, and none have been near 14 INTs.
With 72 years within the books and much more to come back, this may be essentially the most unbreakable file within the NFL.
Tiger Woods and Sam Snead’s 82 PGA Tour titles
For greater than 50 years, Sam Snead’s file of 82 profession PGA Tour titles stood the check of time, proving how demanding this accomplishment is. His final PGA Tour victory got here on the 1965 Better Greensboro Open, whereas his first got here in West Virginia in 1936. He additionally managed to win seven majors in between.
After which Tiger Woods got here alongside. Between 1996 and 2013, Woods gained 79 PGA Tour titles, together with 14 main championships. He dominated the game, profitable on programs akin to Torrey Pines, Bay Hill, Muirfield Village, and Firestone Nation Membership yr in and yr out. Thirty-one of his PGA Tour titles got here on these 4 programs alone, together with the 2008 U.S. Open, which he gained on one leg.
Accidents then plagued him from 2014 to 2018, and on the price he was going, he would have handed Snead’s illusive file with ease. Then Woods had a late-career resurgence, profitable three tournaments in 2018 and 2019, together with The Masters. His victory on the 2019 ZOZO Championship in Japan gave him win quantity 82, thus tying the file.
As for as we speak, an excessive amount of expertise exists in golf for somebody to dominate the game like Woods did in his heyday. Consider all the good gamers who headline golf in 2025. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy instantly come to thoughts, and mixed, they’ve gained 47 titles. McIlroy at the moment leads all energetic PGA Tour execs with 27 profession victories, and he solely has a couple of decade of his prime to go. So that is all to say that no one is catching Woods or Snead anytime quickly and, in all probability, ever once more.