Multi-Sport Athletes: Great At One, Pretty Damn Good At Another
Everyone knows the great multi-sport athletes. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, and Jim Thorpe come to mind. Although there have been many others, they are the only 3 who were real “stars” in multiple sports. Bo Jackson was one of the best athletes this country has ever seen, and is the only player to be an All-Star in both the MLB & NFL. Neon Deion excelled in both football and baseball, set several NFL records, won 2 Super Bowls, and played in 1 World Series. Jim Thorpe was one of the best all-around athletes in history, winning 2 Olympic Gold Medals, along with playing professional baseball, football, and basketball. 3 of the better athletes we have ever seen (or in Thorpe’s case, read about).
But there are several others you know for being great at one sport, but may not even be aware how good they were at another sport. In order to find some baseline for this group, I will use Hall of Famers and likely future Hall of Famers. Here they are.
NFL’ers – Did you know Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos? Troy Aikman was drafted by the New York Mets. John Elway was drafted in the 2nd Round of the MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. Terry Bradshaw set the High School national record for javelin throwing. Otto Graham played for and won a Championship with the Rochester Royals of the NBL (pre-cursor to the NBA). Sammy Baugh played Minor League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. Russell Wilson played college baseball at North Carolina State, and was selected in the MLB Draft in both 2010 & 2013. Donovan McNabb played college basketball at Syracuse. Jim Brown was an All-American in Lacrosse and is currently in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Clarence “Ace” Parker played two MLB seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics and hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. Bobby Layne was a 4-time All-American baseball player. Ed Reed was a Big East javelin champion in college. Antonio Gates was an All-Conference basketball player at both Eastern Michigan and Kent State. Julius Peppers played college basketball at North Carolina! Tony Gonzalez played college basketball at UC Berkley. John Lynch played in the Florida Marlins Minor League system. Cris Carter played college basketball at Ohio State University. And Morten Andersen played on Denmark’s Junior National Soccer Team.
MLB’ers – Did you know Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins played for the Harlem Globetrotters? Dave Winfield was drafted by four professional teams in three different sports – basketball, baseball and football. Jackie Robinson was a 4-sport letterman at UCLA. Joe Mauer was named USA Today High School Player of the Year twice in the same school year: in 2000 for football and 2001 for baseball. Tony Gwynn was drafted by the San Diego Clippers (NBA) the same day he was drafted by the Padres. Tom Glavine was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings. Christy Mathewson played both college and semi-professional football. Sandy Koufax played college basketball at Cincinnati. Rube Waddell played professional football (before the NFL was around). Ryne Sandberg was offered a football scholarship to play cornerback at Washington State. Frank Thomas played college football at Auburn. Todd Helton played quarterback for the Tennessee Vols. And although not a MLB Hall of Famer, former pitcher Tom Candiotti is a member of the International Bowling Hall of Fame!
NBA’ers – Did you know Wilt Chamberlain played professional volleyball? More impressive, also holds unofficial record for sleeping with 20,000 women. Allen Iverson started as quarterback for the school football team, while also playing running back, kick returner and defensive back; led the basketball and football teams to Virginia state championships, and earned the Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in both sports. Tim Duncan was a competitive swimmer in the U.S. Virgin Islands; planned on trying out for 1992 Olympic Games before Hurricane Hugo took out his town’s only Olympic size pool. Dave DeBusschere was a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Pat Riley was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Michael Jordan. Baseball. You know that story.
Best of the rest – There are 3 players I feel need to be mentioned here as well. Although they were not Hall of Famers in any professional sport, they are worth talking about. Herschel Walker played college football at Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy. Played in both the USFL and the NFL. Dabbled in Mixed Martial Arts. Oh, and he was an Olympic Bobsledder. Danny Ainge played college basketball at BYU, where he was the National Player of the Year. While in college, he played in parts of 3 seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays. Played 14 seasons in the NBA, where he won 2 Championships with the Celtics. Also won a Championship with the Celtics as the General Manager. Charlie Ward played college football for Florida State, where he won the Heisman Trophy along with the National Championship. Also played 4 years of college basketball at FSU, and was drafted in the 1st Round of the NBA Draft by the Knicks. Played in the NBA for 11 seasons, and was a starter for the Knicks in the NBA Finals. In case that resume wasn’t enough, he was also selected in the MLB Draft. Twice. There could be an argument made for any of these 3 players, that their overall resume is more impressive than any other Hall of Famers listed above.
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