Here's the cover of the new Sports Illustrated, in which 16-year-old Bryce Harper is declared the "Chosen One." Sound familiar? It should.
What follows is a lengthy, but far from exhaustive, look at Chosen Ones from the past quarter-century or so of Sports Illustrated. The list isn't restricted to covers or headlines; it includes athletes who've been declared Chosen Ones and athletes who've declared themselves Chosen Ones and athletes who've tattooed themselves Chosen Ones and athletes who've had the crappy luck to appear beneath a punning "Chosen One" headline (often fantasy- or draft-related). I didn't discriminate. Ladies and gentlemen, here, courtesy of Lexis-Nexis, is your sporting elect:
Bryce Harper (2009)
Tim Tebow (2009)
Paul Pierce (2008)
Chad Johnson (2008)
Russell Westbrook (2008)
O.J. Mayo (2008)
Jerryd Bayless (2008)
Eric Gordon (2008)
Brett Favre (2007)
LeBron James (2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002)
Tiger Woods (2007, 2006, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1996)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (2007)
Kellen Winslow Jr. (2007, 2004)
Mike Bell (2006)
Manu Ginobili (2005)
Johnny Damon (2004)
The Providence basketball team (2004)
Michelle Wie (2004)
Carmelo Anthony (2004)
Five guys who played the 2004 FBR Open on a sponsor's exemption (2004)
Bruce Jenner (2004)
Carl Lewis (2004)
Matt Biondi (2004)
Marion Jones (2004)
Michael Phelps (2004)
Vitali Klitschko (2003)
Ichiro Suzuki (2002)
Tara Dakides (2002)
Zab Judah (2001)
Santino Quaranta (2001)
Bobby Convey (2001)
Shaun King (1999)
Andre Wadsworth (1998)
Magic Johnson (1996)
Michael Jordan (1995)
Lew Alcindor (1995)
Danny Manning (1995)
Kyle Macy (1995)
Bobby Hurley (1995)
Patrick Ewing (1995)
Cazzie Russell (1995)
Steve Alford (1995)
Darrell Griffith (1995)
Sidney Moncrief (1995)
Larry Johnson (1995)
Anthony Epps (1994)
Dave Henderson (1991)
Jack Keefe (1987)
Isiah Thomas (1987)
Livingstone Bramble (1985)
Andrew Toney (1982)
Terry Cummings (1982)
That's 52 in all, to which one can only respond: Oh, Jesus Christ.
Baseball's LeBron [Sports Illustrated]
