WEST POINT, N.Y. - In 1912, Army wasn't quite the national power it would become in the coming decades, but it was still a formidable team. The Cadets, for example, had given up only 23 points combined in the previous two seasons.
The 1912 Army football team is notable for having two famous teammates, though they weren't very well known at the time. Among the Cadets playing on that team were Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, both of whom would be promoted to the rank of four-star general during World War II.
Eisenhower and Bradley got their fame long after suiting up for West Point, though. On November 9, 1912, the most famous man on the field was playing for the opposition. Fresh off his stunning performance at the 1912 Olympics, Jim Thorpe was now a college football star for the Carlisle Indian School. Along with having Thorpe in the fold, Carlisle was coached by the legendary Pop Warner, a man who did more to expand and enhance the game of football than perhaps anybody.
With Warner calling the shots and Thorpe doing the dirty work, Carlisle rolled. Dominating the game like no one before him, Thorpe ran over, around, and through the Cadets, completely overpowering them. Especially memorable was one punt return in which all 11 Army players on the field had a chance at him before they were finally able to bring him down. Led by Thorpe's heroics, Carlisle beat Army 27-6. It was the most points Army had ever given up in a single game, and it would be the most points they would allow to any opponent besides Notre Dame until 1923.
The Carlisle Indian school only lasted until 1918 before it was closed so the government could use the grounds for its barracks - and also because people started realizing it wasn't a great idea to have boarding schools at which Native Americans could learn to better change their traditions and assimilate. But Carlisle did leave a lasting legacy on the football field. Led by Warner and Thorpe, the school closed with the team sporting a .647 career winning percentage, including one monumental victory over Army.
Showing posts with label Jim Thorpe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Thorpe. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 7, 1912: Thanks, King
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Debuting at the 1912 Olympics were a pair of multi-event competitions designed to reward the best all-around athlete of the games. They were the pentathlon, which had been featured at the 1906 Olympics but were revived under a different format for these games, and the decathlon, making its Olympic debut.
These two events seemed perfect for someone like Jim Thorpe. In his amateur days, Thorpe had proven to be a versatile athlete, starring in baseball, football, and multiple track-and-field events. In college, Thorpe was often the only competitor for the Carlisle Indian School track team, so he had experience in many different track and field disciplines. He easily qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in both the pentathlon and the decathlon, as well as in the individual long jump and high jump competitions.
Thorpe's first day of competition at the 1912 Olympics was on July 7, when the pentathlon was held. He dominated the event, winning the long jump, discus throw, 200-meter dash and 1,500-meter run and placing third in the javelin, an event he had never tried before 1912. Later that day, as if the gold medal in the pentathlon wasn't enough of a day's work, he qualified for
the high-jump final, eventually finishing fifth.
Later in the Olympics, after a seventh-place finish in the long jump, Thorpe competed in the decathlon, a 10-event competition making its Olympic debut. The event featured the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500-meter run. Again, Thorpe dominated the event, finishing in the top four in all 10 events and winning four of them. He finished with a score that would remain as the world record for 15 years.
As was the custom of the time, all medals earned at the Olympics were presented at the closing ceremonies. At those, Swedish King Gustav presented the medals to Thorpe, then said "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." That statement was the beginning of a tradition where the Olympic champion in the decathlon is given the honorary title of "Greatest Athlete in the World." But it's Thorpe's response that made the exchange memorable. After being honored by King Gustav, Thorpe's responded, "Thanks, King."
A few years later, it was revealed that Thorpe had played a few games of semi-pro baseball before going to the Olympics. This was a common practice among college athletes at the time; Thorpe's only real mistake was not playing the games under an alias, as was the common practice. The small payment he received for playing those games cost him his amateur status, and the International Olympic Committee stripped him of the medals he won at the 1912 Olympics; the medals weren't restored to him until 1983, long after he had died.
Thorpe continued to make a name for himself in sports after those Olympics. He spent time playing for the New York Giants in the National League, but left baseball after he couldn't hit a curveball. He later played in the NFL, playing for six teams in the 1920s, and also spent time on a barnstorming basketball team. But it's the 1912 Olympics for which he will always be remembered, for the time a King named him the greatest athlete in the world.
These two events seemed perfect for someone like Jim Thorpe. In his amateur days, Thorpe had proven to be a versatile athlete, starring in baseball, football, and multiple track-and-field events. In college, Thorpe was often the only competitor for the Carlisle Indian School track team, so he had experience in many different track and field disciplines. He easily qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in both the pentathlon and the decathlon, as well as in the individual long jump and high jump competitions.
Thorpe's first day of competition at the 1912 Olympics was on July 7, when the pentathlon was held. He dominated the event, winning the long jump, discus throw, 200-meter dash and 1,500-meter run and placing third in the javelin, an event he had never tried before 1912. Later that day, as if the gold medal in the pentathlon wasn't enough of a day's work, he qualified for
the high-jump final, eventually finishing fifth.Later in the Olympics, after a seventh-place finish in the long jump, Thorpe competed in the decathlon, a 10-event competition making its Olympic debut. The event featured the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500-meter run. Again, Thorpe dominated the event, finishing in the top four in all 10 events and winning four of them. He finished with a score that would remain as the world record for 15 years.
As was the custom of the time, all medals earned at the Olympics were presented at the closing ceremonies. At those, Swedish King Gustav presented the medals to Thorpe, then said "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." That statement was the beginning of a tradition where the Olympic champion in the decathlon is given the honorary title of "Greatest Athlete in the World." But it's Thorpe's response that made the exchange memorable. After being honored by King Gustav, Thorpe's responded, "Thanks, King."
A few years later, it was revealed that Thorpe had played a few games of semi-pro baseball before going to the Olympics. This was a common practice among college athletes at the time; Thorpe's only real mistake was not playing the games under an alias, as was the common practice. The small payment he received for playing those games cost him his amateur status, and the International Olympic Committee stripped him of the medals he won at the 1912 Olympics; the medals weren't restored to him until 1983, long after he had died.
Thorpe continued to make a name for himself in sports after those Olympics. He spent time playing for the New York Giants in the National League, but left baseball after he couldn't hit a curveball. He later played in the NFL, playing for six teams in the 1920s, and also spent time on a barnstorming basketball team. But it's the 1912 Olympics for which he will always be remembered, for the time a King named him the greatest athlete in the world.
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