Top 10 Athletes From Connecticut

January 9, 1788: Connecticut becomes the 5th State to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

Top 10 Athletes From Connecticut

This one's going to be a little tricky, because the University of Connecticut has produced so many great basketball players, men and women, but few of them have actually been from Connecticut. This is also true of the UConn Huskies' great inter-regional rivals, Duke University and the University of North Carolina; and the UConn Lady Huskies' great inter-regional rivals, the University of Tennessee.

Yale University, in New Haven, has also had many great athletes, but few of them have come from the Nutmeg State, either.

Very Honorable Mention to Walter Camp of New Haven. But not so much for what he did as a player. It's for his role as an innovator. He only invented football. Okay, not quite, but pretty much everything that made football America's most popular sport in the 20th Century was invented by either him or a man he coached at Yale, Amos Alonzo Stagg.

At the age of 14, he attended the 1873 meeting where representatives of Yale, Columbia, Rutgers and Princeton created the 1st governing body of American football, the Intercollegiate Football Association. At the time, it was still a variation on soccer. By the time he entered Yale in 1875, Harvard, having gone to Montreal to play McGill University, had begun to change it into a game that more resembled rugby.

He played halfback at Yale, graduating in 1880. That year, there was a rules convention for college football, and Camp proposed that the contested scrimmage known to rugby be replaced with a line of scrimmage, where the team with the ball started with uncontested possession. There it is: The moment American football was truly "invented," and Walter Camp was the inventor.

Camp also had the number of players on a side reduced from 15 to 11, with a 7-man line and a 4-man backfield. He also invented the center snap, the downs system, and the two-point safety. He also created the concept of the All-American team, college football's all-star system. At the age of 33 -- the same age at which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Indepedence, and at which Jesus is usually said to have died and risen -- he was already known as "The Father of Football."

He was also a pretty good coach, going 67-2 at Yale from 1888 to 1892, and 12-3-3 at newly-opened Stanford from December 1892 to 1895. And on Christmas Day 1894, he and his protege Stagg played the 1st truly intersectional football game, at the Haight Street Grounds in San Francisco -- in a way, inventing the holiday-season bowl game. Stagg's University of Chicago team beat Stanford 24-4.

Camp died in 1925, 65 years old. He lived long enough to see professional football become a reality, and to see the founding of the National Football League. He did not quite live long enough to see Red Grange make the NFL financially viable, and he certainly couldn't have imagined it would become the colossus it had already become by the time Stagg died in 1965, at age 102.

Honorable Mention to Dorothy Hamill of Greenwich, Fairfield County. Like that other 1976 Olympic hero, Bruce Jenner, she had, as Whitney Houston sang in the theme song for the 1988 Games, "One moment in time." But that moment, in which she won the ladies' figure skating Gold Medal in Innsbruck, Austria will live forever.

Honorable Mention to Baseball Hall-of-Famers from Connecticut. Roger Connor of Waterbury, New Haven County, was the top slugger of the 1880s, helping the New York Giants win Pennants in 1888 and 1889. It was his total of 138 career home runs that was the record that Babe Ruth broke on his way to 714.

Jim O'Rourke of Bridgeport, Fairfield County, was an outfielder who batted .311 lifetime, and was a teammate of Connor's on the 1888 and '89 Giants. He also won Pennants with the Boston Red Stockings in the National Association in 1873, '74 and '75; and in the National League with the Red Stockings in 1877 and '78, and the Providence Grays in 1879. In 1904, he came out of retirement to play 1 more game for the Giants. At 54, he became, and remains, the oldest player in an NL game and the oldest player ever to get a hit in an MLB game.

Ned Hanlon of Montville, New London County, was a center fielder who helped the Detroit Wolverines win the 1887 NL Pennant, but it's as a manager that he got into the Hall of Fame -- 89 years after he last wore a major league uniform. He managed the NL version of the Baltimore Orioles to the Pennant in 1894, '95 and '96.

He moved to the Brooklyn team, which was sort-of named after him, as there was a circus troupe known as Hanlon's Superbas -- hence, the early Dodgers were known as the Brooklyn Superbas. He managed them to Pennants in 1899 and 1900, the last "world championships" they would win until the 1955 World Series.

Honorable Mention to Ken Strong of West Haven, New Haven County. He starred for 4 different professional football teams in the New York Tri-State Area: The NFL's Staten Island Stapletons and New York Giants, the 1936-37 AFL's New York Yankees, and the American Association's Jersey City Giants. A running back and kicker, he helped the Giants reach 6 NFL Championship Games, winning the title in 1934. The Giants retired his Number 50.

Honorable Mention to Andy Robustelli of Stamford, Fairfield County. A 7-time Pro Bowler, he won NFL Championships with the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1956 Giants. He and Strong are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention to Harry Jacunski of New Britain, Hartford County. The 2-way end was a member of Fordham University's 1937-38 line known as the Seven Blocks of Granite, He was then an All-Pro as a rookie with the Green Bay Packers in 1939, helping them win the NFL Championship. He won another title with them in 1944, and was named to their team Hall of Fame.

This one is a little personal. My family and the Jacunskis have been friends for 50 years, and my parents lived in Bloomfield, New Jersey, next-door to Harry's son Dick, his wife Lynn, and their 3 daughters when I was born. I met Harry a few times, and he bore the effects of early pro football: While his mind was still clear into his mid-80s, I can't recall ever seeing him stand up.

Speaking of towns named Bloomfield...

Honorable Mention to Dwight Freeney of Bloomfield, Hartford County. One of the top defensive ends of his generation, he's been to 7 Pro Bowls. He won Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts, and went to Super Bowl LI with the Atlanta Falcons last year. He's now with the Detroit Lions. He was named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team, and will probably end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention to John Williamson of New Haven. "Super John" won ABA Championships with the New York Nets in 1974 and 1976, and he was still with them when they entered the NBA and moved to Rutgers and then to the Meadowlands. The team retired his Number 23, and has kept it retired after moving to Brooklyn.

Honorable Mention to Nykesha Sales of Bloomfield, Hartford County. A forward, she played for UConn's undefeated National Champions in 1995, and was an 8-time WNBA All-Star with the Orlando Miracle and her home-State Connecticut Sun.

Honorable Mention to Scott Burrell of Hamden, New Haven County. He starred in both baseball and basketball at UConn, and played 8 years in the NBA, winning the title with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.

Honorable Mention to Jennifer Rizzotti of New Fairfield, Fairfield County. With the UConn dynasty, she won the National Championship in 1995, and in 1996 won both the Wade Trophy as player of the year -- women's basketball's "Heisman" -- and the Honda-Broderick Cup as the outstanding female collegiate athlete of the schoolyear. She won WNBA Championships with the Houston Comets in 1999 and 2000.

She coached the University of Hartford to the America East Conference title in the regular season 3 times and in its tournament 4 times. She is now the head coach at George Washington University in D.C.

Honorable Mention to Alyssa Naeher of Bridgeport, Fairfield County. As the backup goalkeeper to Hope Solo, she did not play in the 2015 Women's World Cup, but was a member of the winning U.S. team. She also starred in basketball in high school.

Honorable Mention to George Springer of New Britain, Hartford County. Despite a name that sounds like that of an English aristocrat, George Chelston Springer III has ancestry from Puerto Rico and Panama. He seemed set up for sport greatness: His father, George II, played in the 1976 Little League World Series, and played football at UConn. His mother, Laura, was a gymnast. His sisters, Nicole and Lena, were college softball players. Even his fiancée, Charlise Castro, is a former athlete, a softball player at the University of Albany.

But there's setups, and then there's setups. On their June 25, 2014 cover, Sports Illustrated featured him, wearing a Houston Astros 1970s throwback uniform, and said that the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. This was because of the many high draft picks they'd gotten after being terrible for a few years.

Did "The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx" strike him? Yes: A month later, he went on the Disabled List, and missed the rest of the season. But a funny thing happened on the way to jinxdom: He helped the Astros win the American League Wild Card the next year, and then the next year, led the AL in plate appearances.

In 2017, he was moved from right field to center field, made the All-Star Game, and helped the Astros win the Pennant. He then tied the record of Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley, and hit 5 home runs in the World Series, including 1 in Game 7 (which neither Reggie nor Chase did, as both their Series ended in 6), and was named Series Most Valuable Player as the Astros won their 1st World Championship.

Dishonorable Mention to Bill Romanowski of Vernon, Tolland County. The linebacker made 2 Pro Bowls, and reached the Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers (winning XXIII and XXIV), the Denver Broncos (winning XXXII and XXXIII), and the Oakland Raiders (losing XXXVII).

But he was one of the nastiest and most-fined players in NFL history, and was outed as a steroid user. He is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and if he were judged on his play alone, he might get in. But he'll never get in.

Now, the Top 10:

10. Jonathan Quick of Hamden, New Haven County. The Los Angeles Kings' goaltender won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP as he helped them win their 1st Stanley Cup in 2012 -- unfortunately, beating my Devils to do it.

In 2014, he won the William M. Jennings Trophy for lowest goals-against average. Jennings was an old-time executive for the New York Rangers, so it's somewhat appropriate that the Kings then beat the Rangers for another Cup. Quick is a 2-time All-Star.

9. Chris Drury of Trumbull, Fairfield County. In 1989, he pitched Trumbull's team to the Little League World Series title. He had just turned 13 (having been 12 when the season began, making him eligible), and, like most LLWS winners, this was as far as he would ever get in baseball.

But he was good at another sport. His 113 goals make him the all-time leading scorer in the long, proud hockey history of Boston University. He is also the only BU player with 100 goals and 100 assists. In 1998, he won the Hobey Baker Award as the best collegiate hockey player -- hockey's "Heisman Trophy." The next season, with the Colorado Avalanche, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year, making him the 1st (and still only) player ever to win both the Baker and the Calder.

In 2001, he helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup, unfortunately beating my Devils in the Finals. He was Captain of the Buffalo Sabres for 3 seasons and of the Rangers for 3 more. He finished his NHL career with 255 goals, and is now the general manager of the Rangers' farm team, back in Connecticut, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

8. Jeff Bagwell of Killingworth, Middlesex County. He was born on May 27, 1968, the same exact day as Frank Thomas, also a big strong 1st baseman who ended up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. "Bags" played his entire career with the Houston Astros, batting .297, and is their all-time leader with 449 home runs.

A 4-time All-Star, he was National League Rookie of the Year in 1991, won the NL MVP and a Gold Glove in 1994, and helped the Astros reach the postseason in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004, before, in his final season, getting them their 1st Pennant in 2005. By a weird twist of fate, they played Thomas' Chicago White Sox, who won, though Thomas was injured. The Astros retired his Number 5.

7. Calvin Murphy of Norwalk, Fairfield County. In 1967, at Norwalk High School, he was named Mr. Basketball USA -- the best high school basketball player in the entire country. In his honor, the school's address is now 23 Calvin Murphy Road. He attended Niagara University in Buffalo, and was drafted by the San Diego Rockets in 1970. They moved to Houston the next year, and he played for them his entire career.

At 5-foot-9, he may have been the shortest great basketball player ever. He was an All-Star in 1979, and helped the Rockets reach their 1st NBA Finals in 1981. He set records, since broken, for highest single-season free throw percentage and most consecutive free throws made. The Rockets retired his Number 23. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

6. Bill Rodgers of Newington, Hartford County. The greatest marathon runner in American history, he won the Boston Marathon in 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1980, and the New York City Marathon in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. He also won marathons in Baltimore, Miami, Houston, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Kyoto and Melbourne.

Unfortunately, his Olympic experience wasn't nearly as successful: He finished 40th in Montreal in 1976, he missed 1980 in Moscow because of the U.S. boycott, and by 1984 in Los Angeles, he was 36 years old.

5. Floyd Little of New Haven. After Jim Brown and Ernie Davis, he continued the Syracuse University tradition of great running backs with the Number 44. He then played 9 seasons with the Denver Broncos, making 2 AFL All-Star Games and 3 NFL Pro Bowls, and leading the NFL in rushing in 1971.

Syracuse and the Broncos both retired Number 44 for him, and the Broncos also elected him to their Ring of Fame. He has been elected to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

4. Willie Pep of Middletown, Middlesex County. Born Guglielmo Papaleo, "The Will o' the Wisp" was Featherweight Champion of the World for all but 4 months between 1942 and 1950. He was famed for his fights with Sandy Saddler, losing the title in their 1st fight, regaining it in their 2nd, losing it again in their 3rd, and unable to get it back in their 4th.

The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year for 1945. He won his 1st 62 professional fights, and was 134-1-1 when he first lost to Saddler. His final record was an astounding 229-11-1. He fought from 1940 to 1966. Do the math: He averaged almost 9 victorious fights a year for over a quarter of a century. Today, fighting half that often would be considered unsafe. He did have dementia pugilistica -- what was once known as "being punch-drunk" -- in his last years.

The Associated Press named him the greatest featherweight of the 20th Century, and he is in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

3. Kristine Lilly of Wilton, Fairfield County. The midfielder was part of the University of North Carolina's women's soccer dynasty, winning 4 straight National Championships. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the 1st Women's World Cup in 1991, the Olympic Gold Medal in Atlanta in 1996 and Athens in 2004, and the 1999 Women's World Cup. With her 1999 teammates, Sports Illustrated honored her as one of the Sportswomen of the Year.

She captained the U.S. team from 2004 to 2008, and is a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.

2. Steve Young of Greenwich, Fairfield County. A direct descendant of Mormon pioneer Brigham Young, and a graduate of the University that bears his name, while born in the Mormon home State of Utah, he grew up on what became Metro-North's New Haven Line.

After finishing 2nd in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1983, he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but nobody wanted to play for them at that time, so he took the money and ran, to the USFL, with the most ridiculous contract in sports history. Even the Mets' still-running deal with Bobby Bonilla wasn't this whacked-out, since, even with their Madoff-banjaxed finances, the Mets can afford it. The Los Angeles Express gave him a 10-year, $40 million contract, with an annuity paid out over 40 years. But the Express were bankrupt, and Young settled for $1.4 million.

He then became the most frustrated quarterback in NFL history (with only Doug Flutie as a legitimate contender for that title), as he suffered through 2 seasons in Tampa, then got stuck behind Joe Montana on the San Francisco 49ers, winning 2 Super Bowl rings despite not throwing a pass in either Super Bowl XXIII or Super Bowl XXIV.

An injury to Montana in the 1990 NFC Championship Game opened the door for him. He made 7 Pro Bowls, was named NFL MVP in 1992 and 1994, and in the 1994 season, he took the Niners all the way, winning Super Bowl XXIX. He threw 6 touchdown passes in the game, breaking Montana's single-game Super Bowl record, and was named the game's MVP.

BYU and the 49ers both retired his Number 8. (Oddly, despite a team history going back to 1946, he is the only 49er to wear that number.) He was elected to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame -- and while he wasn't the 1st lefthanded quarterback to win a Super Bowl (Ken Stabler was, 18 years earlier), Young was the 1st to be elected to Canton. He was named to The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players and the NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players.

And he no longer stands in anyone's shadow: Not in his ancestor's, not in Jim McMahon's at BYU, not in Joe Montana's in San Francisco, and not in Donald Trump's in the USFL.

1. Brian Leetch of Cheshire, New Haven County. As regular readers of this blog know, I am a New Jersey Devils fan, and I hate the New York Rangers. The 1994 NHL Eastern Conference Final between them still sticks in my craw. But the achievements of Leetch cannot be dismissed.

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, he grew up in Cheshire, closer to the Hartford Whalers than to the Rangers. In 1988-89, he set an NHL record that still stands with 23 goals by a rookie defenseman, and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year.

A 10-time All-Star, he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman in 1992 and 1997. In 1994, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoffs MVP, the 1st American to receive it. And, in 1996, he captained the U.S. team to the World Cup of Hockey.

You didn't really think I was going to

show him in a Ranger shirt, did you?

He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, The Hockey News' 100 Greatest Players in 1998 (while still active), and the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players in 2017. At the retirement ceremony for his Number 2 in 2008, no less than Mark Messier called him the greatest Ranger of all time. This was backed up a year later in Russ Cohen and John Halligan's 100 Ranger Greats.