The American athlete and Olympic gold medalist successes were followed in the United States.
On the Olympic team’s return, he was the star attraction in a ticker-tape parade on Broadway. He remembered later, “I heard people yelling my name, and I couldn’t realize how one fellow could have so many friends.”
Apart from his track and field appearances, Thorpe also played in one of two exhibition baseball games at the 1912 Olympics, which featured two teams composed mostly of U.S. track and field athletes. Thorpe had previous experience in the sport, as the public soon learned.
Thorpe was a lot of things, but being a great baseball player wasn’t one of them. Jim was great for sales, he was a popular guy, but not for stats. He played for 3 different major league baseball teams and one minor league team. His career was six years long.
Did Jim Thorpe serve in the military? Jim Thorpe’s military background explored
Yes, when Jim Thorpe retired from sports, he worked as an actor and casting director in Hollywood, lectured around the country on Native American culture, and during World War II served in the U.S. Merchant Marine.
He died in his trailer in Lomita, California, on March 28, 1953. He is buried in the eastern Pennsylvania town that bears his name.
Thorpe was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. In 1999 the Associated Press ranked Thorpe third on its list of the 100 top athletes of the century, behind only Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.
The same year, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives passed resolutions that designated Thorpe “American Athlete of the Century.” Before the 2000 Super Bowl, ABC Sports honoured Thorpe as “Athlete of the Century,” and the National Football League renamed its most valuable player award in his honour.
Source: nflfaqs.com
