Major League Baseball

Derek Jeter doesn't compare to Michael Jordan, Cowherd says

Updated Jul. 19, 2022 7:04 p.m. ET

Following Monday's Home Run Derby, there was more baseball on the tube — in the form of Derek Jeter's new documentary "The Captain."

In many people's minds, Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance" documentary is the gold standard for sports documentaries, but Jeter's latest offering has sparked comparisons between the Captain and His Airness.

But can you really compare the two legends beyond their documentaries, considering they played two vastly different sports and had separate cultural impacts? Colin Cowherd dug into the topic Monday on "The Herd."

"Derek Jeter was the guy in that stadium [Yankee Stadium] for a long time," Cowherd said. "When the documentary came on [Monday] night, people were saying, 'He's overrated! It's not the Michael Jordan documentary!' Can we stop? First of all, Michael Jordan is different. In sports, we have stars, superstars, and then we have Jordan. He's like Ali — he's in a different galaxy. You can't compare him to anyone.

"Derek Jeter had a Gatorade commercial. M.J., they build a whole company around him. So did Nike, and so did Hanes. So did McDonald's."

Where Derek Jeter ranks among all-time greatest athletes

Colin Cowherd looks back at Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan's impacts, then explains why fans should 'stop comparing our sports stars.'

Cowherd continued to not compare the two by pointing out the differences in their career trajectories.

"Between the retirements, the dysfunction in the organization, his dad getting murdered, and he played for the Dream Team, at one point, we all rooted for Michael Jordan's team. Derek Jeter was a Yankee — 90 percent of baseball fans outside of New York hate the Yankees.

"There is no comparing anybody, and I would say including LeBron [James] and Tom Brady to Michael Jordan."

Lastly, Cowherd vented his disapproval of the overrated-slash-underrated debates.

"Derek Jeter is appropriately rated, and so is almost everybody else. Nobody thinks Tom Cruise is the best actor. And no reasonable person would deny that he's an absolute rock star movie star. That's what Derek Jeter is. He was the coolest baseball player in a sport that doesn't like glamour and doesn't elevate stars."