[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 19, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     JIM THORPE DAY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT PEMBROKE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE McINTYRE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 19, 2003

  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Jim Thorpe 
Day at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Jim Thorpe was one 
of the greatest athletes in the world, a man of courage, patriotism and 
fair play.
  Jim Thorpe, the only American athlete to excel in three major sports 
as an amateur and as a professional, accomplished more than any other 
athlete of his time. The Sac and Fox Indian played professional 
baseball, football and won Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon 
and the decathlon. His Olympic performance earned him the title of the 
``greatest athlete in the world'' from Sweden's King Gustav V. His 
feats on the football field led him to the 1911 and 1912 All-American 
football teams and ultimately as the first president of the American 
Professional Football Association. In 1950, the Associated Press named 
Thorpe the greatest All-Around Male Athlete and America's Greatest 
Football Player of the half-century.
  Born in 1887 into the Sac and Fox Indian Tribe, Jim Thorpe grew up on 
a reservation in Oklahoma. As a teenager, Thorpe enrolled at the Indian 
Industrial School in Carlisle, PA where he became a football All-
American and led his team to numerous victories. In between seasons, 
Thorpe gained international fame at the Stockholm Olympics, returning 
to the United States with two gold medals in track and field. Thorpe 
played six major league baseball seasons with the New York Giants, 
Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves and ultimately returned to 
football to play for the Canton Bulldogs. With Thorpe's leadership, the 
Bulldogs were recognized as the ``world champion'' for 1916, 1917 and 
1919.
  Mr. Speaker, almost a century has passed since Jim Thorpe amazed the 
world with his athletic talent, and he is still known as the greatest 
athlete in the world. Jim Thorpe Day in North Carolina is an 
appropriate tribute to this heroic athlete, and I encourage all to 
acknowledge his admirable accomplishments.

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