by Achilles Windsor

Created on: March 04, 2007   Last Updated: March 09, 2007

Jim Thorpe is the greatest athlete ever. Jim Thorpe left a lasting impression on sports as a whole with his life. He was a legend in football and in track. However, he also excelled in many sports throughout his lifetime including: golf, tennis, field hockey, riding, archery, rowing, gymnastics, bowling, darts, billiards, swimming, boxing, wrestling, football, track and field, basketball, lacrosse, and baseball. Of these sports, he played football, baseball, track and field, and basketball professionally. He was a legend in football and track, his major focuses.

In football, he was the second player ever elected to the National Football League Hall of Fame. In college, at Carlisle Industrial Indian School, where he played for the legendary coach Pop Warner, he was promoted as the "greatest all-around athlete in the world". Also, during the season in which he played as a runningback, defenseman, punter, and a kicker, he was elected to be a Collegiate All-American. He was elected as an All-American in 1911, the aforementioned year and in 1912. Later in his lifetime, he played 52 games in the NFL over a period of eight years. He also was the first president of the NFL.

In track and field, the sport for which Jim Thorpe is known, he easily won two gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He easily won both medals, and was a hero to Americans upon arriving home. It is said that a conversation took place between the medal-presenting King Gustav V of Sweden and Jim Thorpe in which Gustav said "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." To which Jim Thorpe simply replied" Thanks, King." However these medals were later stripped away from him when it was learned that he had played minor league baseball. These reinstated to him until 1983, which, by then, they had both been stolen from a museum. This reinstatement came over 30 years after his death.

In his athletic career, Jim Thorpe had many accomplishments including:

First president of the National Football League,

Won two gold medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics,

Inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame,

Inducted into the Collegiate Football Hall of Fame,

Named to the 1920's All-Decade NFL Team,

Had the Jim Thorpe Award named for him (Goes to NCAA's best defensive back)

Had a movie written about his life (Jim Thorpe: All-American),

In 1950, named "Greatest Football Player of the Half-Century",

In 1950, was named "The Best Athlete Of The Half-Century",

And finally, in 2001, named "Athlete of The Century"

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