Bill Simmons of Grantland on Tom Hanks:

What does this say about Tom Hanks? I suppose he’s like one of those rare great athletes who made the proper adjustments with age to extend their careers in connection with their changing skill set (e.g. Jordan’s first championship run versus his second). Hanks started as a lanky comedic star and slowly became a believable dramatic heavy. It’s an almost impossible road to navigate. Could you imagine Jason Segel eventually starring in Road to Perdition? Could you imagine Russell Crowe in Splash?”

Simmons devoted a significant portion of his Mailbag column this week discussing Tom Hanks and his career. It really hits home everything I would say about Hanks including the fact that there will never be another guy like him. The Michael Jordan comparison is great. The fact that he went from a bankable comedy star to bankable drama star is really like nothing we have seen since.

The Hanks questions start with the fourth question into the mailbag. I highly recommend Simmons’ analysis.