Post by blackcrowheart on May 1, 2007 12:43:42 GMT -5
Remembering the legacy of Jim Thorpe and the rebirth of the Super Bowl
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played professional football, major league baseball and won Olympic gold medals in track and field. He was considered in the sports world and by his Native American community as a hero and the father of American professional football where he was the first professional football association president when it started in 1920, later to become the NFL.
Thorpe gained his nationwide attention for the first time in 1911, when he was considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports. As a running back, defensive back, place-kicker and punter for his school's football team, Thorpe scored all of his team's points - four field goals and a touchdown in an 18-13 upset of Harvard. His team finished the season 11-1. The following year, he led Carlisle to the National Collegiate Championship, scoring 25 touchdowns and 198 points over 12 games. Carlisle's 1912 record includes an impressive 27-6 victory over Army. In that game, Thorpe scored a 92-yard touchdown that was annulled because of a penalty incurred by a teammate. Thorpe then scored a 97-yard touchdown on the next play. Thorpe won All-American honors in both 1911 and 1912.
While playing football in 1913, Thorpe signed with the New Your Giants baseball team and played sporadically as an outfielder for three seasons. After missing the 1916 season completely, he came back to play again for the Giants in 1917, but was sold to the Cincinnati Reds early in the season. Late in the season, he was sold back to the Giants. Again, he played sporadically for the Giants in 1918 and was traded to the Boston Braves on May 21, 1919 for Pat Rogan. In his lackluster career, he amassed 91 runs scored, 82 runs batted in and a .252 batting average over 289 games. He continued to play baseball with teams in minor leagues until 1922.
Back in 1915, Thorpe also signed with the Canton Bulldogs, where he was paid $250 a game. It was his playing that drew large crowds and thereafter professional football attracted more and more first-rate college players.
Thorpe's Independent Team was successful and his team won titles in 1916, 1917 and 1919. In 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were one of the 14 teams to form the American professional Football Association, which would become the NFL, Thorpe was named the APFA's first president, but continued to play for Canton, coaching the team as well, between 1921 and 1923. In 1923, Thorpe kicked what would be a record 99-yard punt. However, at that time in the history of the NFL, such records weren't kept, which is why Steve O'Neal owns the record with his 98-yard punt.
Thorpe never played on a championship team, although he played for six different teams between 1920 and 1928. He retired from pro football at age 41, having played 52 NFL games.
Information about Thorpe's birth, full name and ethnic background vary widely. What is known is that he was born in Indian Territory, but no birth certificate has been found. He is believed to have been born May 28, 1887, near the town of Prague, Oklahoma. Jacobus Francis Thorpe is the name on his christening baptismal certificate.
His parents were of mixed descent. His father, Hiram Thorpe, had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox Indian mother. His mother, Charlotte Vieux, had a French father and a Native American mother, a descendant of the great Sac warrior, Chief Black Hawk. Thorpe was raised as a Sac and Fox, and his native name was Wa-Tho-Huk, meaning Bright Path. As was the custom for Sac and Fox, Thorpe was named for something occurring around the time of his birth, in this case, the sunlight brightening the path to the cabin where he was born.
Some accounts suggest that Hiram Thorpe had five different wives and produced a total of 19 children, of which no fewer than 11 were with Vieux.
Together with his twin brother, Charlie, Thorpe went to school in Stroud, Oklahoma at the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School. Charlie died of pneumonia when they were eight years old. Charlie helped Jim through school and Thorpe did not handle his brother's death very well. He ran away from school on several occasions. Hiram Thorpe then sent Jim to what is now known as Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, so that his son would not run away again. When his mother died two years later, Thorpe fell into a depression and after several arguments with his father, he ran away from home to work on a horse ranch.
In 1904, Thorpe returned to his father and decided to join Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pa., where he was coached by Glenn Scobey "Pop Warner, one of the most influential coaches in early American football history. Later that year, Hiram Thorpe died. Thorpe once again dropped out of school. He resumed farm work for a few years and then returned to Carlisle, where his athletic career commenced.
Football was Jim Thorpe's favorite sport, but he would compete sporadically in track and field. Nevertheless, track and field would become the sport in which Thorpe would gain the most fame personally. And for the help he gave the rebirth of professional football nationally.
The first professional football game in the U.S. took place in 1895 in the town of Latrobe, Pa. between a team representing that town and the team of Jeannette, Pa. In the following 10 years, many professional teams were formed, including the Duquesnes of Pittsburgh, Pa. the Olympics of McKeesport, Pa., the Bulldogs of Canton, Ohio and the team of Massillon, Ohio. Among noted college players who took up the professional game during its early years were Jim Thorpe (Carlisle), Willie Hesten (Univ. of Michigan), Knute Rockne (Notre Dame), Fritz Pollard (Brown Univ.).
The professional game attracted only limited public support during its first 30 years. The first league of professional football teams was the American Professional Football Association, formed in 1920, with Jim Thorpe as first president. It gave way in 1922 to the National Football League (NFL). It soon built a public interest in the professional games and provided upcoming star players like halfback Harold "Red" Grange (Univ. of Illinois), who in 1925 joined the professional Chicago Bears of the NFL and toured the U.S. with a professional team that year and the next .
The tour helped attract more and more first-rate college players to play professional football and the increased patronage of the public placed the game on a paying basis.
In 1936, the NFL adopted the so-called Draft Rule, a system that assigned graduating college stars to the various league teams in such a way that a fair distribution of talent was assured. In 1946, a second major professional football league, the All- America Football Conference, began to operate in competition with the NFL. In Dec., 1949, after a period of rivalry, the All- America Football Conference was absorbed into the NFL.
The advent of nationwide television and the vast income it provided made formation of another major league financially possible, and in 1960 the American Football League (AFL) began play. Competitive bidding for the services of outstanding college players soon imposed a heavy financial burden on both leagues, which then made a merger of the two leagues in June, 1966.
The immediate result of the merger gave a pool of new talent and provided for one commissioner and one league. The league was divided into two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Playoff games then began between the conference winners. It got to be known as the Super Bowl, which started in January, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. And the rest is history.
Until next time,
Ciao,
Joe D'Angelo
P.S. In 1963 Jim Thorpe received the NFL's highest honor, induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is often said to be the first player inducted, although the first person inducted was Chicago Bears founder, owner, coach and player, George Halos. In addition, Thorpe is also memorialized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame rotunda with a larger-than-life Jim Thorpe statue.
Next week, Part III, Jim Thorpe, an Olympic hero
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played professional football, major league baseball and won Olympic gold medals in track and field. He was considered in the sports world and by his Native American community as a hero and the father of American professional football where he was the first professional football association president when it started in 1920, later to become the NFL.
Thorpe gained his nationwide attention for the first time in 1911, when he was considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports. As a running back, defensive back, place-kicker and punter for his school's football team, Thorpe scored all of his team's points - four field goals and a touchdown in an 18-13 upset of Harvard. His team finished the season 11-1. The following year, he led Carlisle to the National Collegiate Championship, scoring 25 touchdowns and 198 points over 12 games. Carlisle's 1912 record includes an impressive 27-6 victory over Army. In that game, Thorpe scored a 92-yard touchdown that was annulled because of a penalty incurred by a teammate. Thorpe then scored a 97-yard touchdown on the next play. Thorpe won All-American honors in both 1911 and 1912.
While playing football in 1913, Thorpe signed with the New Your Giants baseball team and played sporadically as an outfielder for three seasons. After missing the 1916 season completely, he came back to play again for the Giants in 1917, but was sold to the Cincinnati Reds early in the season. Late in the season, he was sold back to the Giants. Again, he played sporadically for the Giants in 1918 and was traded to the Boston Braves on May 21, 1919 for Pat Rogan. In his lackluster career, he amassed 91 runs scored, 82 runs batted in and a .252 batting average over 289 games. He continued to play baseball with teams in minor leagues until 1922.
Back in 1915, Thorpe also signed with the Canton Bulldogs, where he was paid $250 a game. It was his playing that drew large crowds and thereafter professional football attracted more and more first-rate college players.
Thorpe's Independent Team was successful and his team won titles in 1916, 1917 and 1919. In 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were one of the 14 teams to form the American professional Football Association, which would become the NFL, Thorpe was named the APFA's first president, but continued to play for Canton, coaching the team as well, between 1921 and 1923. In 1923, Thorpe kicked what would be a record 99-yard punt. However, at that time in the history of the NFL, such records weren't kept, which is why Steve O'Neal owns the record with his 98-yard punt.
Thorpe never played on a championship team, although he played for six different teams between 1920 and 1928. He retired from pro football at age 41, having played 52 NFL games.
Information about Thorpe's birth, full name and ethnic background vary widely. What is known is that he was born in Indian Territory, but no birth certificate has been found. He is believed to have been born May 28, 1887, near the town of Prague, Oklahoma. Jacobus Francis Thorpe is the name on his christening baptismal certificate.
His parents were of mixed descent. His father, Hiram Thorpe, had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox Indian mother. His mother, Charlotte Vieux, had a French father and a Native American mother, a descendant of the great Sac warrior, Chief Black Hawk. Thorpe was raised as a Sac and Fox, and his native name was Wa-Tho-Huk, meaning Bright Path. As was the custom for Sac and Fox, Thorpe was named for something occurring around the time of his birth, in this case, the sunlight brightening the path to the cabin where he was born.
Some accounts suggest that Hiram Thorpe had five different wives and produced a total of 19 children, of which no fewer than 11 were with Vieux.
Together with his twin brother, Charlie, Thorpe went to school in Stroud, Oklahoma at the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School. Charlie died of pneumonia when they were eight years old. Charlie helped Jim through school and Thorpe did not handle his brother's death very well. He ran away from school on several occasions. Hiram Thorpe then sent Jim to what is now known as Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, so that his son would not run away again. When his mother died two years later, Thorpe fell into a depression and after several arguments with his father, he ran away from home to work on a horse ranch.
In 1904, Thorpe returned to his father and decided to join Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pa., where he was coached by Glenn Scobey "Pop Warner, one of the most influential coaches in early American football history. Later that year, Hiram Thorpe died. Thorpe once again dropped out of school. He resumed farm work for a few years and then returned to Carlisle, where his athletic career commenced.
Football was Jim Thorpe's favorite sport, but he would compete sporadically in track and field. Nevertheless, track and field would become the sport in which Thorpe would gain the most fame personally. And for the help he gave the rebirth of professional football nationally.
The first professional football game in the U.S. took place in 1895 in the town of Latrobe, Pa. between a team representing that town and the team of Jeannette, Pa. In the following 10 years, many professional teams were formed, including the Duquesnes of Pittsburgh, Pa. the Olympics of McKeesport, Pa., the Bulldogs of Canton, Ohio and the team of Massillon, Ohio. Among noted college players who took up the professional game during its early years were Jim Thorpe (Carlisle), Willie Hesten (Univ. of Michigan), Knute Rockne (Notre Dame), Fritz Pollard (Brown Univ.).
The professional game attracted only limited public support during its first 30 years. The first league of professional football teams was the American Professional Football Association, formed in 1920, with Jim Thorpe as first president. It gave way in 1922 to the National Football League (NFL). It soon built a public interest in the professional games and provided upcoming star players like halfback Harold "Red" Grange (Univ. of Illinois), who in 1925 joined the professional Chicago Bears of the NFL and toured the U.S. with a professional team that year and the next .
The tour helped attract more and more first-rate college players to play professional football and the increased patronage of the public placed the game on a paying basis.
In 1936, the NFL adopted the so-called Draft Rule, a system that assigned graduating college stars to the various league teams in such a way that a fair distribution of talent was assured. In 1946, a second major professional football league, the All- America Football Conference, began to operate in competition with the NFL. In Dec., 1949, after a period of rivalry, the All- America Football Conference was absorbed into the NFL.
The advent of nationwide television and the vast income it provided made formation of another major league financially possible, and in 1960 the American Football League (AFL) began play. Competitive bidding for the services of outstanding college players soon imposed a heavy financial burden on both leagues, which then made a merger of the two leagues in June, 1966.
The immediate result of the merger gave a pool of new talent and provided for one commissioner and one league. The league was divided into two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Playoff games then began between the conference winners. It got to be known as the Super Bowl, which started in January, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. And the rest is history.
Until next time,
Ciao,
Joe D'Angelo
P.S. In 1963 Jim Thorpe received the NFL's highest honor, induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is often said to be the first player inducted, although the first person inducted was Chicago Bears founder, owner, coach and player, George Halos. In addition, Thorpe is also memorialized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame rotunda with a larger-than-life Jim Thorpe statue.
Next week, Part III, Jim Thorpe, an Olympic hero