50 Fun Facts About Multi-Sport Athletes

Which athlete, sidelined by a 1991 hip injury, is the only one named an All-Star in both baseball and the NFL?

Bo Jackson was MVP of the 1989 MLB All-Star Game and made the Pro Bowl a year later. He came back to baseball in 1993 on an artificial hip.

Deion Sanders, nicknamed Prime Time, is the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and which other championship?

World Series play came with the 1992 Atlanta Braves. In 1989 he had hit an MLB home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week.

Which 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion went on to play professional baseball, football and basketball?

Jim Thorpe lost both titles for having been paid to play semi-professional baseball. The Olympic committee restored his medals in 1983, 30 years after his death.

Which double gold medalist in track at the 1932 Olympics later won 10 major championships in women's golf?

Babe Didrikson was also a three-time AAU All-American in basketball, and in 1934 she pitched in Major League spring training exhibition games.

Which future Hall of Fame baseball player was the first UCLA athlete to win varsity letters in four sports?

Jackie Robinson lettered in baseball, basketball, football and track, and baseball was his weakest sport at UCLA: he hit .097 in his only season.

Which Olympic sprint champion trained with Australian soccer club Central Coast Mariners in 2018, hoping for a contract?

Usain Bolt scored two goals in a friendly for the Mariners, and that month turned down a two-year contract from Maltese club Valletta.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback left the NFL to play minor league baseball in the New York Mets system?

Tim Tebow climbed as far as the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, one level below the majors. He had been the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.

Michael Jordan, away from the NBA in 1994, hit .202 for which Double-A minor league baseball team?

Birmingham Barons crowds watched Jordan steal 30 bases and hit three home runs, and he went on to play in the Arizona Fall League that year.

Which MLB team drafted Tom Brady as a catcher in 1995, five years before the NFL's Patriots picked him?

Montreal Expos scouts took him in the 18th round after working him out at Candlestick Park, and he ended up the last active athlete the club ever drafted.

Which Olympic halfpipe snowboarding champion was the first to win both Summer and Winter X Games in different sports?

Shaun White took up skateboarding under Tony Hawk, who befriended him at age nine and mentored him until he turned professional.

LeBron James was named first-team all-state in Ohio high school football while playing which position?

Wide receiver was his high school spot, and he has said the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks offered him contracts during the 2011 NBA lockout.

Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns running back, is also in the national hall of fame for which college sport?

Lacrosse made him a first-team All-American at Syracuse, with 43 goals in 10 games as a senior, and the Premier Lacrosse League's MVP award is named for him.

Baseball MVP Mookie Betts also competes as a professional in which other sport?

Bowling made him Tennessee's boys bowler of the year in 2010, and he rolled his perfect game at a Professional Bowlers Association event in 2017.

Which Oklahoma Heisman winner was the first player drafted in the first round by both MLB and the NFL?

Kyler Murray went ninth overall to baseball's Oakland Athletics in 2018, then first overall to the Arizona Cardinals a year later.

Which Heisman-winning NFL star competed in bobsled for the United States at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville?

Herschel Walker was also a track All-American at Georgia, where he won the 1982 Heisman Trophy as a running back.

Which American hurdler, a 2008 Olympic favorite who tripped near the finish, later became a Winter Olympic bobsledder?

Lolo Jones was the brakewoman of a United States sled at the 2014 Sochi Games, and she won a two-woman world title in 2021.

Which future NBA MVP was Virginia's high school player of the year in both football and basketball?

Allen Iverson started at quarterback for Bethel High, also playing running back, kick returner and defensive back, and won state titles in both sports.

Which NFL team drafted John Elway first overall in 1983, only for him to threaten to play baseball instead?

Baltimore Colts management traded him to Denver. Elway had real leverage: the New York Yankees had drafted him in 1981 and paid him $150,000 for a minor league summer.

After retiring from the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain played professionally and served as league president in which sport?

Volleyball had been his hobby in his Lakers days; he joined the International Volleyball Association's board in 1974, became its president in 1975, and is in the beach hall of fame.

Which future Boston Celtics guard played parts of three Major League Baseball seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays?

Danny Ainge is also the only person named a high school first-team All-American in football, basketball and baseball.

Which Hall of Fame outfielder was drafted in 1973 by four teams in three sports: baseball, basketball and football?

Dave Winfield never played college football, yet the Minnesota Vikings still drafted him. He chose the San Diego Padres, who had taken him fourth overall as a pitcher.

Which Dallas Cowboys sprinter was the first athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring?

Bob Hayes tied the world record of 10.0 seconds to win the 100 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Games, then helped Dallas win its first Super Bowl after the 1971 season.

Which Florida State quarterback is the only Heisman Trophy winner to play in the NBA, mostly for the Knicks?

Charlie Ward joined the Seminoles basketball team just 15 days after winning the 1993 Heisman, then went to New York in the first round of the 1994 NBA draft.

Which Hall of Fame tight end never played college football, having starred instead in basketball at Kent State?

Antonio Gates signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2003, and in 2025 became the first player to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame without playing the college game.

Which track star was drafted by both the Chicago Bulls and the Dallas Cowboys in 1984 without playing college ball?

Carl Lewis went 208th overall to the Bulls despite never having played high school basketball, and an NBA website poll ranked him among the most unusual picks in draft history.

Which Czech athlete won Olympic gold in both alpine skiing and snowboarding at the same 2018 Winter Games?

Ester Ledecká was the first person to compete at a Winter Olympics on both skis and a snowboard, yet the first sport she took up as a child was ice hockey.

Which 1950s Wimbledon singles champion later spent more than a decade as a professional on the LPGA golf tour?

Althea Gibson became the first Black player to compete in the Ladies Professional Golf Association, joining the tour in 1964 at the age of 37.

Which future world number one in tennis took a break to play Big Bash cricket for the Brisbane Heat?

Ashleigh Barty had only ever played casually with her family, yet she signed for the Heat's first season before returning to the tennis tour in February 2016.

Which NHL team drafted future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine in 1984, two rounds ahead of Brett Hull?

Los Angeles Kings scouts had seen him score 47 goals in 23 high school games, but he signed with baseball's Atlanta Braves, who drafted him the same year.

Which Italian racing driver, who lost both legs in a 2001 crash, went on to win four Paralympic golds in handcycling?

Alex Zanardi designed and built his own prosthetic legs to keep racing cars, and placed fourth in the New York City Marathon's handcycle division after four weeks of training.

Which UFC heavyweight champion and former NCAA wrestling champion played the 2004 preseason with the Minnesota Vikings?

Brock Lesnar played defensive tackle in several preseason games before the Vikings released him, then turned down an invitation to play in NFL Europe.

Ronda Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in which sport, taking bronze in 2008?

Judo ran in the family: her mother was the first American to win a world championship in the sport, and Rousey began training with her at 11.

Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoku gave exhibitions around the world that popularized which other sport?

Surfing was little known outside Hawaii before his tours, and his 1914 exhibition at Sydney's Freshwater Beach is regarded as a seminal moment for the sport in Australia.

Which NBA great trained as a competitive swimmer until Hurricane Hugo destroyed his island's only Olympic-sized pool?

Tim Duncan was forced to swim in the ocean instead, and his fear of sharks ruined his enthusiasm, so he took up basketball at 14.

Which MLB team drafted Russell Wilson in 2010 and had him playing minor league second base before his NFL career?

Colorado Rockies farm clubs the Tri-City Dust Devils and Asheville Tourists both fielded him; the Rangers and then the Yankees later picked up his baseball rights.

Which speed skater swept five golds at the 1980 Winter Olympics, then rode the Tour de France as a pro cyclist?

Eric Heiden was a founding member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team and finished the 1985 Giro d'Italia, but a crash five days from the end knocked him out of the 1986 Tour.

Which Slovenian Grand Tour winner was a competitive ski jumper until 2011 before switching to professional cycling?

Primož Roglič only turned professional on the bike at 23, yet in 2019 he became the first Slovenian rider to win one of cycling's three-week races.

Sonny Bill Williams, twice a World Cup winner with the All Blacks, began his career in which other football code?

Rugby league came first: he won an NRL premiership in his debut season with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and he later fought professionally as a heavyweight.

Which Australian was the first to play in both cricket and soccer World Cups, debuting for both national teams at 16?

Ellyse Perry is the youngest Australian to play international cricket, making her one-day debut at 16 years and 8 months.

Which Champions League-winning Chelsea goalkeeper took up ice hockey as a goaltender for Guildford Phoenix in 2019?

Petr Čech was named man of the match on his debut after stopping two penalty shots in a shoot-out. He had played hockey as a boy until the cost of the equipment pushed him to football.

Which 1920 boxing champion is the only athlete to win gold in different sports at the Summer and Winter Olympics?

Eddie Eagan won the light-heavyweight title in Antwerp, then rode in the winning four-man bobsled at Lake Placid in 1932. In between he studied at Yale, Harvard Law and Oxford.

Which England cricketer and footballer equalled the long jump world record and reputedly declined Albania's throne?

C. B. Fry also played in an FA Cup Final for Southampton, and at Oxford he captained the cricket and football teams while presiding over the athletics club.

Which Englishwoman, Wimbledon's youngest singles champion at 15, also won an Olympic archery silver medal in 1908?

Lottie Dod also won the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship and played field hockey for an England team she had helped to found.

Which pitcher won a 1957 baseball title with the Milwaukee Braves and three NBA championships with the Boston Celtics?

Gene Conley was only the second person to win titles in two of the four major American sports, and he was the winning pitcher in the 1955 All-Star Game.

Chuck Connors played for the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Cubs before starring in which TV western?

The Rifleman cast him as Lucas McCain from 1958 to 1963. Back in 1946 he had become the first professional basketball player to break a backboard, during pregame practice.

Which British racer is the only person to win world championships on both motorcycles and in Formula One?

John Surtees won seven motorcycle world titles, four of them in the premier 500cc class with MV Agusta, before taking the 1964 drivers' crown with Ferrari.

Which Hall of Fame forward pitched a major league shutout and became the NBA's youngest head coach at 24?

Dave DeBusschere threw his shutout for Chicago against the Cleveland Indians in 1963, and later gave up pitching to concentrate on playing and coaching basketball.

Which Canadian cyclist and speed skater is the only person to win multiple medals at both Summer and Winter Olympics?

Clara Hughes took two cycling bronzes in Atlanta in 1996, then a gold, a silver and two bronzes on the ice across three Winter Games.

Which Grey Cup and Stanley Cup winner, nicknamed the Big Train, was named Canada's athlete of the half-century?

Lionel Conacher won his football title with the 1921 Toronto Argonauts, then lifted hockey's Stanley Cup with Chicago in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935.

Which hurdler, the first to break 13 seconds in the 110 meters, left track to catch passes for the San Francisco 49ers?

Renaldo Nehemiah had never played college football. The 49ers deemed him expendable after drafting Jerry Rice in 1985, and he went back to the track.