Everyone wants to be like Mike. During training camp, Brandon Marshall said he’ll play in the NBA if there is an NFL lockout next year. And the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, has expressed his desire to play for Manchester United. So who is the best multi-sport athlete of all-time?:
10. Brian Jordan (baseball, football)
A two-sport star who juggled both careers simultaneously, Jordan had five interceptions and four sacks as a defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons from 1989-1991. He gave up the NFL to concentrate on baseball, where — in a 15-year career — Jordan hit .282 and reached the playoffs five times.
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9. Danny Ainge (basketball, baseball)
Ainge is best known for his two championships with the Boston Celtics and winning the John Wooden Award as the nation’s best collegiate basketball player while at BYU. But he’s also the youngest player in Toronto Blue Jays history to hit a home run. As a second baseman, Ainge hit just .220 in three seasons.
8. Dave DeBusschere (basketball, baseball)
The Hall of Fame power forward was a two-time NBA champion with the New York Knicks. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and made six All-Defensive first teams. DeBusschere also pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1962-63, where he went 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA and one shutout.
7. Jackie Robinson (baseball, football, track)
Long before he broke baseball’s color barrier, Robinson starred at UCLA, becoming the first athlete in school history to letter in four different intercollegiate sports — baseball, basketball, football and track. Ironically, baseball was his worst; he hit .097 in his only season.
6. Jim Brown (football, lacrosse, track)
On top of being one of the best running backs of all-time, Brown excelled in basketball, track and lacrosse while attending Syracuse. As a senior, he was a first-team All-American in both football and lacrosse. The Pro Football Hall of Famer retired from the NFL as the leader in career rushing yards.
5. Dave Winfield (baseball, basketball, football)
Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports — the San Diego Padres (MLB), Atlanta Hawks (NBA), Utah Stars (ABA) and Minnesota Vikings (NFL). The truly incredible facts are that Winfield never played a down of college football and was originally a pitcher in baseball. He finished his MLB career with 3,110 hits.
4. Deion Sanders (football, baseball)
Prime Time is the only player to hit a major league home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week and the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and World Series. Sanders was one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history, while his baseball career was much less celebrated.
3. Bo Jackson (football, baseball, track)
The best all-around athlete of his generation — and the most dominant player in the history of video games — won the Heisman Trophy and was the first overall selection in the 1987 NFL Draft. He also hit 141 career home runs and was the MVP of the 1989 MLB All-Star Game.
2. Babe Didrikson Zaharias (track, golf, basketball)
Indisputably the greatest female athlete in history. Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals and one silver medal in track and field at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. She later became a star golfer, winning 82 career tournaments and making the cut in three men’s PGA events in 1945.
1. Jim Thorpe (track, football, baseball)
There isn’t much Thorpe didn’t do in the world of sports. He won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912 and played professional football, baseball and basketball. He was actually stripped of his medals after it was discovered that he was paid for playing baseball before competing in the Olympics.
