We asked Ben Alamar, ESPN's director of sports analytics, to figure out the most famous athletes in the world. Using a formula that combines athlete paychecks - salary and endorsements - with social media fan base and Google search popularity, he ranked the world's 100 most famous athletes. Here is the ESPN World Fame 100.
IT'S GOOD TO BE: Safe in the offseason, where the jokes aren't as plentiful and maybe don't sting as much. Seriously, Andy Dalton's fame is almost completely built on his failures. He's a good quarterback but not a great one, and he can't win a playoff game. It's obviously not his fault the Bengals lost their first playoff game this past year, since he was hurt and couldn't play in it. But unfortunately for Dalton and a Cincinnati team that's neither missed the playoffs nor won a postseason game since it drafted him, he's best known for what he can't get done.