While doing research for the G.O.A.T. series, I came across a lot of names that people thought were the greatest football player of all-time. The most interesting part was that each generation would say that the top player from the previous generation was the G.O.A.T. Modern guys would say Jerry Rice, Rice's era would say Jim Brown, but then I saw who Jim Brown thought was the greatest: Jim Thorpe.
When I saw who Jim Brown picked as who he thought was the greatest, I knew I had some homework to do, and I am glad I did.
Now if you have read any of the G.O.A.T. series, first of all, thank you, secondly you'll know that Jim Thorpe was not on any of them. After playing eight seasons of pro-football, he had six touchdowns and four field goals made. Not exactly the most impressive career for a hall-of-famer, let alone the greatest football player of all-time.
Then I looked at what he accomplished outside of football, and it is nothing short of amazing.
As a professional baseball player, he had a .252 batting average, seven home runs, 82 RBIs, and 176 hits. He also had a short professional basketball career with the "World Famous Indians" from LaRue, Indiana. Basically, he played for a team similar to the Harlem Globetrotters, but with more substance and less style.
Thorpe, technically, played three sports at a professional level, along with some time playing as a semi-pro. That fact alone would make him a contender for the greatest athlete of all-time, but he did even more. He won Olympic Gold medals in the pentathlon (Long jump, Javelin throw, 200 meters, Discus throw, and 1500 meters) and decathlon (100 meters, Long jump, Shot put, High jump, 400 meters, 110 meters hurdles, Discus throw, Pole vault, Javelin throw, and 1500 meters).
That's right, TWO GOLD MEDALS IN THE OLYMPICS in two of the most extensive events, to go with being a three-sport athlete.
In one of the most interesting stories of all-time, Thorpe had both of his medals stripped by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after they discovered he had played semi-pro baseball under his actual name. Apparently, it was a common practice at the time, but everyone used pseudo-names to compete as way to protect their identity. IOC also broke protocol by stripping Thorpe despite not receiving the report in the allowed time window.
Thorpe did a lot in his athletic career, and more than earned the title of "The Greatest," which has been given to him over time.
That's not to say that his story was just a happy ending after retiring from sports. In fact, it's pretty much the complete opposite.
Thorpe died in poverty. After his sports career, he was not able to do much with his life. He also did not have his gold medals reinstated until years after his death.
It's sad to think that the greatest athlete of all-time died broke and award-less. Even now, he does not get anywhere the recognition that he deserves for all that he accomplished. Still, Jim Thorpe is the gretaest athelte of all-time.
