University of Oklahoma Press has announced the upcoming release of the updated edition of Robert W. Wheeler’s definitive biography Jim Thorpe: World’s Greatest Athlete. Written a half century ago, Wheeler has much to add to the story of Jim Thorpe’s legacy since he and his wife, Florence Ridlon, have worked tirelessly for decades to get the Olympic medals and records restored. More information can be found at: https://www.oupress.com/9780806194240/jim-thorpe/
While we’re thinking about Jim Thorpe I want to focus on an article published by James Best of NBC Sports that get about everything about him wrong. https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/nfl/chicago-bears/a-look-at-the-history-of-jim-thorpe-and-native-americans-in-football/186374/
Under the headline, Who was the first Native American football player? Best states, “Thorpe was the first Native American to play in the NFL.” If he had glanced at the team roster or a game program he would have noticed that two of Thorpe’s backfield partners were former Carlisle Indian School teammates, Pete Calac and Joe Guyon. Thorpe was late to the professional game relative to other Carlisle players when he joined the Canton Bulldogs in 1915. In fact, it was old Carlisle end William Gardner who Jack Cusack sent to Bloomington Indiana to recruit Thorpe to play for the Bulldogs. An accurate statement would have been that Jim Thorpe was the first Pete Rozelle for the fledgling NFL.
Best’s next sentence began, “Thorpe was born in 1888….” Like many of his contemporaries, Jim Thorpe’s date of birth isn’t known definitively. Yes, he gave 1988 for the year of his birth on his WWII draft papers. It is possible he shaved a year off his age to make him appear to be more attractive to the military. Carlisle’s records suggest that he was born in 1887. His actual birth date won’t likely ever be known.
The next sentence states that he attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1907. It would have been clearer if Mr. Best had done a little research and noted that Thorpe arrived at Carlisle in 1904 but his athletic talents hadn’t developed to the point of beating Carlisle stars until 1907.
Best’s next paragraph begins, “Thorpe decided to try football in 1911….” He neglected to mention that Thorpe cajoled Pop Warned into putting him on the football team in 1907 and that he was named to Walter Camp’s All-American Third Team in 1908.
A later paragraph began, “After completing his final collegiate season, Thorpe participated in the 1912 Olympic Games…” If the author of this article had possessed a calendar, he would have known that the Olympic Games were played in the summer, before the start of the football season in the fall.
That’s enough for today. I suggest readers look to other sources for accurate information about Jim Thorpe rather than NBC Sports. Wheeler’s book would be my first choice.
Tom Benjey's Weblog 
January 22, 2024 at 1:08 pm |
How do you feel about David Maraniss book on Thorpe?
January 22, 2024 at 1:50 pm |
If Maraniss had actually visited Carlisle before releasing his book it wouldn’t have had so many obvious errors in it.