Cleveland's 10 Greatest Athletes

The last 2 athletes to lead a Cleveland team

to a World Championship: Jim Brown and LeBron James.

This weekend, the Yankees are playing the Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland's 10 Greatest Athletes

Honorable Mention to Cleveland Indians in the Baseball Hall of Fame, who did not otherwise make the Top 10: Elmer Flick, Addie Joss, Stan Coveleski, Joe Sewell, Earl Averill, Lou Boudreau, Bob Lemon, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Early Wynn, Gaylord Perry, Dennis Eckersley, Bert Blyleven, Roberto Alomar and Jim Thome.

Sewell, Doby, Paige, Wynn, Perry, Eckersley, Blyleven, Alomar and Thome might have made the Top 10 if they'd spent their entire careers in Cleveland. So might Shoeless Joe Jackson, who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- for a reason that also prevented him from having an "entire career."

Honorable Mention to Bob Waterfield, who quarterbacked the Cleveland Rams to the 1945 NFL Championship, before the team moved to Los Angeles and he became a Hall-of-Famer there.

Honorable Mention to Cleveland Browns in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who did not otherwise make the Top 10: Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli, Bill Willis, Frank Gatski, Len Ford, Mike McCormack, Bobby Mitchell, Gene Hickerson, Paul Warfield, Leroy Kelly and Joe DeLamielleure. Mitchell and Warfield might be on this list had they played their entire careers in Cleveland.

Honorable Mention to Cleveland Cavaliers in the Basketball Hall of Fame, who did not otherwise make the Top 10. Actually, for the moment, there's only 4 Cavs in the Hall, and, between them, they played just 8 seasons in Cleveland: Lenny Wilkens (1972-74), Nate Thurmond (1975-77), Walt Frazier (1977-80) and Shaquille O'Neal (2009-10). No question those were some great players, but, despite Lenny later coaching the Cavs, none of them is remembered for their time with them.

Honorable Mention to Brad Daugherty, center, Cleveland Cavaliers, 1986-94. Probably the best player in Cavs history until LeBron came along, he made 5 All-Star Games, and had his Number 43 retired. He'd be much higher on this list if a back injury hadn't ended his career at age 28.

Now, the Top 10:

10. Ozzie Newsome, tight end, Cleveland Browns, 1978-90. Ozzie made 3 Pro Bowls, catching 662 passes for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns. These were fantastic numbers for a receiver in the era. He was a tight end, for which these numbers were unheard-of.

He is a member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, and the Browns' Ring of Honor. Strangely, The Sporting News did not put him on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. But, in 2010, the NFL Network listed him 73rd on their list of the 100 Greatest Players.

He was in the Browns' front office when they moved to become the Baltimore Ravens after the 1995 season, receiving a ring for their win in Super Bowl XXXV. In 2002, he was named their general manager, the 1st black man to hold that office with any NFL team, and built the squad that won Super Bowl XLVII.

9. Napoleon Lajoie, 2nd base, Cleveland Blues/Naps, 1902-14. That's pronounced LAH-zhoh-way. He was known as Nap for short, the Frenchman for his ancestry, and Larry (I can't find the source of that nickname).

In 1901, the American League's 1st season, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics, Nap became its 1st batting champion, and set a League record for batting average. For a long time, it was listed as .422. It was eventually checked, and revealed to be .426, the highest batting average for a single season in the 20th Century. He was also the AL's 1st leader in home runs and RBIs, thus winning him the Triple Crown.

Since he had jumped Leagues, having previously played for the Philadelphia Phillies, legal issues prevented him from playing in the State of Pennsylvania for any team but the Phillies. So the A's had to trade him in 1902, and he went to the Cleveland Blues. He proved so popular there that, in 1905, not only was he named player-manager, but they were renamed for him: The Cleveland Naps. (In 1915, after he left, they were renamed the Indians.)

He won 3 AL batting titles. He batted .339 lifetime, and collected 3,252 hits. He wasn't as good as a manager, never coming closer to a Pennant than a near-miss in 1908. He was among the earliest inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame, attending its opening ceremony in 1939, along with Tris Speaker, who may have succeeded him as the Indians' greatest player. He was also one of the most admired players of his time, but fans and opponents alike.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, in its 2nd round of elections, the 1st player at 2nd base chosen. He played before there were All-Star Games, and also before there were uniform numbers, so, of course, there's no number to retire for him. Nevertheless, Nap Lajoie is still on the short list for the title of greatest 2nd baseman who ever lived.

8. Cy Young, pitcher, Cleveland Spiders 1890-98, and Cleveland Naps (forerunners of the Indians) 1909-11. He might be Number 1, certainly no lower than Number 2, on this list if he'd spent his entire career in Cleveland.

(If you're wondering about the name of the team that represented Cleveland in the National League from 1887 to 1899, it came from an observer saying that their fielders stopped so many grounders, they must have had 8 legs, like spiders.)

Of his all-time record of 511 wins, he won 241 games for the Spiders, and another 29 for the Indians, for a Cleveland total of 270. He pitched 3 no-hitters, the 1st for the Spiders, eventually becoming the 1st pitcher to throw no-hitters in both Leagues.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, in its 2nd round of elections, with the only pitchers preceding him in the previous year's election being Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson. In 1999, 88 years after his last game, and 44 years after his death, The Sporting News ranked him 14th on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, again trailing only Johnson and Mathewson among pitchers. That same year, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, even though he was already 33 years old when the 20th Century began.

Supposedly, a few years before he died, someone walked up to him and said, "Didn't you used to play baseball?" Cy Young answered, "Mister, I won more games than you'll ever see."

7. Marion Motley, running back, Cleveland Browns, 1946-53. In 1946, just as the Los Angeles Rams were reintegrating the NFL with Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, the Cleveland Browns were making the All-America Football Conference integrated from its start, with running back Motley and guard Bill Willis. So pro football is sometimes said to have had "four Jackie Robinsons."

He helped the Browns win all 4 AAFC titles and the 1950 NFL Championship. He led the AAFC in rushing in 1948 and the NFL in 1950. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL's 1940s All-Decade and 75th Anniversary Teams. The Browns have not retired his Number 76, but they have named him to their Ring of Honor, and the University of Nevada has retired the Number 41 that he wore there.

Motley became, after Bronko Nagurski, the model of the big bruising fullback, to be followed by men like Jim Brown and Jerome Bettis. He was also described by Blanton Collier, then an assistant to Paul Brown and later his successor as head coach, as someone who "had no equal as a blocker" and "a great, great linebacker."

When The Sporting News named their 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, they listed Motley 32nd. Jim Brown was listed 1st. In 2010, the NFL Network listed Motley 74th on their list of the 100 Greatest Players. Brown was listed 2nd. But no less a player than Motley's quarterback, Otto Graham, said, "There is no comparison between Jim Brown and Marion Motley. Motley was the greatest all-around fullback."

In his 1970 book The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, Sports Illustrated writer Paul Zimmerman called him the best player in the history of the sport. When "Dr. Z" updated that book in 1984, 14 years later, following a refresher on a lot of old football film, he refused to change that ranking.

6. Jim Thorpe, running back and defensive back, Canton Bulldogs, 1915-20 and 1926; and the NFL version of the Cleveland Indians, 1921. He'd be higher on this list if he'd spent his entire career in Northern Ohio, or if we had more film on which to see how good he was.

The 1st great pro football player, and the 1st player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was also the 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon champion. And he was a good baseball player, an outfielder in the major leagues from 1913 to 1919. In 1950, the Associated Press chose him as the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th Century.

How good a football player was he, by today's standards? Hard to tell, although the college award for the best defensive back is named the Jim Thorpe Award. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 88th on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

In 2010, 57 years after his death and 82 years after he last played so much as a down in the pro game, the NFL Network ranked him 37th on the list of the 100 Greatest Players. I don't know what happened in the ensuing 11 years to make him jump 57 places in spite of new players making the list. Maybe some old film was discovered, providing previously lost insight.

5. Tris Speaker, center field, Cleveland Indians, 1916-26. Like Edwin "Duke" Snider, Richie "Whitey" Ashburn and Edward "Whitey" Ford, his prematurely light hair got him a nickname, "The Grey Eagle." (Always written that way, never as "Gray.") In the 1910s and 1920s, he was right up there with Ty Cobb as the best all-around player in baseball.

He was an incredible hitter, with a .345 lifetime batting average, and 3,514 career hits, a total still surpassed only by Cobb, Pete Rose, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. He holds the career record for doubles with 792. He was also the best-fielding outfielder of his time, and he still holds the career record for assists by an outfielder with 449.

He helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 1912 and 1915, was traded to the Indians, became their player-manager, and won the Series with them in 1920. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with its 2nd class in 1937 (along with Nap Lajoie and Cy Young), and ranked 27th on The Sporting News' 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Despite allegations that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1947 Speaker came out of retirement, at the request of Indians owner Bill Veeck, to assist the American League's 1st black player, Larry Doby, in learning how to play center field, which he hadn't played before. Speaker assisted the other black players that Veeck brought in as well, and won another World Series ring as one of their coaches in 1948. Although he is in the Indians' team Hall of Fame (and the Red Sox' as well), the uniform number he wore as a coach, 43, is not retired.

4. LeBron James, forward, Cleveland Cavaliers, 2003-10 and 2014-present. Where to begin? He was the 1st high school basketball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and he's the only athlete to be named their Sportsperson of the Year twice. (In 2012 and 2016. He was preceded by Tiger Woods, but golfers are not athletes.) Being on the cover so often does not seem to have jinxed him.

The Akron native went straight from high school to the NBA, to his hometown Cavaliers, and became, except for Michael Jordan, the most-hyped player in NBA history. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2004. As of the 2017-18 season, he had been named to 15 All-Star Games, including 3 times being named the game's MVP. He led the league in scoring in 2008, and in the next 5 seasons, he was named to the All-Defensive First Team. He is a 4-time regular-season MVP.

But it's the postseason where the greatest of the great stamp their legends. In 2007, he got the Cavs to their 1st NBA Finals, but they got swept. After repeated Spring humiliations, and practically begging team owner Dan Gilbert to get better players around him, he played out his contract and, in a live ESPN special, said, "I'm taking my talents to South Beach." The people of Northern Ohio saw this as a massive betrayal, but let the record show that he did respect his contract, rather than forcing a move.

He went to the Miami Heat, played 4 seasons for them, and reached the Finals all 4 years, winning the title in 2012 and 2013. His contract completed there, he made peace with Gilbert, and returned to the Cavs. In his 1st 3 seasons back, he took them to the Finals all 3 times -- meaning he's now been to 7 straight Finals. In 2016, he finally got them their 1st title. For all 3 of his titles, he was named the winner of the Bill Russell Award as Finals MVP. He also led the U.S. team to the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London. He is 33 years old, and could have many more big years.

We are now hearing that he and Cavs management are feuding again, and people are already guessing where he will end up. Give it up, Knicks fans: He didn't want you last time, and he doesn't want you this time. He's had enough with chaotic management.

The Number 23 he wore with the Cavs in honor of Jordan, and the Number 6 he wore with the Heat in honor of Russell, will almost certainly be retired. He will almost certainly be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He will almost certainly be one of the first people selected in 2021 if the NBA names a 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players. (I say, "Almost certainly," because, as Pete Rose and the steroid users have shown us, there is no longer any such thing as a sure thing.

3. Bob Feller, pitcher, Cleveland Indians, 1936-56. In their 1981 book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig (one of them, anyway, but it's hard to tell which) wrote, "Bob Feller remains baseball's only prodigy." He debuted for the Indians while still in high school. To give you an idea: Joe DiMaggio also debuted in 1936, but he was 4 years older; Ted Williams was also born in 1918, but debuted 3 years later.

He set an American League record, striking out 17 batters in a game -- when 17 was also his age. In 1938, still not quite 19, he raised that record to 18. In 1940, he pitched a no-hitter, still the only one ever pitched on a season's Opening Day. he won the pitching Triple Crown that season, including 27 wins, a total only 1 American League pitcher has topped since (Denny McLain's 31 in 1968).

At the close of the 1941 season, just before turning 23, he was 107-54. For the sake of comparison: Warren Spahn, also decorated for heroism in World War II, wouldn't win his 1st major league game until he got back -- at age 25.

Feller missed the entire seasons of 1942, 1943 and 1944, and most of 1945 -- at the ages of 23, 24, 25 and 26 -- serving in the U.S. Navy. He said he didn't care what statistics or achievements he lost due to his wartime service, because The War was more important. He also had some words of wisdom for people who compare sports and war: "Anybody who says sports is war has never been in a war."

In 1946, his 1st full season back, he pitched a no-hitter against the Yankees, and struck out 348 batters. This was long believed to be a major league record, but a later check revealed that Rube Waddell, had 349 strikeouts in 1904, not 343 as previously believed. It was still the highest total between 1904 and 1965. In 1948, he finally won an AL Pennant and a World Series with the Indians. In 1951, he pitched a 3rd no-hitter, tying what was then the record.

He was an 8-time All-Star. There was no Cy Young Award in his era, but if there was, he probably would have won it 5 and possibly 7 times. As it is, he finished in the top 3 in the AL MVP voting 3 times. He won another Pennant in 1954, but all those early innings finally wore him down, and he retired after the 1956 season.

His final record was 266-162, with 2,581 strikeouts. Had he been exempted from service, and not gotten hurt in the meantime, he might have won over 350 games, and seriously challenged the career record for strikeouts at the time, Walter Johnson's 3,508.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 36th on their 100 Greatest Baseball Players. The Indians retired his Number 19, and he lived long enough to see a statue of himself dedicated outside their current ballpark, what's now named Progressive Field. There is a Bob Feller Museum in his hometown of Van Meter, Iowa, whose architect was his son Stephen Feller.

2. Otto Graham, quarterback, Cleveland Browns, 1946-55. He played 10 professional seasons, all with the Browns, the 1st 4 in the All-America Football Conference, the last 6 in the NFL -- and brought them to their league's championship game in all 10 seasons.

He led the Browns to all 4 AAFC titles: 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1949. He led the Browns to the NFL Championship in 1950, 1954 and 1955. He was an 8-time Pro Bowler (3 in the AAFC, 5 in the NFL), and a 5-time league MVP (twice in the AAFC, 3 times in the NFL).

Although he wore Number 60 at the beginning of his career, he switched to Number 14, and that's the number the Browns retired for him. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1950s All-Decade Team, and the NFL's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. He was voted 7th on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. When the NFL Network did the 100 Greatest Players in 2010, it put Graham 16th.

When you talk about the greatest quarterbacks of all time, you can mention Sammy Baugh, Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Joe Montana and Peyton Manning -- but you'd better also include Otto Graham, pro football's ultimate winner. And he is not known to have ever cheated, unlike Tom Brady.

1. Jim Brown, running back, Cleveland Browns, 1957-65. He was voted Number 1 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, ahead of Jerry Rice at Number 2. When the NFL Network did the 100 Greatest Players in 2010, it put Rice at 1 and Brown at 2. Here's why many think Brown is still Number 1:

He did all of the following despite playing just 12 games in a regular season from 1957 to 1960, and 14 from 1961 to 1965, as opposed to the 16 games a season has been since 1978. He played 9 seasons, and was named to the Pro Bowl every season.

He won the 1957 NFL Rookie of the Year award and 3 NFL MVP awards. He was the NFL's record holder for rushing yards in a game from 1957 (his rookie season) until 1976, for rushing yards in a season from 1958 (breaking Steve Van Buren's 1949 record by 381 yards) until 1973, and for rushing yards in a career from 1963 until 1984.

He was the 1st man to rush for over 9,000, 10,000, 11,000 and 12,000 career yards, and the 1st man to score 100 touchdowns, both overall and rushing. His 5.2 yards per carry remain an NFL record. He also caught 262 passes, at a time when that was a decent career total, and a record for a running back. He helped the Cleveland Browns reach the Playoffs 4 times, winning the 1964 NFL Championship.

Like Sandy Koufax, he retired at the peak of his game. Unlike Koufax, it was not because of injury. Rather, he decided that he wasn't going to leave the set of the film The Dirty Dozen and fly all the way across the ocean -- and who wants to exchange London for Cleveland? -- just because the owner of his team gave him an order.

At age 29, he decided he could make more money acting than playing football, which, at the time, was easily true. Or, as he later put it, he'd rather make love to Raquel Welch (his co-star in the 1969 "revisionist Western" film 100 Rifles) than take orders from Art Modell -- and that's an easy choice, even if you don't know what they both looked like.

After he and Modell made peace, the Browns retired his Number 32. He was named to the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team, its 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams, and the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Although 9 players (currently led by Emmitt Smith, with 18,355) now have more rushing yards than his 12,312, he is still the standard by which big fullbacks are measured.

Top 10 Athletes From Oklahoma

November 16, 1907: Oklahoma is admitted to the Union as the 46th State.

Top 10 Athletes From Oklahoma

If you think that I, as a Yankee Fan, will automatically place Mickey Mantle at Number 1, think again.

Honorable Mention to Heisman Trophy Winners from the University of Oklahoma, who didn't make the Top 10: Billy Vessels of Cleveland (1952), Steve Owens of Miami (1969), Jason White of Tuttle (2003) and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma City (2008).

It is a little weird that Vessels was from a town named Cleveland, and Owens from one named Miami, both names of pro football cities, but their hometowns were considerably smaller. The original Miami was in Ohio, not Florida or Oklahoma. Vessels was born on March 22, 1931, the same day as William Shatner; and Vessels was born on December 9, 1947, in Gore, 2 days after Johnny Bench was born 200 miles to the east in Binger.

Honorable Mention to Will Shields of Lawton. A 12-time Pro Bowler, the guard was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame, and the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team.

Honorable Mention to 3 Yankee Legends. Allie Reynolds of Bethany was the ace of the pitching staff that won 5 straight World Series from 1949 to 1953. He has a Plaque in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. Ralph Terry of Chelsea won 107 games, including 16 in 1961, helping the Yankees win the World Series; and 23 in 1962, plus Games 5 and 7 of the World Series.

And Bobby Murcer of Oklahoma City turned down a chance to play quarterback for Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma, to become a 5-time All-Star, helping to bridge the painful gap between the Mantle Era and the Munson-Jackson Era, before becoming a beloved broadcaster.

Honorable Mention to Lester Lane of Purcell. A guard for the Sooners, he was a member of the U.S. basketball team that won the Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, a team which, in its entirety, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. However, he never played in the pros, and had just been named the Sooners' head coach in 1973, when he died of a heart attack at age 41.

Honorable Mention to Wayman Tisdale of Tulsa. The forward was a 3-time Big 8 Player of the Year for the Sooners, who retired his Number 23. He was a member of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, succeeding the 1960 team as the best amateur basketball team ever assembled.

Unlike Lane, he did play in the NBA, 4 seasons with the Indiana Pacers, 5 with the Sacramento Kings, and 3 with the Phoenix Suns. While still an active player, he began a music career in 1995, as a bass guitarist, titling his 1st album Power Forward. He recorded 8 albums before dying of cancer in 2009, only 44.

10. John Smith of Del City. Winner of the 1990 James E. Sullivan Award as America's outstanding collegiate athlete of the year, and Olympic Gold Medals in wrestling at Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, he is now the head coach at his alma mater, perhaps the greatest of all college wrestling programs, Oklahoma State University.

9. Joe Carter of Oklahoma City. He has been elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame, having been named College Player of the Year in 1981, for Wichita State University. A 5-time All-Star, he led the American League in RBIs in 1986, leading to Sports Illustrated putting him and his Cleveland Indians teammate Cory Snyder on the cover of their 1987 Baseball Preview Issue, saying, "Indian Uprising: Believe It: Cleveland Is the Best Team in the American League!" The Indians lost 101 games.

Carter survived that, though, and became (and remains) the only man ever to participate in the final play of the World Series as both a fielder making the final out and a hitting driving in the winning run: In 1992, he took a throw at 1st base for the last out for the Toronto Blue Jays; in 1993, he hit the home run that won the Series for the Jays.

He retired after the 1998 season, with 2,184 hits and 396 home runs, not quite Hall of Fame levels, but certainly with the status of a baseball legend. The Jays named him to their ring of honor, or, as they call it, their Level of Excellence, although they have not retired his Number 29.

8. Paul Waner of Harrah. One of the top hitters of his era, he played in 4 of the 1st 5 All-Star Games, won 3 batting titles, had a .333 lifetime batting average, and was the only man to cross the 3,000-hit barrier between 1925 and 1958.

He just missed being a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1925 World Champions, but he did help them win another National League Pennant in 1927. The Pirates retired his Number 11, and he was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame and The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players, ranking 62nd.

Honorable Mention to Lloyd Waner of Harrah. Along with 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Harry and George Wright, the Waners are 1 of only 2 pairs of brothers in the Hall of Fame. Lloyd, who played center field alongside Paul in right, is often called one of the least worthy Hall-of-Famers, but he was no slouch: He batted .316 lifetime, and collected 2,459 hits. He also helped the Pirates win the 1927 Pennant, and was an All-Star along with his brother in 1938, when they nearly won it again. His Number 10, however, has not been retired.

Once, when the Pirates were playing away to the Brooklyn Dodgers, a reporter heard someone with a Brooklyn accent call them "a big person and a little person." From that point onward, Paul was known as "Big Poison" and Lloyd as "Little Poison." Paul was the older brother and the bigger hitter, but Lloyd was actually taller.

7. Lee Roy Selmon of Eufaula. The 1st player drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after a career in which he and his brothers Dewey (also drafted by the Bucs) and Lucious helped lead Oklahoma to the National Championship in 1974 and 1975.

A 6-time Pro Bowler at defensive end, in 1979 he was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, and helped the Bucs reach the NFC Championship Game, just 2 years after ending a franchise-beginning 26-game losing streak.

He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, and the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor. His Number 63 was the 1st to be retired in the history of Tampa Bay major league sports.

He later served as athletic director at the University of South Florida, founding its football program. A highway in Tampa was named the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in his memory.

6. Steve Largent of Oklahoma City. The greatest athlete in the history of the University of Tulsa, he was a 7-time Pro Bowler, and helped the Seattle Seahawks reach the AFC Championship Game in 1983, a feat they wouldn't achieve again for 22 years (by which point they were in the NFC). His 819 catches, 13,089 receiving yards and 100 receiving touchdowns were all records, since surpassed.

Tulsa retired his Number 83. The Seahawks retired his Number 80, and named him to their Ring of Honor. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, and The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999.

In 1994, he was elected to Congress from his home district in Oklahoma. He was re-elected until 2002, when he decided to run for Governor, getting the Republican nomination, but losing by less than 7,000 votes.

5. Carl Hubbell of Meeker. A lefthanded pitcher specializing in the screwball, he was the National League's starter in the 1st 2 All-Star Games, and appeared in each of the 1st 6, and 9 of the 1st 10. In the 1934 All-Star Game, he struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin, all in a row.

He helped the New York Giants win the 1933 World Series. He also helped them win the 1936 and 1937 National League Pennants, with a 24-game regular-season winning streak straddling the seasons. winning Game 1 of the '36 Series but losing its Game 4. He won 253 games in his career, and the Giants made his Number 11 the 1st ever retired for an NL player. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and The Sporting News named him to its 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

By a sad twist of fate, Hubbell and his Hall of Fame teammate Mel Ott died in car crashes, exactly 30 years apart: Ott on November 21, 1958 in New Orleans at age 49; and Hubbell on November 21, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 85.

4. Troy Aikman of Henryetta. Born in Southern California, but grew up in Oklahoma, he started at the University of Oklahoma, but went "home" to UCLA, quarterbacking them to win the 1989 Cotton Bowl.

A 6-time Pro Bowler, he led the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowls XXVII (he was named Most Valuable Player), XXVIII and XXX. UCLA retired his Number 8. The Cowboys don't retire numbers, but they haven't given his 8 out since he retired, and they named him to their Ring of Honor.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 95th on their 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 80th on their 100 Greatest Players.

3. Johnny Bench of Binger. Let's get something straight: Comparing him to Johnny Bench does not embarrass Thurman Munson. Comparing him to Mike Piazza, a born designated hitter who never should have been placed behind the plate, that embarrasses Munson. And Bench.

A 14-time All-Star, and a 10-time Gold Glove, Bench was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, NL Most Valuable Player in 1970 and 1972, and World Series MVP in 1976. He helped the Cincinnati Reds reach 6 postseasons, winning 4 Pennants and the 1975 and 1976 World Series. He hit 389 home runs, and at his retirement had more home runs at the position of catcher than anyone.

The Reds retired his Number 5, and erected a statue of him outside Great American Ball Park. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, was ranked 16th on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Baseball Players (1 ahead of Mickey Mantle, which is a joke), and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

2. Mickey Mantle of Commerce. The most popular baseball player of his generation, he has always been compared to his predecessor as Yankee center fielder, Joe DiMaggio; and to the other great center fielder of his generation, Willie Mays.

Mantle had a better base-stealing percentage than either one, was not much below them defensively, and with the bat? Here's their statlines: Batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS+:

DiMaggio: .325/.398/.579/155
Mays: .302/.384/.557/156
Mantle: .298/.421/.557/172

Mantle doesn't have the batting average that either does, and is beneath DiMaggio for slugging; but has a much higher on-base percentage and OPS+ than either one. Put it bluntly: Mickey Mantle was a better all-around baseball player than Joe DiMaggio or Willie Mays.

He was a 16-time All-Star. He won the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1956, 1957 and 1962, and was arguably robbed of it in 1955 (I don't think he was bothered that it went to his teammate, Yogi Berra), 1958 (Jackie Jensen) and 1964 (Brooks Robinson).

Only once did he win a Gold Glove, in 1962, although it should be noted that the award didn't begin until 1957. He won the MVP in 1956 by winning the Triple Crown, making him the last player to this day to lead both Leagues in batting average, home runs and runs batted in.

He hit 536 home runs, 3rd all-time at the time of his retirement. He won 12 Pennants and 7 World Series: In 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962. He hit 18 home runs in World Series play, a record. And, despite all his injuries, he retired as the Yankees' all-time leader in seasons (18) and games played (2,401, both records later broken by Derek Jeter).

The Yankees retired his Number 7 and gave him a Plaque for Monument Park in 1969, and replaced it with a Monument in 1996, after his death. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and to The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Players (ranked 17th) and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1969.

Outside the new Triple-A ballpark in Oklahoma City, Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, there are statues of Mantle and Bench, and streets named for them and Joe Carter. There's also a statue of Warren Spahn, who married an Oklahoma native and lived most of his adult life in Oklahoma, but was from Buffalo, and was included on this list for New York State.

1. Jim Thorpe of Prague. People in the 21st Century hear that Thorpe was honored as "the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th Century," and "the greatest athlete who ever lived," and they find it hard to imagine.

They might know that Burt Lancaster played him in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe -- All American, and may even have seen it, but might also acknowledge that movies made in those days and "based on a true story," particularly sports stories, were often full of crap. (Certainly, this was the case with The Babe Ruth Story in 1948 and Knute Rockne, All-American in 1940.)

So let me put this into today's context. Imagine a good hitter and a fast runner -- say, Brett Gardner. Now, imagine a somewhat talented professional basketball player -- say, Tim Hardaway Jr. Now, imagine the best running back in the NFL today -- say, Le'Veon Bell. Now, imagine the best defensive back in the NFL today -- say, Aqib Talib. Now, imagine the best placekicker in the NFL today -- say, Stephen Gostkowski. Now, imagine the man who won the Olympic decathlon last year -- which would be Ashton Eaton, who also won it in 2012.

Now imagine that 1 man had done what all 6 of these men have done. And that's Jim Thorpe.

He had a "barnstorming" basketball team called "The World Famous Indians" in the mid-1920s. He played Major League Baseball from 1913 to 1919 -- and it was playing minor-league baseball that got him ruled a "professional," even though it wasn't the same sport, and got his Olympic Gold Medals taken away. (They were restored long after his death.)

In 1917, Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 10-inning no-hitter. His opponent, Jim "Hippo" Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs, also took a no-hitter into the 10th -- the only double no-hitter in MLB history -- but lost the game on an RBI single by Jim Thorpe. That was the highlight of a career in which his lifetime batting average was .252.

The sport for which Thorpe would be best known was track & field. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, he won both the pentathlon (no longer contested, and not to be confused with the event called "the modern pentathlon") and, an event contested for the 1st time in 1912, the decathlon. That's 10 events, over 2 days, a true test of strength, speed, agility and endurace: 4 running, 3 jumping, 3 throwing. He won them both.

When he was presented with his Gold Medal, it was by King Gustav V of Sweden. The King told Thorpe, in English, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe told the King, "Thanks, King."

Ever since, just as the winner of the final of the Olympic 100 meters is unofficially designated "the fastest man in the world," and the winner of the Gold Medal in heavyweight weightlifting is called "the strongest man in the world," the winner of the Olympic decathlon has been called "the world's greatest athlete."

Even before Stockholm, Thorpe was already considered the best football player in America. He played for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and led them to upsets of Harvard (18-15) in 1911 and Army (27-6) at West Point in 1912.

This win over Army was bigger emotionally than competitively: Not only was the Army squad, like Harvard's, one of the best in the country, but this was only 22 years after the Wounded Knee Massacre. It would be like sending poor American college kids who learned about 9/11 from their fathers to Saudi Arabia, and beating the al-Qaeda academy on their home field in their best sport. Ironically, in 1918, the Army bought the school, land and buildings, and it's now the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

Legend has it that future President Dwight D. Eisenhower played in this game, tried to tackle Thorpe, and got his leg broken as a result. The truth is far less romantic: "Ike" did play in the game, and almost certainly tried to tackle Thorpe at some point (there's no surviving film, so we can't prove it), but his career-ending injury came in Army's next game, and wasn't nearly so severe. And he wouldn't have played pro football anyway, due to his military commitment. Besides, there would be no NFL to play in for another 8 years.

Thorpe played professionally for several teams, most notably the Canton Bulldogs, the leading team of the 1910s. When the American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 -- the name was changed to the National Football League 2 years later -- the Bulldogs were admitted, and Thorpe was named President. After a single season, he realized he was just a figurehead, a name used to drum up publicity, and resigned.

The most familiar image of Thorpe,

later used for the U.S. postage stamp in his memory.

With the Canton Bulldogs, 1915.

As with his basketball team, he formed a traveling team of Native Americans, based in Marion, Ohio -- hometown of the man who was then President, Warren Harding -- and called them the Oorang Indians, playing in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, the New York Giants' 1st season, he played 3 games for them. He closed his career in 1928, with the Chicago Cardinals, at age 41.

Early NFL records are sketchy: Pro-Football-Reference.com lists only fragmentary kicking stats for him, and no rushing or defensive stats. They also don't cite any uniform number he might have worn, although the NFL was the 1st major pro sports league to use them. I've seen photographs showing him wearing 1 and 21, but, of the 6 NFL teams for which he played, only the Giants and Cardinals still exist, and he hardly played for either one, and they may not have a number for him in their records.

After he retired, he was broke: As with so many other minority athletes who made it big, he gave so much to his own people that he had nothing left for himself. He did odd jobs, and appeared in a few movies, mostly playing Indian chiefs, and was also in the "pass it along" prison scene with James Cagney in White Heat.

He lived long enough to be saluted on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theatre and The Ed Sullivan Show (then known as Toast of the Town), to see the Lancaster movie, to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and to learn that the Associated Press had named him "Athlete of the Half-Century."

He died of cancer in 1953, before the establishment of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his induction as the 1st player in it (not counting George Halas, who did play but was elected as the NFL's founder), the dedication of his statue in its gallery, his being named to the NFL's 1920s All-Decade Team (despite already being 32 when the decade began), or the establishment of the Jim Thorpe Award as college football's defensive back of the year.

In 1999, AP ranked him 3rd on its Athletes of the Century list, behind Babe Ruth (who, like Thorpe, had done nothing to change his achievements in the intervening 49 years) and Michael Jordan (but ahead of Muhammad Ali). In 2008, ESPN named ranked him 6th on their list of the Top 25 College Football Players of All Time.

Was Jim Thorpe the greatest athlete who ever lived? In his time, he was the best in the business at 2 of them, and played well in 2 others. The competition may not have been what it later became. But I have no doubt that he would loom every bit as large as Justin Verlander, Tom Brady, LeBron James and Sidney Crosby do today.

May 2, 1917: Baseball's Only Double No-Hitter

Fred Toney

May 2, 1917, 100 years ago: For what remains the only time in the history of Major League Baseball, both starting pitchers in a game pitch no-hitters.

The game was played at Weeghman Park in Chicago, renamed Cubs Park in 1920 and Wrigley Field in 1926. The Chicago Cubs hosted the Cincinnati Reds. The opposing pitchers were Jim Vaughn, at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds known as "Hippo," for Chicago; and Fred Toney for Cincinnati.

Weeghman Park, later known as Wrigley Field

Vaughn had already won 21 games in 1914, and 20 in 1915. Toney was also a good pitcher, going 17-6 in 1915 before slumping to 14-17 in 1916.

There were several good hitters in this game, including the Cubs' Cy Williams; and the Reds' Hal Chase and Heinie Groh. Edd Roush would make the Baseball Hall of Fame, as a .323 lifetime hitter and perhaps the best defensive outfielder of his generation, but did not play in this game.

Two Reds who did play in this game would go on to make their mark in football: Right fielder Jim Thorpe, also the 1912 Olympic decathlon Gold Medalist; and center fielder Earle "Greasy" Neale, who would coach the Philadelphia Eagles to the 1948 and '49 NFL Championships.

The home plate umpire was Al Orth, a former major league pitcher, including for the New York Highlanders, the team that became the Yankees. Despite being known as "The Curveless Wonder," he led the major leagues in wins in 1906 with 27, and went 204-189 for his career.

Vaughn began the game by striking Groh out. In the 2nd, Toney walked Williams, but stranded him. Groh led off the 4th with a walk, but was erased on a double play. Then Neale reached on an error, but was caught trying to steal 2nd. Vaughn struck out the side in the 5th. In that inning, Toney again walked and stranded Williams. Vaughn walked Gus Getz to start the 7th, but got a double play.

In the top of the 9th, Vaughn got Manny Cueto to line out to 2nd, and struck out Emil Huhn and Toney. He had his no-hitter. But the Cubs still hadn't gotten a hit of their own. More importantly, they hadn't scored a run, which doesn't necessarily need a hit. He led off the bottom of the 9th, so he could have helped his own cause, but popped up to 3rd. Rollie Zeider grounded to 3rd, and Harry Wolter popped up to 3rd.

Toney had his no-hitter. But the Reds still hadn't gotten a hit, or a run, of their own. For the 1st time, both pitchers had thrown no-hitters. The game went on.

Vaughn began the 10th by getting Getz to pop up to his catcher, Art Wilson. Then, Hippo's luck ran out, as Kopf hit a line drive to right field, for a base hit. He got Neale to fly to center fielder Williams. But Williams misplayed the next ball that came his way, hit there by Chase. Now, there were men on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.

Up to bat came Jim Thorpe, the Native American known for his 1912 heroics as "The World's Greatest Athlete." Baseball wasn't his best sport (track & field was), or his 2nd (football was), and might not even have been his 3rd (he was also one of the earliest professional basketball stars). But, over 6 major league seasons, he batted .252, and topped out at .327 in 1919 -- and then quit the game, to concentrate on football.

Thorpe hit the ball up the middle, and Vaughn proved too big to bend over and pick it up. With his great speed, Thorpe got to 1st base, and Kopf scored. The ball got into center field, and Chase tried to score as well. Williams threw him out at the plate, for the last out of the inning, but it was too late: The Reds were ahead.

Toney finished the job. He struck out Larry Doyle, the man who once said, "It's great to be young and a Giant," but was no longer young, and no longer a Giant. The next batter was another ex-Giant, still with the disgrace of a 1908 late-season baserunning "boner" and a 1912 World Series fielding blunder: Fred Merkle. He flew out to left. Finally, Toney struck Williams out.

Reds 1, Cubs 0. Toney had pitched 10 innings and kept a no-hitter. It had only been done once before: On July 4, 1908, George "Hooks" Wiltse did it for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Vaughn bounced back from the experience, winning a career-high 23 games in 1917, a National League-leading 22 in 1918 to help the Cubs win the Pennant, 21 in 1919, and 19 in 1920. But he hurt his arm in 1921, and had to retire, with a career record of 178-137. He died in 1966.

Toney went on to win 24 games in 1917, but was traded before the Reds could win the 1919 World Series. He won 21 for the New York Giants in 1920, and pitched for them in the 1921 World Series, which they won. He also had to retire too soon due to injury, finishing at 139-102. He died in 1953, just 17 days before Thorpe did.

In 1965, another Reds pitcher, Jim Maloney, pitched a no-hitter for 10 innings against the New York Mets, but lost it and the game in the 11th. Later in the season, he pitched another 10-inning no-hitter, and kept it. Like Toney, he did it against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

In 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched not just a no-hitter, but a perfect game against the Milwaukee Braves for 12 innings, but lost all of it -- perfect game, no-hitter, shutout and win -- in the bottom of the 13th inning.

In 1991, Major League Baseball changed the rules so that only no-hitters that were completed would count as no-hitters. In other words, if you pitched a perfect game for 9 innings, allowed a hit in the 10th, and were still on the mound in the 19th inning (Brian Cashman is going to have a stroke if he reads this), and hadn't allowed another damn baserunner, basically having pitched 2 perfect games in 1 night, you still would get credit only for a one-hitter.

For this reason, the aforementioned achievements of Hippo Vaughn, Harvey Haddix, and (in 1 of the 2 cases) Jim Maloney do not count as "no-hitters." But the other achievement of Maloney, and the achievement of Toney, do count. 

November 9, 1912: Carlisle Upsets Army

Jim Thorpe. In this case, the C doesn't stand

for his college team, the Carlisle Indians,

but for his pro team, the Canton Bulldogs.

The picture is colorized, but otherwise real.

November 9, 1912, 100 years ago: The biggest upset that college football had ever seen to that point takes place. In hindsight, though, it shouldn't have been considered an upset.

The football team at the United States Military Academy, at West Point, New York, usually called just "Army" in the newspapers, played their home games on The Plain, essentially a parade ground, which it still is. It would take until 1924 before they built a proper football facility, Michie Stadium.

But they were one of the top teams in the country, along with Ivy League schools Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania; and Midwestern schools Michigan, Minnesota, and the University of Chicago.

Not considered one of the top teams in the country was the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, established in 1879 as America's top boarding school for Native American teenagers. One of these was a member of the Sac and Fox tribe of Oklahoma, named Wa-Tho-Huk. No, that doesn't mean what it sounds like. It means "Bright Path." His "white man's name" was Jim Thorpe.

Thorpe was the greatest athlete in America. He had already showed his prowess on the football field at Carlisle, taking them to an 11-1 record in 1911, their only loss a 12-11 defeat away to Syracuse. They had beaten Harvard, Penn, Brown, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Before the 1912 season, he went to Stockholm for the Olympic Games, and won the Gold Medal in the decathlon and the pentathlon. When the Games' host, King Gustav V of Sweden, gave him his medals, he said to Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe said, "Thanks, King." Ever since, the winner of the Olympic decathlon has been granted the unofficial title of "the world's greatest athlete."

In 1912, Carlisle went into their game away to Army at 10-0-1, having beaten Pittsburgh again, avenged their defeat to Syracuse, and come away with just one blemish on their record, a 0-0 tie against Washington & Jefferson University.

No one expected them to beat Army at West Point. But they did, 27-6. Thorpe scored 3 touchdowns, and kicked 3 extra points, missing 1.

It was called the biggest victory of Indians over the U.S. Army since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Legend has it that Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the leading General of World War II and the 34th President of the United States, broke his leg trying to tackle Thorpe in this game. It's not true: He played in Army's next game, against Tufts University, and that's when he sustained the injury that ended his playing career -- though, fortunately, not his Army career.

Ironically, just 7 days after their greatest victory, Carlisle would suffer their greatest defeat, losing their undefeated season by losing to Penn 34-26 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Army would also lose at Franklin Field that season, to Navy, and had already done so the previous season.

Thorpe, already the greatest track & field athlete in the world, became the 1st great player in pro football. He also played Major League Baseball, famously getting the only hit in the only MLB game whose 1st 9 innings had no hits, the "double no-hitter" by Fred Toney of Cincinnati and Jim "Hippo" Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs in 1917, won as Thorpe singled home a run for the Reds in the top of the 10th inning. And he played in an early pro basketball league.

But it was discovered that he had played minor league baseball under an assumed name, and the International Olympic Committee took his medals away. In 1950, the Associated Press named him the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th Century. He died in 1953. In 1982, the IOC restored his medals to his family.

The Army would get its revenge on Carlisle in only 6 years. In 1918, with America having gotten into World War I, the federal government, which already ran the school, closed it, and transferred control from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which since its creation has run "Indian Affairs," to the U.S. Department of War (renamed the Department of Defense in 1947). The property is now part of the U.S. Army War College.