Jim Thorpe- Nicknamed "The Greatest Athlete," won 2 gold metals during 1912 Olympics. He also played professional football, baseball, and basketball.
Billy Mills- In 1964 he became the 2nd Native American to win a gold metal in the Olympics and was also the only American to win gold for the 10,000 meter run.
Charles Albert Bender- Nicknamed "Chief," had 16 successful years in the MLB, he threw a good slider, threw a no hitter, and pitched in 5 World Series.
Ellison Brown- Nicknames "Tarzan," won the Boston Marathon 2 times (1936, 1939) and was in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Joe Kapp- An NFL Hall of Famer who was the QB for the Vikings and the Bears and played for a team in the CFL too. Joe Kapp is the only athlete to play in the Superbowl, Grey Cup, and Rose Bowl.
Sam Bradford- Played D1 college football for Oklahoma and won the Heisman in 2008, he was drafted no. 1 by the Rams in the 2010 NFL draft and now plays for the Eagles.
Before I did this research on Native American athletes, I didn't realize how much of a role they played and still play in professional sports. Native American athletes go all the way back to the 1912 Olympics to being a current QB for the Eagles. Sports fans have no idea how many of the athletes that we watch are Native American.
Native Americans stretch from the MLB to the Boston Marathon. I had no idea that Sam Bradford was Native American, I have been watching him all the way from his early years at OU to his seasons of him sitting on the sidelines in the NFL because of a torn ACL. Over the summer I went to a Yankees game in New York, and had no idea that the center fielder for the Yankees I was watching play was Jacoby Ellsbury, a Native American. Native Americans are spread all across professional sports, and until I actually did research, I had no idea that a lot of the athletes I was watching were Native American.
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| This is a picture of Jacoby Ellsbury batting for the NY Yankees |
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