TIME Magazine is known for gauging the most influential people in the world from the annual Person of the Year feature to the TIME 100 listing the top 1oo such individuals. This time, they’ve ventured into specialty and listed the 100 most influential people in the world of sports, including two Hoosiers.
Sam Jacobs, TIME’s editor-in-chief, explained that sports’ rising cultural influence, particularly in regard to LeBron James’ lengthy NBA career, is the reasoning behind the new list.
Indiana’s head
coach, Curt Cignetti, and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, are members of the inaugural list. Cignetti as the lone football coach and Mendoza as the lone college football player.
The passage detailing Cignetti’s inclusion, written by TIME senior correspondent Sean Gregory, cites his now-famous “Google me” quote and Indiana’s run to the national championship game in his second season leading the program. The passage detailing Mendoza’s inclusion, also written by Gregory, cites Mendoza’s transfer from Cal, Heisman Trophy win and fundraising work for multiple sclerosis research in honor of his mother, Elsa.
