[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 62 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4606-S4607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 91--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT JIM 
     THORPE SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS THE ``ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY''

  Mr. SANTORUM submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:

                               S. Res. 91

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT JIM THORPE SHOULD BE 
                   RECOGNIZED AS THE ``ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY''.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) Jim Thorpe is the only athlete ever to excel as an 
     amateur and a professional in 3 major sports--track and 
     field, football, and baseball.
       (2) Prior to the 1912 Olympic Games, Jim Thorpe won the 
     pentathlon and the decathlon at the Amateur Athletic Union 
     National Championship Trials in Boston, Massachusetts.
       (3) Jim Thorpe represented the United States and the Sac 
     and Fox Nation in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, 
     Sweden, where he won a gold medal in the pentathlon, became 
     the first American athlete to win a gold medal in the 
     decathlon, in which he set a world record, and became the 
     only athlete in Olympic history to win both the pentathlon 
     and the decathlon during the same year.
       (4) The athletic feats of Jim Thorpe resulted in worldwide 
     publicity that helped to ensure the viability of the Olympic 
     Games.
       (5) During his major league baseball career, Jim Thorpe 
     played with the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the 
     Boston Braves, and ended the 1919 baseball season with a .327 
     batting average.
       (6) Jim Thorpe established his amateur football record 
     playing halfback, defender, punter, and place-kicker while he 
     was a student at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, 
     and was chosen as Walter Camp's First Team All-American Half-
     Back in 1911 and 1912.
       (7) Jim Thorpe was a founding father of professional 
     football, playing with the Canton Bulldogs, which was the 
     team recognized as world champion in 1916, 1917, and 1919, 
     the Cleveland Indians, the Oorang Indians, the Rock Island 
     Independent, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cardinals.
       (8) In 1920, Jim Thorpe was named the first president of 
     the American Professional Football Association, now known as 
     the National Football League.
       (9) Jim Thorpe was voted America's Greatest All-Around Male 
     Athlete and chosen as the greatest football player of the 
     half-century in 1950 by an Associated Press poll of 
     sportswriters.
       (10) Jim Thorpe was named the Greatest American Football 
     Player in History in a 1977 national poll conducted by Sport 
     Magazine.
       (11) Because of his outstanding achievements, Jim Thorpe 
     was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, 
     the Professional Football Hall of Fame, the Helms 
     Professional Football Hall of Fame,

[[Page S4607]]

     the National Indian Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Hall of 
     Fame, and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
       (12) The immeasurable sports achievements of Jim Thorpe 
     have long been an inspiration to the youth in Pennsylvania 
     and throughout the United States.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that Jim Thorpe should be recognized as the ``Athlete of the 
     Century''.
 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a 
resolution recognizing Jim Thorpe as the Athlete of the Century.
  Born to an impoverished family on Sac-and-Fox Indian land, Jim Thorpe 
overcame adverse circumstances to excel as an amateur and as a 
professional in three sports; track and field, football and baseball. 
Thorpe, who was voted ``Athlete of the First Half of the Century'' by 
the Associated Press almost fifty years ago, is the only American 
athlete ever to excel at this level in three major sports.
  As a student at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, Thorpe 
prooved his athletic ability early on. One anecdote recalls how the 5-
foot-9\1/2\ inch, 144-pound Thorpe almost single-handedly overcame the 
entire Lafayette track team at a meeting in Easton, Pennsylvania, 
winning six events. Also while attending the Carlisle Indian School, 
Jim Thorpe established his amateur football record playing halfback, 
defender, punter, and place-kicker. In 1911, he was named an All 
American.
  In 1912, he represented the United States and the Sac-and-Fox Nation 
in the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. To this day, Thorpe is the 
only athlete to win gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. After 
his Olympic feats in Sweden, Thorpe retured to Carlisle's football team 
and was named an All-American again.
  In 1913, Thorpe left amateur athletics and signed a $5,000 contract 
to play baseball with the New York Giants. As an outfielder with the 
Giants, and later with the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves, his best 
season was his last one, when he batted .327 in 60 games for Boston.
  In 1915, Thorpe agreed to play professional football for the Canton 
Bulldogs. Thorpe went on to become a key part of this team as it was 
recognized as the ``world champion'' in 1916, 1917, and 1919. Thorpe's 
professional football career later included stints with Cleveland, Rock 
Island, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cardinals. In 1920, Thorpe 
became the first president of the American Football Association, which 
was later to become the National Football League. Today, he is 
recognized as a founding father of professional football.
  Recently, I had the privilege of attending a luncheon honoring Jim 
Thorpe's daughter, Grace, at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall in the Carbon 
County, Pennsylvania, a town named for the great athlete. Grace Thorpe 
has traveled around the country asking people to sign petitions 
declaring her father athlete of the century. She plans to send the 
petition to cable sports networks and national sportswriters. As Jim 
Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame president, Jack Kmetz has noted, Thorpe 
unfortunately missed out on the modern-day media blitz that surrounds 
popular athletes today. Nonetheless, I promised Ms. Thorpe and the 
people of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania that I would introduce this 
resolution which I hope will raise awareness of this true legend's 
achievements and give him the recongnition he deserves.

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