Jim Thorpe
 | |||
| No. 21, 3, 1[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Back | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | May 22 or 28, 1887[2] Near Prague, Indian Territory | ||
| Died: | March 28, 1953 (aged 65) Lomita, California | ||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| College: | Carlisle | ||
| Career history | |||
| As player: | |||
| |||
| As coach: | |||
| |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
| |||
| Head coaching record | |||
| Career: | 14–25–2 | ||
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing the  United States
| ||
 |
1912 Stockholm | Decathlon |
|
1912 Stockholm | Pentathlon |
James Francis Thorpe (May 28, 1888 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete in track, football, and baseball. Thorpe was part Native American and was from Oklahoma. He played football, track, and six other sports at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. While at Carlisle, Thorpe's team was one of the best in the country, and beat an Army team that had Dwight Eisenhower. Thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon (five track and field events in one day) and decathlon (ten events in two days) at the 1912 Summer Olympics. After the decathlon, the King of Sweden called him the greatest athlete alive. His medals were taken away because he had played professional baseball, but were returned in 1982, long after his death.[4]
After the Olympics, Thorpe played professional baseball and football. He played for football teams including the Canton Bulldogs, Rock Island Independents, Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants.[5] He was commissioner of the NFL for one year. Thorpe is in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also played for baseball teams including the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Braves [6] For several years, Thorpe toured with football, baseball and basketball teams that only had Native American players. Late in life, Thorpe had problems with alcoholism. Thorpe died in 1953. He was buried in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, which changed its name to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Hall of Famers by Jersey Number". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ↑ Sources vary. See, for example, Flatter, Ron. "Thorpe preceded Deion, Bo", ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2016, and
Golus, Carrie (2012). Jim Thorpe (Revised Edition), Twenty-First Century Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4677-0397-0. - ↑ Cook. p. 115.
- ↑ McCallum, Jack (October 25, 1982). "Jim Thorpe's Olympic gold medals at last have been - 10.25.82 - SI Vault". cnn.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
- ↑ "Jim Thorpe Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ↑ "Jim Thorpe Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
This short article about a person from the United States can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.