Legends of Sports – Jim Thorpe

Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe, more often known as Jim, was an American athlete. Born in May 1888, Thorpe was considered to be one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports. In 1912, Thorpe won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. He also was a football player, playing successfully at both collegiate and professional levels. Additionally, Thorpe played professionally in both basketball and baseball. Thorpe was a Native American Indian and of European decent. He was raised in the native American tribe Sac and Fox nations in Oklahoma. His Indian name was Wa-Tho-Huk, translated loosely to mean “bright path”.

The Early Years

He attended school with his twin brother, Charlie, who died at nine years old due to complications of pneumonia. Thorpe’s brother was very helpful to him during school and after his death, Thorpe ran away from school and had difficulties dealing with Charlie’s death. His mother also passed away two years later due to childbirth complications, leading Thorpe into a deep depression. In 1904, Thorpe decided to attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA. It was there that Glenn Scobey “Pop” Warner became his coach. Warner was considered to be one of the most influential coaches in the history of early American football. Thorpe stayed on task until later in the year his father died from gangrene poisoning, leaving Thorpe to once again leave school. He did farming work for a few years but finally returned to the school in Carlisle where he resumed his athletic career with Warner.

Starting a Career

Track and field was Thorpe’s primary focus at Carlisle but were not the only events he took part in playing. He was competitive in football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and even ballroom dancing, having won the 1912 inter-collegiate ballroom dancing championship. Coach Warner was against Thorpe engaging in physical games such as football but was ultimately convinced by Thorpe to run a few plays. Warner, figuring Thorpe’s attention to football was just a phase, agreed but was surprised to see Thorpe run circles around the other team. He first garnered national attention in 1911 when he played for his school’s football team as a running back, placekicker, defensive back, and punter. Playing against Harvard, Thorpe score all of the points for the team, ending the season 11-1. The next year his team took the national championship.

The 1912 Olympics added two new events – the pentathlon and the decathlon. Due to Thorpe’s versatility,  Thorpe seemed perfectly cut out for both.  Competition was tough but Thorpe celebrated the closing ceremonies with two gold medals. He success at the Olympics earned him a ticker-tape parade on Broadway. Thorpe also participated in baseball during the Olympics and it was that sport that ultimately lead to the controversy that followed him later.

The Olympics, sticklers for rules about professional athletes not being allow to participate in the Olympics, were made aware of the fact that Thorpe had played professional baseball in North Caroline in 1909 and 1910. The Amateur Athletic Union took the news very seriously, leading to the Olympics stripping Thorpe of all of his Olympic titles, medals, and awards due to the fact he was considered a professional athlete. Many critics believed Thorpe was striped of his Olympic awards due to the fact that he was an American Indian.

Reestablishing Thorpe

After the Olympic controversy, Thorpe became a free agent, opting to play a reserve with the New York Giants and traveling the world. He had also not left his love of football behind. In 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were one of 14 teams to form the American Professional Football Association which later became the NFL. He was nominated APFA’s first president, though he continued to play for the Bulldogs. He continued his football career until 1931, when he finally retired at the age of 41, after playing 52 NFL games for six different teams from 1920-28.

After his retirement, Thorpe struggled for money and work. During the Great Depression, he held various jobs but nothing that provided the family financial security. In the 1950′s, he was hospitalized for lip cancer. It was then that Thorpe’s wife told the public that the family was broke due to Thorpe’s charity over the years and exploitation of his career. It was also in 1950 that Thorpe was named the greatest athlete in the first half of the twentieth century by the Associated Press. In 1953, Thorpe had a third heart attack. He was on artificial respiration for awhile but eventually lost consciousness and died on March 28. His third wife, Patricia, read that a small town in Pennsylvania was looking to attract business and she subsequently made a deal with the town . They would purchase his remains, dedicate a monument, and renamed the town Jim Thorpe. Ironically, Thorpe had never even been to the area in person.

Post-Mortem Accolades

Throughout the years, Thorpe supporters had worked tirelessly to get his medals reinstated to him. After many years, they were finally able to get the ruling overturned. In 1983, a ceremony was held to reinstate the medals Thorpe had originally won. His children accepted commemorative medals on his behalf. Incidentally, Thorpe original medals which were in a museum were at one time stolen, never to be seen again.

In addition to his 1950′s acclaim, Jim Thorpe was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963; inducted into the halls of fame for college football, national track and field competitions, and the US Olympic teams; in 1986, The Jim Thorpe Association established an award in Thorpe’s name to be given each year to the best defensive back in college football; in 1999, the Associated Press place him third on their list of top athletes of the century behind greats Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan; and ESPN also ranked in as one of North America’s Athletes of the Century, placing him in at number seven. In 1999, The US House of Representatives passed Resolution 198, which honored Thorpe as “America’s Athlete of the Century.