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Posted: May 28, 2020 7:24 AMUpdated: May 28, 2020 8:25 AM

Today in Oklahoma Sports History - 5/28

 

Today in Sports History with some Oklahoma Ties… Happy Birthday to maybe the best athlete ever born in the state… Jim Thorpe, born on May 28, 1887.  

Thorpe was born in Indian Territory near the town of Prague Oklahoma. He would rise to nationwide fame in football, baseball and olympic sports. He is likely one of the best rounded athletes of all time. 

A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. He died in March of 1953.

Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma, and attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for college. He was a two-time All-American for the school’s football team - And it was football that propelled Thorpe to national prominence.

Thorpe started as a halfback, place kicker, punter, and defensive back. Thorpe spent 12 seasons in the National Football League.

Thorpe was selected to the U.S. team for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He won four of five events to claim the gold medal in the pentathlon.

Besides being an Olympic athlete and an NFL star, Thorpe also spent some time in Major League Baseball.

In 1913, he signed to play professional baseball with the New York Giants. Later in his baseball career he would also play for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves.

Thorpe would later be inducted into the National Football League Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 1963.

Years later in 1986, The Jim Thorpe award would be created. The award is given to the top defensive back in College Football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

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