Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (May 28, 1888 – March 28, 1953) was a Native American athlete, known for his extraordinary athletics in track, football, and baseball. Thorpe was born in Oklahoma as a member of the Native American tribe; Sac and Fox (Sa ki wa ki[4]). He played football, baseball, lacrosse, ran track and competed in six other sports at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Those other sports included hockey, handball, tennis, boxing, and ballroom dancing. 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.[5] The Carlisle School, while being successfully known for sports and athletes such as Jim Thorpe, its rooted purpose was to assimilate Native Americans to "American culture". Their philosophy was "Kill the Indian, Save the Man"[6].[7]
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| No. 21, 3, 1[1] | |||
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| 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 | |||
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| As coach: | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||
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| Head coaching record | |||
| Career: | 14–25–2 | ||
| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Men's athletics | ||
Representing the  United States
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1912 Stockholm | Decathlon |
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1912 Stockholm | Pentathlon |
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.[8] 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 [9] 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- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "History Of The Tribe | Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri". www.sacandfoxks.com. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Carlisle Indian Industrial School: Indigenous Histories, Memories, and Reclamations. University of Nebraska Press. 2016. ISBN 978-0-8032-7891-2.
- ↑ ""Kill the Indian in him, and save the man": R. H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans | Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center". carlisleindian.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ↑ "Jim Thorpe Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ↑ "Jim Thorpe Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
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