Jim Thorpe was an American athlete widely regarded as the best in the world during the early 20th century. He played football and baseball professionally and earned Olympic gold.
Thorpe’s Personal Life
The specifics of his birthdate or location of birth have not been independently verified, and his childhood experiences are frequently questioned. His parents have a mixture of ancestries. His mother was Charlotte Vieux, and his father was a farmer named Hiram Thorpe. He was brought up following Indian traditions.
Before being transferred to the Haskell Institute, an Indian residential school in Kansas, he attended the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School.
After a fight with his father, he left home and fell into depression because his mother had died when he was still a child. He returned to his father when he was 16 and started his studies at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Due to his extraordinary physical prowess, he distinguished himself among his classmates during his school years. Glenn "Pop" Warner, a great football coach, recognized his talent and gave him coaching.
Jim had yet another sorrow when his father passed away, leaving him an orphan.
His Career
Thorpe obtained a contract with the New York Giants to play professional baseball and later wed Iva Miller, his college sweetheart. With the Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Braves throughout a six-year major league career, Thorpe batted just.252, though he produced a respectable.327 average in his final season.
At the beginning of professional football, Thorpe had a far greater influence. He agreed to play for the Canton Bulldogs in 1915 for $250 per game, and he made his money back by bringing in sizable crowds and helping the team to league titles in 1916, '17, and '19.
The Bulldogs were one of the 14 teams that comprised the American Professional Football Association in 1920, which would later become the National Football League. Thorpe presided over the league for one season.
Thorpe coached and participated in games for the Oorang Indians, an all-Native American team, from 1922 to 1923. The team's games included members performing "war dances" and other rituals to excite spectators. Walter Lingo, the proprietor of the Oorang Dog Kennels in LaRue, Ohio, sponsored the squad.
Through 1928, Thorpe participated in NFL games with the Cleveland Indians, Rock Island Independents, New York Giants, and Chicago Cardinals.
Thorpe was chosen as a founding member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and in 1982, as a co-winner of the 1912 track events, his name was added back to the Olympic record books.
He was chosen as the best athlete of the previous century in a poll sponsored by ABC Sports in 2000. He placed third in a poll by the Associated Press, demonstrating his continued prominence in American culture.
