Jim Thorpe was arguably the greatest athlete of all time. While playing Major League Baseball from 1913 to 1919, he met with Pope Pius X and King Abbas of Egypt, and
and played before 20,000 people in London including King George V. He played professional football from 1913 to 1928 including playing for championship teams and early NFL teams. He also played professional basketball from 1926 to 1928.
At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, he won gold medals in the pentathlon and the decathlon. Traditionally, the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete” has been given to the person who wins the Olympic decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world”, to which Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King”.