1) He grew up on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma where he also attended college.
2) He won Olympic Gold Medals in the pentathlon and decathlon.
3) He played professional baseball then when he finished after six seasons he began playing professional football for the New York Giants.
4) After his playing career he went on to coach a variety of sports.
5) After his playing career, and during the depression, he played an Indian chief in a few westerns, he was a bouncer, a security guard, ditch digger, and he joined the Merchant Marines.
6) He had eight children.
7) At the end of his life he was bankrupt and his wife stayed with him until the end when he died of heart failure at the age of 65.
He was a phenomenal athlete and the first Native American to participate in the Olympics and professional sports. Of course I'm also a big fan because he was from Oklahoma! If I were to list the greatest athletes of all time I'd say Thorpe would definitely be in my top ten along with superstars like Babe Ruth and Jesse Owens.