Derek Jeter is a shortstop and team Captain of the New York Yankees. He's only played for one team his entire career. Jeter is a 11-time All-Star, 5-time World Series Champion, 5-time Golden Glove winner, and owner of numerous other awards and accolades. Derek Jeter is the epitome of a baseball player and a class act on and off the baseball field.
Tim Duncan is a 6'11" power forward and center for the San Antonio Spurs. Duncan's impressive resume includes 4 NBA Championships, 3 NBA Finals MVP awards, 2 NBA MVP awards, and NBA Rookie of the Year in 1998. While many NBA players careers are tainted with innuendos, scandal, and tabloid gossip, Tim Duncan has been the model of consistency in both character and performance.
Martina Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She began her dominance on the tennis court in 1972, when, at 15 years of age, she won the Czechoslovakia national tennis championship. Martina was the quintessential tennis superstar who was humble both on and off the court.
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, better known as Dikembe Mutombo, was a formidable center in the National Basketball Association. However, he makes this list not so much for his play on the court but for his charitable works off the court and how he represented himself as an NBA player. Dikembe was honored by USA Weekend Magazine with the "Most Caring Athlete Award," and from FOXSports.com as the most generous athlete in the world (see supporting link).
Cal Ripken is baseball's all-time IronMan because he played in 2,130 consecutive games. He broke Lou Gehrig's long-standing record. In the fall of 2007, Ripken was named as a Special Public Diplomacy Envoy to the U.S. State Department. In this role he travels the globe and uses baseball as a tool to spread goodwill.
select one here...