by Geoff Ratliff
Ladies love athletes. This has been true as far back as the Roman Empire, and there is no sign of it changing any time soon.
Stand-out athletes start getting attention from the opposite sex as early as little league. But the guys who ascend to the top of their sports’ professional ranks are literally treated like rock stars.
Here are the top 16 ladies men in professional sports.
16. Colin Kaepernick
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is bringing the bad boy image back in vogue. Even after a crushing Super Bowl defeat, the second-year pro took the NFL by storm last season.
In just 10 starts, Kaepernick led the 49ers on an NFC-Championship run with a dazzling display of athletic runs and rocket throws. He may not have been a household name before the 2012 season started, but the handsome young QB is definitely on every lady’s radar now.
15. Mike Trout
If Kaepernick is leading the bad boy renaissance, then Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout is chalking one up for the clean-cut crew. The 2012 AL Rookie of the Year has quickly become one of the top players in MLB, while exuding a sense of innocence that some women find extremely sexy.
Normally living with your parents as an adult will get you kicked out of the cool kids club, especially when your are a professional athlete. I have a strange feeling, however, that Trout won’t have a problem finding a date to this year’s ESPY awards show.
14. Chad Johnson
Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson may be out of the NFL, but he is still very much in the public eye.
When he isn’t on your TV screen wooing the ladies in a reality show, Johnson is a constant presence on Twitter. Based on his more than five million followers, the man formerly known as Ochocinco is still very popular among the ladies.
Lochte is obviously handsome and ripped, but he steals women’s hearts by making them laugh. He is notorious for his goofy behavior, leading some to think that he doesn’t take his swimming as seriously as he should.
It may drive his coaches crazy, but it has the same effect on women, albeit in a totally different way.
Along with being the local boy that made good, Cruz’s Puerto Rican roots have made him extremely popular among the Hispanic-American population. While Cruz appears to be fully dedicated to his long-time girlfriend Elaina Watley and their daughter Kennedy, that won’t stop the ladies from screaming “Ay Papi.”
I don’t want to make light of Tiger Woods’ personal failings, but it is pretty obvious that he was very popular with women even while he was married. He has understandably kept a low profile off the course over the past few years, but Woods may finally be ready to break out of his self-imposed shell.
Tiger has slowly started to get his golf game together, rising to No. 2 in the world rankings behind Rory McIlroy. He kicked off the 2013 season with a win at Torrey Pines last week, and may be back to regularly competing for majors.
Some people will never forgive him for his past indiscretions, but history has shown that there is always plenty of love for a winner.
10. Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow’s 2012 season may have been a complete disaster, but he still has plenty of supporters. At least one of them happened to be an extremely attractive actress.
While Tebow may not have gotten a fair shot at quarterbacking the New York Jets, he certainly earned the right to win Camilla Belle’s heart. The relationship may have fizzled out after only a couple of months, but it proved that Tebow gets far more love than the average backup quarterback.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has a lot of fans, Anna Burns Welker notwithstanding. While her Facebook rant criticizing Lewis may have been in poor taste, his six children are evidence that he has often reciprocated that love.
For all the people that hate Lewis because of his on-field antics and constant talk about God’s place in his life, those are the same reasons why a lot more people continue to love him.
“Reverend Ray” has gotten a ton of attention over the past few weeks as the final act of his 17-year NFL career played out for all the world to see. With two Super Bowl titles in tow and a Hall of Fame bust on the horizon, there will be no shortage of women looking to become the (next) preacher’ wife.
Kemp became well known among non-baseball fans because of his 2010 relationship with pop star Rihanna, a union that may be back in the works. He has continued to catch the eye of women everywhere with several magazine features, including a 2012 article in GQ.
If Ri-Ri lets Kemp get away from her again, there will definitely be a long line of women waiting to take make him their rude boy.
Parker has a flare for the spotlight and a love for the night life, a combination that hasn’t always served him well. He was famously caught in the middle of a brawl at a New York City night club last summer, an incident that almost cost him the use of his left eye.
With his injury fully healed and his place atop the Spurs pecking order now secure, Parker will return to making romancing the ladies a priority during the NBA’s offseason.
Sure Brady has the All-American looks, but he also has a great back story as a hard-working guy who earned his keep.
It’s quite alright to fantasize about Brady, but ladies should be wary of making a play for Gisele’s man. If you think she has little patience for incompetent wide receivers, just imagine what she would do to someone who tried to take away the father of her two children.
It’s good to be the biggest, baddest, coolest dude on the block, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is that dude.
Bolt burst onto the international stage by winning the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He reasserted his dominance by again winning both races at the 2012 London Games, solidifying his claim to the world’s fastest man title.
As great as his talent is, Bolt has the bright smile and fun-loving personality to match. He was the guy that every other Olympian wanted to party with, as evidenced by this photo of him and three women from the Swiss Olympic team.
He also happens to have the coolest victory pose in sports.
4. Mark Sanchez
New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is the only guy on this list who’s ladies man persona has outgrown his performance on the field. After beginning his career by leading the Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship games, he entered this offseason fighting to hold on to his starting job.
Sanchez’s good looks and comfort with the bright lights of New York City have made him a favorite among Hollywood starlets and Madison Avenue marketing execs. Unfortunately for Sanchez, no one likes a loser.
He will likely get a fair shot to keep his job heading into the 2013 season. But if Sanchez can’t get his NFL career back on track, the fame and popularity will fade away faster than his future in football.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo may never be able to distance himself from Lionel Messi as the world’s best footballer. But in the fickle world of fame and notoriety, Ronaldo is clearly the king.
Ronaldo has youth, talent, money and a smoking hot girlfriend–enough to make any man jealous. The same thing that makes him the envy of most men, also makes him the target of female affection.
He has a fiery personality and a bit of a bad boy image. With nearly 16 million followers, Ronaldo also happens to be the most popular athlete on Twitter, a distinction that he clearly embraces.
2. David Beckham
Soccer star David Beckham has parlayed his sex appeal into world stardom and international admiration better than any athlete in recent history. Even before he brought his talents stateside in 2007, Beckham was a well-known figure in a sport that has struggled to increase its popularity in America, particularly at the professional level.
As impressive as his playing career has been, Beckham has brilliantly played up his model good looks while simultaneously prioritizing his role as a husband and father. No wonder women all over the world salivate over him.
Beckham’s rise to stardom was obviously aided by playing the world’s most popular sport in five different countries, in a career spanning more than 20 years. Regardless of the circumstances, he has played his hand beautifully, and remains the standard by which all other heartthrobs in sports are measured.
1. Derek Jeter
David Beckham may have a monopoly on sex appeal, but Derek Jeter is the king of cool. Jeter has somehow perfected that art of dating the latest it girl without getting caught up by the overzealous paparazzi.
You occasionally see photos of him vacationing with a Hollywood hottie or whoever happens to be the most beautiful woman in the world at the moment. But Jeter is teflon when it comes to any juicy scoops or scandal.
He even manages to pull of the amicable breakup without so much as a bad word being uttered about him.
Jeter’s days as one of MLB’s premier shortstops may be well behind him. But when it comes wooing the ladies, nobody does it better.
Follow Geoff on Twitter @SngleMarriedGuy