He may be No. 12 in your program, and he’s undoubtedly No. 1 in New England, but in the world, Tom Brady comes in at No. 52.
That’s according to ESPN’s ranking of the most famous athletes in the world. The New England Patriots quarterback (the fifth most-hated NFL player of all time, remember?) checks in behind QBs Cam Newton (32), Peyton Manning (38) and Drew Brees (44) on the ESPN World Fame 100 created by the network's director of sports analytics Ben Alamar with a formula that uses salary, endorsements, social media following and Google search popularity to determine the rankings.
Soccer dominates the Top 5, taking three spots:
1. Cristiano Rinaldo
2. LeBron James
3. Lionel Messi
4. Neymar
5. Roger Federer
Other New England athletes in the Top 100 are Rob Gronkowski at 72 and David Ortiz at 78.