I think the greatest all-around athlete ever was Jim Brown. He played lacrosse, basketball and ran track at Syracuse. He played professional football for the Browns.
quote by Will McDonough
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A poem for Football lovers
Football can make you cry
it can also bring you joy
I've played and watched it
as a man and a small boy.
Football has great players
like the one and only Messi
the Argentinian is a genius
I wished he played for Coventry.
Football is the favourite sport
no other game comes anywhere near
in the U.K.it's the number one pastime
just beating fishing and drinking beer.
Football though can be an addiction
it can be on your mind all of the day
your thinking about goals, shots, and saves,
and even talking about it to God when you pray.
So long may Football be played on our planet
even though it has trouble along the way
but just think if there was no Football at all
us fans would have nothing to do on a Saturday!
poem by Kevin Halls
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Baseball happens to be a game of cumulative tension but football, basketball and hockey are played with hand grenades and machine guns.
quote by John Leonard
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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On Seeing A Photograph
A photo of an ageing face stirs an old memory
He is plainly not a shadow of the man he used to be
His balding head is hoary gray his hair it was dark brown
When we played football as teenagers in the park in our Hometown.
He was a sprightly youth back then two years younger than I
On looking back the decades the years just seemed to fly
He played football worked in the fields and walked miles every day
But like me he seems the worst for wear the years have left us gray.
Perhaps we would be strangers now if by chance we did meet
We might not recognize each other in passing on the street
We age a little every day time of us all takes care
And leaves us looking in the end the very worst for wear.
A photograph of one I knew from many years ago
And he has aged as I have aged time on us all does show
We played football together when we were near to our life's prime
But in the end we all lose out to ageless father time.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Jim Thorpe
Born in May of Eighteen eighty-eight
Though the birth record is obscure
In Oklahoma, in a one room cabin
With brother Charlie, of that we're sure.
His father, Hiram, was a farmer
Mother, Mary James, a Pottawatomie
Descendant of the Chief, Black Hawk
A Warrior with an athletic history.
His Indian name of Wa-Tho-Huk
Translated meaning of “Bright Path”
As his future really seemed to be
Before the typical white man's wrath.
His twin brother passed away at nine
Then in the year, Nineteen, ought four
He attended the Carlisle Indian School
Where he learned football, track, and more.
Trained by legend, Glenn “Pop” Warner
Who had the unique insight to see
The young phenomenon evolving
Into, the great athlete, he would be.
All-American in Nineteen 0-nine
And soon, on the Olympic Team
Sailing across the sea to Sweden
The answer to many-a-youngster's dream.
He trained on board on the journey
And he must have done it very well
For he blew away his competitors
That's what, long lasting records tell.
In the Pentathlon and Decathlon
He won a Gold Medal in each
And it seemed any goal he went for
For him, would be an easy reach.
Gustav, the King of Sweden said it best
After the Nineteen twelve Olympics
“Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”
After witnessing, Thorpe's sporting epics.
And, not one to stand on ceremony
That sometimes, great success can bring
He answered, honestly and simply
As they shook hands, and said, “Thanks, King.”
But, it came out after the Olympics
He'd played some semi-pro baseball
They said his medals were illegal
And the Committee issued a recall.
His name was removed from the records
And his Gold Medals taken away
But, with style he just moved on
To play the games he loved to play.
He signed with the New York Giants
And played with the Reds in Cincinnati
Ending up with the Boston Braves
On his baseball playing odyssey.
At the same time he played football
For teams like Canton, Cleveland, and Chicago
Helped form what is now, the NFL
Which a lot of folks probably don't know.
He worked for awhile in the movies
As boss of the Chicago Park System
Involved in matters of Indian Affairs
A song and dance troupe named after him.
He was named, “the greatest football player”
By the Associated Press in Nineteen fifty
And, “the greatest overall male athlete”
One of the best that we will ever see.
In Fifty-three he had a heart attack
And on the New York Times front page
They said we'd lost, “a marvelous performer”
From this world's sporting stage.
But he was so much more than that
With his dignity and quiet grace
One of those very special people
Who have made this world a better place.
He was subjected to the racism
That, “Indian athlete” and “Redskin”
And it eventually took it's toll
Lead to poverty and alcoholism.
Thirty years after his passing
His Olympic Medals were finally restored
Along with many posthumous honors
Much too late, for his just reward.
He's just another great American
Born of the Natives of this land
Who never knew and/or never saw
Real American freedoms, take a stand.
I played in Joe Louis in a playoff game. I played there when the roof caved in for half a season. The facility is great for basketball because it goes straight up, so you feel like the fans are on top of you.
quote by Bill Laimbeer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I also developed an interest in sports, and played in informal games at a nearby school yard where the neighborhood children met to play touch football, baseball, basketball and occasionally, ice hockey.
quote by Steven Chu
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Boyhood Sporting Hero
Most boys have their sporting heroes and mine played Gaelic Football
The mighty Mick O Connell the greatest I recall
But Mick O played for Kerry and Cork my favourite team
And to play football good as him was many school boy's dream
The finest Gaelic Footballer that I have ever seen
Not rough or hard in any way but classical and clean
And though that was many years ago and far so far away
Of great player from Valentia the memory with me stay.
When Mick O's playing days were over he faded from the scene
But memories of his playing feats will remain evergreen
His high fielding and kicking and his passing of the ball
The complete Gaelic Footballer the greatest of them all.
He never hogged the limelight he seemed so quiet and shy
But he was sporting hero to many school going boy
And even many who did not support Kerry will still tell you today
That Valentia's Mick O Connell was the best they had seen play.
My hero played for Kerry and Cork my favourite team
And to be good a player as him an early teenage dream
But as a Gaelic Footballer I never made the grade
And I won't be remembered for any game I played.
poem by Francis Duggan
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I played varsity on all of them for four years. I'm 5'9 and that's not that tall for a center so I was a forward. I loved playing volleyball and basketball and track I was good at, but it stressed me out.
quote by Bridgette Wilson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My father was a soccer player. All my friends played basketball though, so I stuck with basketball.
quote by Steve Nash
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It is wonderful... Steve and Dan took professional football to a whole different level with the way they played the game. The fact that Steve is going in with Dan is very special.
quote by Frank Gifford
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I played baseball, and that's pretty much it. Basketball came late, this was, basketball was the sport that I tried to master, I kind of mastered baseball, so basketball was one of those things where I wanted to master this game, so that's why I probably play it the way I do.
quote by Eric Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Whether I played marbles, whether I played football or slam anything else, I wanted to excel.
quote by Robert Mondavi
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Both of us played basketball, and I played tennis and my knees are done. Now if you ask us head-to-head who wins at golf, I'm asking for a couple of strokes.
quote by Michael Wilbon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As a professional athlete, I believe that I need to explore my opportunities to the maximum, in order to excel and continue to play the best football I can.
quote by Hidetoshi Nakata
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Here I was, this good guy that played football; I was gonna go play in college but I had a bad senior year. But I played guitar in assemblies whenever I could.
quote by Bob Livingston
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There were riots in just about every game we played with Syracuse.
I'm a football guy at heart; maybe I should have played football for a living instead, because I play a lot of football videogames, I'm really into them.
quote by Jason Kidd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Boy Growing Up In The Sixties
Played football
played marbles
played cricket
played truant.
First girl
first kiss
first fumble
first slap.
Drank orange
drank Cola
drank lemonade
drank beer.
Acted tough
acted silly
acted up
acted the fool.
Just young
just a boy
just a lad
just me.
The sixties
The Beatles
The Stones
The Who.
Great days
great times
great decade
Great Britain.
poem by Kevin Halls
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Basketball (For Devyn)
In a world of football
and baseball, too,
basketball,
is all I want to do.
I would play football,
if Mom would permit.
But she can’t stand
to see me take a hit.
But Mom loves basketball
and so do I.
I love it, live it,
I want to fly.
You should see,
what I did today!
I am going all the way,
to the NBA.
Right now, I’m still growing,
I have growing pains.
But it will be worth it,
I’m the next Lebraun James.
poem by Tasha Miller
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I have played in rain before. I have played in wind before. I have played in cold before, but not all put together. They were the hardest conditions I ever played in.
quote by Michelle Wie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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