OT: Best multi-sport male athlete ever?

[#1 PA Husky Fan]

Walt Dropo deserves a mention. One of the all time UConn greats, drafted in basketball, baseball, and football. MLB ROY.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Jim Brown. Best lacrosse player and football player in his era.
Hands down best.

 

[Irishfan]

Who is in your opinion the best multi-sport male athlete - ever? This person was the only male athlete to ever be name a high school All-American first team in same year in three sports - basketball, baseball, and football. He was drafted by a MLB team in his senior year in high school. In college he played basketball and was a two time All-American and a NPOY. He holds (?) the NCAA record for scoring in double digits in 112 consecutive games. While in college he played in the MLB, not the minors, the BIGS! While in the NBA he was an integral part of two NBA championships. Did you select this guy?
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I thought Lionel Simmons held the record for most consecutive double digit games. That what my friends from Lasalle used to say. But they were known to lie about things.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Jim Brown. Best lacrosse player and football player in his era.
Hands down best.

If memory serves, Brown also started at forward on the 'Cuse basketball team & starred in track & field. He was generally considered even better at lacrosse than football.

 

[uconnfan68]

Scott Burrel was no slouch in any sport he played. Dave Winfield was another multi-sport talent.

 

[CL82]

Hard to say but for UConn my favorite is Walt Dropo

While at UConn, Dropo played for the football team, basketball team and baseball team. He left UConn as the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball. Dropo was drafted in the first round of the 1947 BAA Draft by the Providence Steamrollers with the fourth overall pick. Dropo was also drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 9th round of the 1946 NFL Draft.

He was American League rookie of the year for the Red Sox.

• Rookie of the Year (1950)
• All-Star (1950)
• Top 10 MVP (sixth, 1950)
• Led league in RBIs (144, 1950)
• Led league in total bases (326, 1950)
• Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive at-bats with a hit (July 15, 1952)
• Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive plate appearances with a hit (July 15, 1952)
• Tied an AL record with 15 hits in four games (July 16, 1952)
• Dropo was the first rookie to top 100 RBIs with more RBIs than games played (144 in 136 games, 1950)

LINKY

Although a good (and maybe better) case can be made for Scott Burrell.

 

[stillinstorrs]

Who remembers Steve Hamilton? Lanky 6-6 Kentuckian who is one of only two people to play in both the World Series and NBA finals. He threw a Folly Floater lob pitch occasionally. Yankees '63-'70. Minneapolis Lakers '58-'60. Lost to Boston in 59 finals. Gene Conley is the only person with both WS and NBA rings.

 

[Bigboote]

My favorite is Jim Thorpe, but the question was multi-sport athlete. Track isn't really a specialty sport but is basically a gage of athletic ability and the criteria was not "Best Athlete" but best multi sport athlete". One could be a great athlete and still not do that well in certain sports that require developed skills. Being that Danny was named All American in the three major sports ( requiring specific developed skills) I would agree that he qualifies.

I really take issue with the highlighted. The only way in which the pentathlon or decathlon is different from Ainge's sports is that it's not a team event. It's not a test of ability, but a test of endurance, developed skills, speed, and strength. In the decathlon, only the 100 m is a pure test of speed, and even that requires development. Of the field events, only the shot put is mostly strength. All of the other events involve primarily developed skills, whether those skills be technique (foremost in the discus, javelin, long jump, high jump and pole vault, hurdles), strategy, guile, or endurance.

Having competed in all the decathlon events except pole vault, as well as baseball, football, and basketball, I would say that the only aspect of the other sports that require further "developed skills" than track and field are hitting a baseball and developing a range of pitches.

Also don't forget that Thorpe was as good a baseball player as Ainge (played parts of six years in the majors) and a way better football player (charter member of the football hall of fame) than Ainge was a basketball player. They didn't have high-school all-Americans when Thorpe was in high school.

 

[JB123]

Thorpe was [. . .] a way better football player (charter member of the football hall of fame) than Ainge was a basketball player.

I'm not sure this is true. Thorpe had limited opportunities to show how good he was or wasn't on the pro level because there wasn't much of a pro level in football at that time. In college, he was a truly awesome football player, but so was Ainge in basketball (NPOY).

Overall, I certainly agree that Thorpe belongs far above Ainge. They were each great in one major team sport, but Thorpe also won Olympic gold medals in decathlon and pentathlon.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm not sure this is true. Thorpe had limited opportunities to show how good he was or wasn't on the pro level because there wasn't much of a pro level in football at that time. In college, he was a truly awesome football player, but so was Ainge in basketball (NPOY).
Overall, I certainly agree that Thorpe belongs far above Ainge. They were each great in one major team sport, but Thorpe also won Olympic gold medals in decathlon and pentathlon.

I see what you tried to do there! Danny Ainge won two of the 5 National Player of the year Awards in 1981 Wooden and the NABC. A very good acc. mplishment for ainge. THE NPOY was Ralph Sampson who won 3 such awards in 1981, 5 in 1982, and 5 in 1983.

 

[JB123]

As I look up the achievements of the major names that have been mentioned here, I'm actually liking my original pick of Vic Hanson. He might not have been as good as some others in his best sport, but he may well have been better than anyone else at his second-best and third-best major sports, if major sports are defined as football, basketball, and baseball. And it does seem to me that the main point of this question is to place special emphasis on how good a player was at their second-best (and in some cases third-best) sport.

It's not surprising that the best multi-sport athletes would have been players from long ago, since specialization makes it harder to be as successful across sports nowadays.

So my lists would be as follows:

A. All sports

1. Jim Thorpe (Olympic gold medal winner in decathlon and pentathlon; elite college football player)
2. Vic Hanson (NPOY and 3-time All-American in college basketball; 2-time AA in college football; drafted by the Yankees in baseball)
3. Deion Sanders (NFL Hall of Famer; quality pro in baseball)
4. Bo Jackson (Heisman trophy winner in football; quality pro in both football and baseball) (career sadly cut short by injury)
5. Jim Brown (one of the greatest football players ever; first-team All-American in lacrosse)

B. Football, basketball, and baseball

1. Vic Hanson (NPOY and 3-time All-American in college basketball; 2-time AA in college football; drafted by the Yankees in baseball)
2. Deion Sanders (NFL Hall of Famer; quality pro in baseball)
3. Bo Jackson (Heisman trophy winner in football; quality pro in both football and baseball) (career sadly cut short by injury)
4. Charlie Ward (Heisman trophy winner in football; quality pro in basketball)
5. Danny Ainge (college NPOY and excellent pro in basketball; played pro baseball)

 

[Zanzman]

They way I read it was Hanson was only alm American in football once but still not shabby

 

[JB123]

They way I read it was Hanson was only alm American in football once but still not shabby

Thanks! I was tricked by this website, which wrongly says he was a 3-time AA in football.

However, I think it's fair to call him a two-time AA in football. He was a consensus pick in 1926 and a 3rd-team AP selection in 1925.

Another indication of how good he was is that he's in the College Football Hall of Fame.

 

[uconnfan68]

I'm not sure this is true. Thorpe had limited opportunities to show how good he was or wasn't on the pro level because there wasn't much of a pro level in football at that time. In college, he was a truly awesome football player, but so was Ainge in basketball (NPOY).

Overall, I certainly agree that Thorpe belongs far above Ainge. They were each great in one major team sport, but Thorpe also won Olympic gold medals in decathlon and pentathlon.

Jimmer Fredette was NPOY too... for what that’s worth.

 

[JB123]

Jimmer Fredette was NPOY too... for what that’s worth.

If Jimmer had gone on to have Ainge's pro career and also played baseball in the bigs, we'd be talking about him here too.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The answer is either Bo or Prime, but Bill Russell deserves a mention too. I think he played 18 years of organized basketball and won the title 15 of the 18 years. He was also top 10 high jumper in the world in college and ran a sub 50 in the 400 meters......and he rarely practiced.

 

[Dillon77]

Lots of great answers. Rather than add onto or duplicate most of them, I'll add a few ideas.

Start with one person who was so good he almost became taken for granted in his own sport, let alone the other two he did well in.

Wilt Chamberlain was quite the multiple sport athlete.

Obviously, there's that basketball thing, from Overbrook in HS to Kansas in college to the Globetrotters and then the NBA.

While at Kansas in college, he also took part in track and field. According to Wikipedia, "he ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted 56 feet, triple jumped more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight track and field championships three straight years."

And after retiring from the WNBA, he went whole hog into volleyball, trying his best to make the International Volleyball Association, becoming it's president, playing in exhibition matches and the all-star game to up its publicity (he was named MVP in one such game).

He's a member of the Hall of Fames of both basketball and volleyball.

And here's one who nailed it in two sports:

- I saw Dave DeBusschere mentioned, who was All-American in Baseball and Basketball at University of Detroit, played with White Sox and his hometown Pistons, before the big trade sent him to the Knicks. He was a very young player-coach for the Pistons and after retiring he has the very good luck as New York Knick GM to win the lottery that selected one Patrick Ewing.

and one who was so good he almost became taken for granted in his own sport, let alone the other two he did well in.

Would like to add one athlete who wasn't great in any one sport, but pretty darn good in a couple and had a pretty decent other career.

- Chuck Connors, who played professional basketball, baseball, was drafted by the NFL and may or may not have been a pretty good shot as "The Rifleman." Apparently, he is the first recorded NBA'er to have broken a backboard in a game...take that to Lovetron, Darryl Dawkins.

 

[Blueballer]

Gotta go with Bo. He was great in both the Major sports of Football and Baseball. If his career wasn't cut short this wouldn't even be a conversation.

 

[reno tony]

Tim Tebow

 

[uconnfan68]

If Jimmer had gone on to have Ainge's pro career and also played baseball in the bigs, we'd be talking about him here too.

Just pointing out how white BYU guys get noticed. Was he really better in any way than Kemba Walker?

 

[uconnfan68]

Lots of great answers, so I'll add one who wasn't great in any one sport, pretty darn good in a couple and at another career.

- Chuck Connors, who played professional basketball, baseball, was drafted by the NFL and may or may not have been a pretty good shot as "The Rifleman." Apparently, he is the first recorded NBA'er to have broken a backboard in a game...take that to Lovetron, Darryl Dawkins.

- I saw Dave DeBusschere mentioned, who was All-American in Baseball and Basketball at University of Detroit, played with White Sox and his hometown Pistons, before the big trade sent him to the Knicks. He was a very young player-coach for the Pistons and after retiring he has the very good luck as New York Knick GM to win the lottery that selected one Patrick Ewing.

and Wilt Chamberlain was quite the multiple sport athlete.
While at Kansas in college, according to Wikipedia, "he ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted 56 feet, triple jumped more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight track and field championships three straight years."

And after retiring from the WNBA, he went whole hog into volleyball, trying his best to make the International Volleyball Association, becoming it's president, playing in exhibition matches and the all-star game to up its publicity (he was named MVP in one such game).

He's a member of the Hall of Fame in both basketball and volleyball.

Thought Wilt was a great athlete, but even Mike couldn’t hit a baseball.

 

[JB123]

Just pointing out how white BYU guys get noticed. Was he really better in any way than Kemba Walker?

There's obviously no comparison between what they did after college, but if we're just comparing what they did before the NCAA tournament in 2010-2011 (the basis for NPOY voting), I think Jimmer's selection is understandable. Both had great stats, but Jimmer scored more points with better shooting percentages. And although Kemba faced tougher competition, BYU's strength of schedule was very respectable (#25 nationally), and BYU had a significantly better record, which often gets factored in. Anyway, this isn't the place to debate Jimmer Fredette's NPOY candidacy, nor do I have any dog in that fight whatsoever. Maybe he deserved it, or maybe he didn't. (If he was worse than Kemba Walker, that's not much of an indictment of him.) Either way, I'm just saying that no one wins the player of the year award without having a great year.

I rooted for Kemba Walker, rooted against Danny Ainge, and didn't care one way or the other about Jimmer Fredette. But they all had great senior seasons in college.

 

[asuwish]

Bo does not hold a candle to Danny Ainge! Seriously you don't know who is Danny Ainge?

Jim brown is considered the best football and Lacrosse player ever. Ainge was a solid nba player not a hall of famer, and nothing of a mlb player. I believe Scott Burrell was all state quarterback and he was the 1st athlete ever to be a 1st round pick in both baseball and the NBA. Great athlete. Also Bobby Valentine wss all state in 3 sports.

 

[asuwish]

Just for the fun of it CT's own Joan Joyce (along with Babe Didrikson) are the greatest American multi sport female athletes.

 

[Aluminny69]

Wilt Chamberlain is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Volleyball Hall of Fame. So, name another athlete in two different HOF for two different professional sports.

Name another athlete who so dominated his sport, several rules changes were made, just because of him:

Rule changes
Chamberlain's impact on the game is also reflected in the fact that he was directly responsible for several rule changes in the NBA, including widening the lane to try to keep him farther away from the hoop, instituting offensive goaltending and revising rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws (such as making it against the rules to inbound the ball over the backboard).[3][143] Chamberlain, who reportedly had a 50-inch vertical leap,[144] was physically capable of converting foul shots via a slam dunk without a running start (beginning his movement at the top of the key).[145] When his dunks practically undermined the difficulty of a foul shot, both the NCAA[146] and the NBA banned his modus operandi.[3][114]