Celeb Best Blog

In today’s ultra-competitive world of professional athletics, it’s
extremely difficult to go pro. Still, there have been a number of
physically gifted, insanely versatile athletes
who’ve managed to make a name for themselves in multiple, often
surprisingly different, competitions. In many cases, these “multi-sport”
athletes have managed to rise to the top of the class in more than one sport simultaneously, cementing their reputations as some of the best all-around athletes in history. Here are ten of the most famous examples:

10. Brian Jordan

Baseball and football seems to be one of the most popular two-sport
combinations for these athletes, and Brian Jordan is a classic example.
After shining on both the diamond and the gridiron throughout high
school and college, he began a career in the late 1980’s as both an
outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and a safety for the Buffalo
Bills. Despite his obvious versatility, it’s widely agreed that Jordan
was always a better baseball player than he was a football defensive
back (he was cut from the Bills’ training camp during his first NFL
season), and after only a few years in the NFL, he left the game to pursue baseball full time. Once he narrowed his focus to just one sport, Jordan quickly became a big-time asset to his team,
batting nearly .300 and hitting an impressive 22 home runs in 1995. His
later career would see him become a journeyman of sorts, playing for
the Atlanta Braves on two different occasions (with whom he earned an
All-Star Game appearance), as well as for the Rangers and the Dodgers.

Most Impressive Achievement:

Jordan may have become known more as a baseball slugger in his later
years, but for a brief period he was one of very few athletes to have
ever played both football and baseball simultaneously. After leaving the
Bills in the late eighties, Jordan signed with Atlanta, where he played
as a defensive back. During his brief stint as a Falcon, he recorded 5
interceptions and 2 safeties, all while also serving as an outfielder
for the St. Louis Cardinals.

9. Lottie Dod

Easily one of the most versatile female competitors from the early days of organized sports,
Lottie Dod was a British athlete who excelled at tennis, golf, archery,
and field hockey. She is most famous for her skill at tennis, which saw
her win the ladies’ singles championship at Wimbledon five times in the
span of seven years, the earliest at age 15. If that’s not impressive
enough, it’s worth noting that she didn’t even bother to play the two
years she didn’t win, and only lost 5 total times in her entire tennis
career. After leaving competitive tennis behind, Dod moved on to field
hockey, which she helped pioneer by starting the women’s team from
Spital, England. She quickly became the team’s captain, and was known
for being the deciding factor in whether or not they succeeded. This
rule was also proved true when Dod was selected as a member of the
English national team, where she scored both goals in a 2-1 win over
Ireland.

Most Impressive Achievement:

Dod is most remembered as a tennis and field hockey player, but she was
equally accomplished in golf and archery. In 1904, she won the national
championships at golf, and after taking up archery, she secured a silver
medal in the 1908 Olympic games.

8. Charlie Ward

Commonly regarded as one of the best all-around athletes in the
history of sports, Charlie Ward was a skilled player in football,
baseball, and basketball. As a quarterback at Florida State University,
he led his team to a National Championship, and along the way he managed
to also win the Heisman trophy by one of the biggest margins in
history. He was also on the school’s basketball team, and was even said
to be an accomplished tennis player. Upon graduating, Ward was faced
with a tough decision, as teams in both the NFL and the NBA were
expected to draft him. In a surprise move, Ward eventually chose the
NBA, where the New York Knicks drafted him. He soon distinguished
himself as a reliable point guard and skilled 3-point shooter, even as
the NFL continued to knock on his door (according to reports, Ward was
courted by the Kansas City Chiefs as a possible backup quarterback for
Joe Montana). Nagging injuries eventually led to Ward’s early retirement
from professional sports, but his college career alone would be enough to qualify him as one of the most accomplished multi-sport athletes in recent memory.

Most Impressive Achievement:

Ward’s college sports career was so impressive that in addition to being
courted by the NFL and drafted by the NBA, he was also drafted by major
league baseball teams twice, in 1993 and 1994.  This was not because of
any significant accomplishments in baseball—Ward hadn’t even played on
his college team—it was just that he had such a good throwing arm that
managers always believed they could turn him into a big-league pitcher.

7. C.B. Fry

Englishman Charles Burgess, or C.B., Fry was one of the most
accomplished renaissance men of his time: excelling as a teacher,
writer, publisher, and politician. Today, though, he is most remembered
for his athletic achievements, which saw him become one of Europe’s most
famous sportsmen with his uncanny skill at everything from cricket and
track and field to soccer, rugby, and gymnastics. Cricket was Fry’s main
game, and he was known for having one of the most consistently high
averages in both the league and international play. He retired with over
30,000 career runs, which at the time was one of the all time highest
totals. In soccer, Fry was also formidable, playing on both the pro side
Southampton and the English national team as a defender.

Most Impressive Achievement:

Fry’s successes as a track and field star are perhaps the most
convincing proof of his legendary abilities as an all-around athlete. He
was best known for his skill in the long jump, and in 1893 he managed
to tie the world record with a leap of over 23 1/2 feet. Fry was also an
accomplished sprinter, and is known for winning the 100-yard dash
during the world’s first international track meet between Oxford and
Yale universities.

6. Lionel Conacher

The most famous of Canada’s athletes, Lionel Conacher was a sportsman
from the 1920’s. Primarily known as a hockey player, he was also known
to compete professionally in football, baseball, lacrosse, boxing and
wrestling. He started as one of the earliest stars of Canadian football
while playing for the Toronto Argonauts, with whom he won the league
championship in 1921. Conacher, who was known as “the Big Train,” was a
standout player in his early days, and on one occasion he was said to
have rushed for an amazing 215 yards on only eight carries. After
traveling to the U.S., Conacher tried to bring pro football to Canada
(which was amateur-only), and in 1933 he organized the first ever
official league while simultaneously serving as the captain of two
teams. By this time he was a professional in as many as four sports
including baseball, lacrosse, and wrestling; but it was when he took up
hockey that he truly became a star. Hockey was supposedly his weakest
sport and the one in which he had the least interest, but Conacher still
shined, leading more than one team to a Stanley Cup victory before he
retired in the late 30’s.

Most Impressive Achievement:

In addition to his accomplishments as a pro athlete (which include never
losing a single match as a pro wrestler), Conacher is also remembered
for the sheer volume of sports that he managed to play simultaneously.
One famous story from 1920 describes him as having hit the game-winning
home run in a baseball game, only to catch a ride across town to play
lacrosse, where he quickly scored four goals.

5. Deion Sanders

Famed two-sport star Deion Sanders is perhaps the most high profile
of the athletes on this list, and for good reason: not only did he excel
at both baseball and football, but he consistently played on quality,
championship-caliber teams in both leagues. “Neon Deion” is remembered
primarily for playing two sports, but in college he was even more
versatile, and ran track in addition to starring on the baseball and
football teams. One story describes him as playing a baseball
doubleheader, running at a track meet, and then returning to play
another baseball game all in the span of a day. After college, Sanders
was drafted by the MLB’s New York Yankees
and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, and decided to play for both. Unlike
many athletes that pull off two pro sports careers, Sanders managed to
keep competing in both leagues for a surprisingly long period of time,
serving as an MLB outfielder and base-stealing expert from 1989 to 1995
(and on and off thereafter), as well as playing as a cornerback and kick
returner in the NFL from 1989 to 2001. Along the way, he managed to
notch an impressive 53 career interceptions as one of football’s most
feared defenders, while also recording 186 career stolen bases in
baseball.

Most Impressive Achievement:

There’s an ongoing argument over whether Sanders would have been a
better player if he had just concentrated on one sport, but even when
dividing his time, his achievements were nothing to scoff at. Not only
is he the only man to compete in both the Super Bowl and the World
Series, but he’s also the only athlete to ever hit a homerun and score a
touchdown in the same week.

4. Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson is already an icon for being the first man to break
the color barrier in professional baseball in 1947, but what is often
forgotten in the process is just how amazing of an athlete he really
was. From an early age, he was a sports virtuoso, taking on every game
that could be played and competing at a high level in all of them. In
high school, Robinson played on the varsity team in multiple sports, and
was a letterman in football, baseball, track, and basketball. His
career really took off when he began attending UCLA, where he continued
to be a standout in multiple sports (ironically, baseball was regarded
as his weakest game). After college, he began playing semi-pro football
as a member of the Honolulu Bears, and later served as the running back
for the Los Angeles Bulldogs in the short-lived Pacific Coast Football
League. Robinson finally began playing professional baseball in 1945,
when he joined the Kansas City Monarchs, and it was here that he got his
shot at Major League Baseball when he was selected by Dodgers manager
Branch Rickey to be the first black player in the all-white leagues. As
if this wasn’t a big enough accomplishment, Robinson would continue to
shine after breaking the color barrier. He earned a reputation for
stealing bases, once getting 37 in one season, and won the MVP award in
1949.

Most Impressive Accomplishment:

Robinson’s world-changing move into pro baseball is certainly his most
important contribution to sports, but from a purely athletic standpoint,
his biggest achievement might have come in college. While at UCLA, he
managed to letter in four sports (football, track, baseball, and
basketball), a feat that has never been equaled.

3. Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson could easily have become the greatest multi-sport athlete
of all time had a hip injury not prematurely ended his sports career,
but even in the short time in which he played, he distinguished himself
as one of the most formidable sportsman in recent memory. Jackson was a
standout player in both football and baseball in his teens, to the point
that the New York Yankees drafted him as soon as he graduated high
school. He elected to go on to college at Auburn University, where he
continued to dominate as a home run hitter and unstoppable running back,
and in 1985 he was awarded the Heisman Trophy. He was selected first in
the NFL draft, but continued to play baseball as well, simultaneously
serving as a running back for the Oakland Raiders (then the L.A.
Raiders) and as an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals. He became
known as a big time slugger in the MLB, hitting 141 home runs over his
eight-year career, while at the same time rushing for over 2,000 career
yards in the NFL, including a record-breaking 221 yards in a Monday
Night game.

Most Impressive Achievement:

It’s hard to say what Jackson might have accomplished had he not gotten hurt,
but many claim he would’ve been one of the all time greats, and he did
succeed in becoming the first athlete to ever play in both the NFL Pro
Bowl and the MLB all-star game. Amazingly, after retiring from the MLB
and the NFL, Jackson even tried his hand at basketball, briefly playing
for a semi-pro team in L.A.

2. Jim Brown

Former NFL running back Jim Brown is commonly regarded as a contender
for the title of greatest football player of all time, but what is not
widely known is that he’s a running contender for the title of greatest
lacrosse player of all time, as well. In fact, in his early days at high
school, Brown managed to rise to the top of the ranks at nearly every
sport he took up, from football and lacrosse to basketball, baseball,
and track. He carried most of these interests over to college at
Syracuse University, where he continued to build a name for himself as
an excellent all-around athlete. In football, he managed to rush for
nearly 1,000 yards in only eight games in order to score an amazing
per-carry average of 6.2 yards. Meanwhile, in lacrosse he ended his
senior season with 43 goals in 10 games, and was listed as a first team
All-American.

Most Impressive Achievement:

If Brown’s college career was not amazing enough, his professional
career in the NFL was downright legendary. After being drafted by the
Cleveland Browns in 1956, Brown proceeded to break every major record in
the book, including the record for career rush yards (12,312 yards),
touchdowns (106), and all-purpose yards (15,549). Many of Brown’s
records have been broken since his retirement in 1965, but he still
remains the only NFL running back to have ever averaged more than 100
yards a game for his career.

1. Jim Thorpe

For sheer athletic skill and versatility, early twentieth century
multi-sport phenomenon Jim Thorpe simply has no equal. No other athlete
since has managed to play so many different sports in so many different
roles, and none has managed to do them all so well.  Born in 1888,
Thorpe was of Native American descent, and spent most of his early years
in Oklahoma before going to school in Pennsylvania, where he was
coached by legendary football whiz Pop Warner. It was here that he first
began to display his athletic prowess, playing nearly every sport
including baseball, lacrosse, track and field, and even ballroom
dancing. After college, Thorpe pursued a professional sports career
while training for the 1912 Olympic games, which were held in Sweden. He
competed in multiple events in track and field, and, thanks to his
ability to perform well in any event, easily won gold medals in the
pentathlon and the decathlon. Thorpe used the fame he garnered from the
Olympics to charge headlong into professional sports. He joined the New York Giants
baseball team, and would later play for both the Brewers and the White
Sox. At the same time, he was playing professional football for the
Canton Bulldogs, one of the first pro teams in the league that would
later become the NFL. Unbelievably, throughout it all Thorpe also played
pro basketball as part of a traveling exhibition team made entirely of
Native Americans.

Most Impressive Achievement:

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Thorpe is not the number of
different sports he played, but his versatility within those individual
competitions. Thorpe could always play on both sides of the ball,
particularly in football, where he served as his team’s running back,
defensive back, punter, and kicker. One legendary story tells of his
college team defeating Harvard 18 to 15 in a game in which Thorpe scored
every one of his side’s points. Yet another tells of how when he had a
95-yard touchdown revoked because of a penalty, Thorpe simply shook it
off and scored a 97-yard touchdown on the very next play