Determining what makes an athlete popular can be difficult. There are so many different tests. With D.C. at the height of its collective professional sporting success, Post Sports tried to figure out who is currently at the top of the active list, singularly. Each person chose in different ways, so here’s what we came up with, in alphabetical order.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. Alex Ovechkin
- 3. Paul Pierce
- 4. John Wall
- 5. RGIII
This is a top five for right now. It could look completely different two weeks from now, though I think that’s unlikely given that the Nats and D.C. United are the only shows in town. I considered several factors, including likability and recognizability, as well as recent performance. Paul Pierce came one Al Horford offensive rebound and one-tenth of a second shy of being No. 1 on my list.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. John Wall
- 3. Alex Ovechkin
- 4. Paul Pierce
- 5. Bradley Beal
Harper is young and cocky without being a jerk about it. He’s also attractive, and if this is a popularity contest, looks are in play. They just are. And considering that the rest of the team toils in something resembling anonymity — Werth’s beard aside, I bet 75 percent of the Nats aren’t bothered when out and about — Harper is the face of the franchise.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. RGIII
3. John Wall - 4. Marcin Gortat
- 5. Paul Pierce
I put Harper No.1 because he is the hottest player in MLB, let alone D.C., and I had Gortat over Ovechkin because Gortat drives military vehicles and visits shopping malls in Poland with a pig on a leash. Who wouldn’t want to talk to that guy?
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. John Wall
- 3. RGIII
- 4. Paul Pierce
- 5. Alex Ovechkin
Bryce Harper is on a hot streak, the likes of which the D.C. sports scene rarely sees. But will it last? Baseball is a fickle mistress and a slump that lasts a series (or two) could quickly change the outlook on the Nats’ outfielder. John Wall made serious inroads into the hearts of D.C. fans with gritty, passionate play that was slowed in the playoffs only because of an injury. He clearly still has room to grow. As spring turns to summer RGIII’s popularity will surely rise. Once the Redskins return to Ashburn and Richmond, his status among D.C. fans will again skyrocket. Past sins will be forgotten, and hope will again spring eternal that the Redskins QB will become everything D.C. sports fans have longed for for many years.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. John Wall
- 3. Alex Ovechkin
- 4. Jayson Werth
- 5. Paul Pierce
B-R-Y-C-E. I would normally put like 27 exclamation points after his name there, because that is exactly what he deserves, but I’m trying to keep things professional here. So, just know that I know that there are 27 exclamation points in your heart right now.
Anyway. This is incredible, right? The hair flips. The bat flips. He’s out there, living his best life, and it is so. much. fun. to watch.
This is absolutely the hero this city needs right now. But those other guys are okay too, I guess.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. RGIII
- 3. Paul Pierce
- 4. Alex Ovechkin
- 5. John Wall
Harper was already going to be toward the top of the list just on hair alone, but add his streak of home runs to the mix and he’s by far the most popular athlete in D.C. right now. RGIII, while not necessarily the most-liked athlete in town, still has his backers if not solely because he’s the quarterback of Washington’s NFL team. And the last three, well, they’re pretty much tied for third after their teams’ great but not spectacular runs in their respective playoffs. Pierce gets the edge because if his quotability, in my opinion.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. RGIII
- 3. Paul Pierce
- 4. Alex Ovechkin
- 5. John Wall
Bryce Harper has always been popular in D.C., but with his current hot streak and the Nationals on the upswing, there is no athlete in Washington that is more beloved than the 22-year-old. Robert Griffin III comes in a close second as the quarterback for the most popular team in the area. Even though Griffin hasn’t come close to the level of his rookie season, he remains the most recognizable current D.C. athlete. Had Paul Pierce’s shot counted in Game 6 vs. the Hawks, Pierce would’ve been in the top spot. Future Hall of Famer Pierce was the talk of the town for the duration of Wizards’ playoff run. Alex Ovechkin is out of the playoffs in the second round again, but he remains one of the best D.C. athletes – maybe ever. It’d be difficult to argue that he isn’t among the top five most popular D.C. athletes, especially with what he has accomplished individually and how much he has become Washington’s own. Rounding out the top five is John Wall, who after a few injury-riddled seasons is finally carrying the Wizards to success.
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. Alex Ovechkin
- 3. John Wall
- 4. Jayson Werth
- 5. Ryan Kerrigan
It occurred to me the day Bryce Harper hit his walk-off winner — his sixth homer in three games — that he had become the most must-watch athlete in D.C. And that got me thinking that, for possibly the first time in five decades, Washington’s most popular athlete — when you combine charisma, talent, accomplishments and fame — was probably a baseball player. I’m less certain about the rest of my list; I would guess Ovechkin has been the most consistently popular D.C. athlete over the past decade, Wall is the face of a rising Wizards team, Werth has the combination of mystery and strange looks and swagger and that Game 4 home run from 2012, and Kerrigan is about the only non-controversial Redskins star.
Alexa Steele – Assignment Editor
- 1. Bryce Harper
- 2. Paul Pierce
- 3. Alex Ovechkin
- 4. John Wall
- 5. RGIII
I chose based on who I thought was popular in D.C. My personal favorites would have been different. Also, I believe popular means liked or enjoyed by many people, not just recognizable or well-known.
- 1. John Wall
- 2. Bryce Harper
- 3. Alex Ovechkin
- 4. Ryan Zimmerman
- 5. RGIII
John Wall tops the list for me, mainly because he is the public face of the team that was most exciting most recently in the postseason. Bryce Harper has always been exceptionally popular in my eyes, so a hot streak in May doesn’t catapult him to the top. I think Zimmerman still has a lot of fans in the boomer generation of baseball fans and Bob is really only on the list because he’s the easiest to recognize on the team without a helmet on.
So, yeah. Bryce.