Best 2 Sport Athletes All Time ....

A Heisman Trophy winner out of Auburn, Bo Jackson electrified NFL scouts right out of the gates by running an unheard of 4.12 40-yard dash at the combine. Drafted by Tampa Bay as the first pick of the 1986 NFL Draft, Jackson instead went to play for the Kansas City Royals and in doing so cost Tampa their rights to him. Seeing his potential, Al Davis would subsequently re-draft Jackson despite the baseball career, signing him to a lucrative deal that allowed him to continue playing in the MLB while joining the Raiders in the offseason.

Just 29 days into his NFL career, Bo exploded for an astonishing 221-yard rushing performance on Monday Night Football. Tragically, barely four years later a hit by Kevin Walker in the 1990 playoffs ravaged his hip, effectively ending what was quickly proving to be one of the most promising careers in professional sports history. Bo would struggle through another couple of years of baseball, but with his legendary speed gone, his days of dominance were clearly behind him. The depressing “what if” narrative will always follow Bo Jackson but he will still forever be remembered in a positive light.

A member of both the college and Pro Football Halls of Fame, Prime Time is considered the greatest cornerback in NFL history. A two-time Super Bowl champion, Sanders also played with the Atlanta Braves in the 1992 World Series and played parts of nine lightning-fast seasons in MLB. Still today, Sanders is the only man ever to play in both the Super Bowl and the World Series, and he is the only man ever to hit a home run and score a touchdown in the same week. No wonder they called him “Prime Time” and “Neon Deion” – Sanders could just about do it all and he MADE SURE you knew about it.

Charlie Ward entered the public consciousness in 1993, quarterbacking his Florida St Seminoles to a national championship and along the way capturing just about every honor a collegiate football player can win, including of course, the iconic Heisman award. Though not even playing baseball in college, he was surprisingly drafted to be a pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Upset that he wasn’t taken in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft, Charlie Ward instead opted to go play for the New York Knicks, who had selected him 26th in the NBA Draft of the same year. Ward played 11 years in the NBA before being forced to retire due to injuries in 2005. He averaged 6.3 PPG, 4.0 APG, 2.6 RPG on 40.8 percent from the field.

Perhaps the greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez was also a key member of the 1997 California Golden Bears team that made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Playing his best years with the Kansas City Chiefs, Gonzalez is the first tight end in NFL history to catch over 1,000 career passes.

A six-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner in the Majors, outfielder Kenny Lofton was also a star basketball player the University of Arizona. Lofton led the Wildcats to the Final Four in the 1988 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. If Lofton did not choose to play baseball, he likely would have had a career in the NBA as a point guard.

His Indian name translates to Bright Path, and in every one of the countless paths Thorpe took over his legendary career, he shone with a brightness that few could match. Gold medals in pentathlon and decathlon, Hall of Fame honors in both college and pro football, and stints playing professional baseball and basketball made Jim Thorpe one of the greatest athletes to ever live. Heck, Thorpe even won the 1912 inter-collegiate ballroom dancing championship – how absurd and awesome is that. We’ll always be left to wonder how Thorpe would have fared among today’s athletes, but with his unprecedented versatility and all-around dominance of his era, it’s almost impossible to say he’s anything but the number one multi-sport athlete of all time.

Dave Winfield played hoops for the Minnesota Golden Gophers (for which he would help lead to a conference title), where his coach Bill Musselman later called Winfield the greatest rebounder he’d ever coached, quite a distinction considering Musselman would coach for over thirty years, nearly half of which time would be on the professional level. Eventually, Winfield would be drafted by all four major professional sports leagues but found his most success in the MLB, as I am sure you already know. In the big leagues, Dave earned his stripes in baseball, appearing in 12 All-Star games and capturing 7 Gold Gloves. He ended his career a member of both the prestigious 3000-hit club, and the even more prestigious Baseball Hall of Fame.

Long before he helped run things for the dominant Boston Celtics of the 1980’s, Danny Ainge dominated the high school sports world, and is still the only person to win first team All-American honors in basketball, baseball, and football. Ainge was drafted out of college by the Toronto Blue Jays, and kicked things off with a bang, where he would hit his first home run at 20 years, 77 days, a record that survives to this day as the youngest Blue Jay to go yard. After a mediocre three years in Toronto, Ainge was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1981, where he would contribute to two championships. Over a fourteen year NBA career, Danny Ainge finished with an impressive 11,964 points and 4,199 assists (11.5 PPG and 4.0 APG) to go along with his 2 championship rings.

A two sport star at Stanford University many thought that Elway was the best pro quarterback prospect to ever come out of college. After his high school baseball career was over he was drafted by the Royals. Instead he attended Stanford as he hit .361 with nine home runs and 50 RBIs in 49 games as a sophomore. After his sophomore season he was picked in the first round by the Yankees. He hit .314 with a club-high 24 homers with the Yankees' single-A farm club. Elway started for three seasons on the gridiron for Stanford. He finished his football career with 9,349 passing yards, 77 passing touchdowns to only 39 interceptions. Elway was taken first in the 1983 NFL draft by Baltimore but was then traded to Denver. Many thought he did have a chance to have a great career in the MLB including George Steinbrenner. A story surfaced of George Steinbrenner laying out the 1984 New York Yankee Lineup in which Elway was featured at RF and batted fifth in the order. Elway went on to a stored NFL career where he finished his legacy with two Superbowl victories his final two seasons. He finished his career with over 50,000 passing yards, 300 passing touchdowns and was selected to the pro bowl 9 times. He was also named the MVP in 1987 and the Superbowl MVP in 1999.