It was the best of times, it was the grooviest of times. It was a time of great political, cultural, and sexual revolution. It was also a Golden Age in the world of sports. Some of the greatest and most iconic world events happened in the two decades we’re focusing on for this article, including Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a single game, to Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, to the Pittsburgh Steelers becoming one of the all-time great dynasties in all of sports history.

What the Sixties and Seventies brought in terms of historical significance and posterity, they also had equal amounts of influence in the style arena. There are many reasons we look back so fondly at this time in our country’s history, and we think that one of the reasons is that the world of athletics had so many colorful (literally) characters that shone brightly, if only briefly. Here are our choices for the most stylish sportsmen of those two decades that brought us not only The Beatles and James Bond, but Broadway Joe and Dr. J. Enjoy.

Joe Namath

The inventor of “Sideline Swagger”

Walt “Clyde” Frazier

If Zorro played basketball, he’d dress like Clyde Frazier.

Artis Gilmore

We don’t wanna know how many animals were needed to make this coat, but as one of our hometown of Jacksonville’s favorite adopted sons, we couldn’t keep Gilmore off this list if we wanted to.

Kenny Stabler

Somewhere, there’s a party going on with Ken Stabler, Burt Reynolds, and Ron Burgundy, and it’s fucking epic. This is what fun in the 70s looked like, fellas.

Pele

The greatest footballer of all time didn’t slack in the clothing department. His game was immaculate, and so was his style.

Bjorn Borg

No, that isn’t Richie Tannenbaum. It’s the real-life tennis great whom Wes Anderson based the character on. Luke Wilson played the hell out of him on screen, but the genuine article was a thousand times cooler and added the panache of continental Europe to a stodgy,, vanilla sport.

Arnold Palmer

Speaking up stirring up a stuck up game, Palmer was the spoiler of the sport of rich white guys by adding his working-class ethic and strength giving golf its only touch of tough-guy bad assery.

Jim Brown

What do you get when you take one of the greatest running backs of all time and combine that with a Civil Rights icon and a Hollywood actor? You get Jim Goddamn Brown, that’s what you get.

George Best

So many soccer players today are handsome, rich playboys whose fame extends beyond the pitch. The idea of the hard-partying, jet-set, fashionable, womanizing soccer player didn’t exist until Georgie Best. The Manchester United legend personified and perfected the archetype of the athlete who lived like a famous movie star before the Ronaldos and the Floyd Mayweathers of the world were even a glint in their parents’ eyes, and the lifestyle eventually cost him a long life and he died at 59. That said, I’ll take 59 Georgie Best years over 85 mortal years any day.

Rollie Fingers

For every arrogant, entitled Hipster with a ridiculous mustache you see, thank Rollie Fingers for making famous the most punchable facial hair known to man. Back then, however, it looked cool paired with the yellow and green of Oakland.

Julius Erving

If for no other reason, that the man invented the Sky Hook.

Muhammad Ali

What part of “I am The Greatest” did you not understand? The Champ knew how to swing, and he knew the importance of a good tailor.