For many Americans, the greatest athlete of the modern age is Bo Jackson. He played professional football and baseball and was brilliant in both sports.
It’s uncommon to be great in more than one sport, but he’s not the only guy to do it. Dave DeBusschere was great in baseball and basketball and before him, there was Jim Thorpe.
Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, grew up in Oklahoma. He was born in 1887, so presumably his parents, or certainly his grandparents, suffered the trauma of being
relocated to what was then called Indian Territory. A lot of his early life is sort of murky though, through no fault of his own.
He went off to Carlisle, a school for Native Americans, where he played and starred in football.
He also was on the track team and was a wildly gifted athlete who ultimately also played professional baseball.
In 1912, he was part of the US Olympic team that went to the Stockholm Games where he won gold in the decathlon and pentathlon.
When the King of Sweden gave him one of his medals, he told him “you, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world. To which Thorp said: ‘‘thanks, King.”
Later, his medals were stripped when it was discovered he had played semi pro baseball (they were restored much later).
He had a very successful pro football career but his athletic life ended when the Depression began.
Thorpe struggled for the rest of his life with alcoholism and died in 1953. His athletic brilliance though means that he must be in the conversation with Bo Jackson as one of the greatest natural athletes in the history of America. He was something very rare and special.
Blue Healer Auctions | Drop us a line
