Thorpe After the Olympics
Free Agent to Most Valuable Player
Aug 18, 2008 Jeffrey R Gudzune
After successfully competing in the 1912 Olympic Games, Jim Thorpe returned to the United States with all the ceremony of a Roman conqueror. He was honored through the most expressive medium available at the time, a series of ticker-tape parades in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. As he passed the cheering crowds, Thorpe was amazed that so many people had come out to show their support for him. Fame, however, has a relatively short half-life and at his moment of greatest triumph Thorpe was forced to defend his well earned gold medals. At this time in the history of the Olympic Games, there existed strict directives on professional athletes competing in what was broadly defined as an “amateur” competition. The rules stated that no one who had received compensation for playing a professional sport would be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. Six months after he had won the gold medal in Sweden, both the International Olympic Committee and its U.S. affiliate announced that it was investigating Jim Thorpe for violating this rule.
While a student at the Carlisle Indian School, Thorpe helped to defer his expenses by playing for the semi-professional Eastern Carolina League. Throughout the summers of 1909 and 1910, Thorpe received $35 a week to play a variety of positions for the minor league organization. By this time, Thorpe was already well known for his athletic abilities and agreed to participate because he loved the game and not due to the meager pay he had been offered. When the story first reached national attention, Thorpe was forced to defend his status as a champion. Within weeks, the governing bodies of both the U.S. and the International Olympic Committees met to discuss Thorpe’s fate. To further complicate matters, the Amateur Athletic Union publicly revoked Thorpe’s status as an amateur, paving the way for the ax to fall from the IOC. His supporters argued that, according to IOC rules, any challenge to Olympic status must be made within 30 days of the competition itself. The newspaper reports alleging Thorpe’s violation of the amateur rule and the subsequent investigation did not come until six months after he had received the medals. Nonetheless, Thorpe was ordered to surrender his gold medals.
Undeterred, Jim Thorpe moved on with his life and entered the sports world as a free agent. Though he had a variety of offers, Thorpe accepted a position as an outfielder with the New York Giants in 1913. During his three years with the Giants, Thorpe had the opportunity to tour the world. In 1917, he joined the Cincinnati Reds and played for 77 games before rejoined the Giants. During this time, Thorpe also became a rising start in football, playing for the Canton Bulldogs. At this time, several professional football teams came together to form the American Professional Football Association (now known as the NFL). Jim Thorpe was elected the organization’s first president.
During his time as the president of the APFL, Thorpe also coached Oorang Indians--a professional football team comprised entirely of Native Americans. Between 1922 and 1923, Thorpe helped to organize and publicize the Ohio based team. After the 1923 season, the team was dissolved and Thorpe continued to play for a variety of teams before retiring from football in 1929 at the age of 41. He would never forget the sting of having his Olympic medals withdrawn, however. As he gained success in professional sports, Thorpe began to seek a means to regain what had been lost. This next phase of his life would see a variety of ups and downs—his determination to succeed, however, would be ceaseless.
Mark C Carnes, Ed, U.S. History. (New York: MacMillan Library Reference, 1996).
Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History. (New York: Harper Collins
Publishers, 2003).
Gilbert Legay, Atlas of Indians. (Hauppage: Barron’s, 1995)
Carl Waldman, Atlas of the North American Indian. (New York: Checkmark Book, 2000).
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