WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the place where we 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:04.179 sift through the sources, extract the golden 00:00:04.179 --> 00:00:06.919 insights, and deliver the context you need fast. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.779 Today, we are undertaking a deep dive into a 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:13.080 figure whose biography reads like an impossible 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:16.660 sports fantasy, yet whose later life reflects 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:19.899 a painful reality of systemic inequality and 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:22.219 institutional failure. We're talking about Jim 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:24.260 Thorpe. If you need a single definition for the 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:26.699 phrase athletic versatility, you honestly need 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.359 to look no further. Not at all. We are unpacking 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.560 the story of Jim Thorpe, a citizen of the Sac 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.100 and Fox Nation who remains the only person to 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:37.539 excel at Olympic track and field and played professional 00:00:37.539 --> 00:00:40.820 baseball in the MLB, professional football. He 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:43.640 was, in fact, an NFL founder. A founder. And 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.479 professional basketball. It's important to stress 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:46.960 that this wasn't just, you know, participation. 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:50.039 In many of those arenas, he was the star attraction, 00:00:50.259 --> 00:00:52.600 the difference. maker and often the highest paid 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.780 player of his era. The mission today is to truly 00:00:55.780 --> 00:00:58.380 understand the sheer magnitude of these achievements, 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:02.039 especially when you juxtapose them with the profound 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:04.700 controversy and injustice that followed him throughout 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:07.500 his career and tragically, even after his death. 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:10.640 We have two main narratives that seem to dominate 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.340 all the sources we've reviewed. First, you've 00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:16.959 got the story of unmatched. Just instant physical 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.579 genius. A talent so complete that it transcends 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:22.780 decades in sports. And then the second story. 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:25.840 The second story is one of systemic racism, bureaucratic 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.219 rigidity, and personal hardship that plagued 00:01:28.219 --> 00:01:31.319 his career and legacy. It almost acts as an institutional 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:34.060 counterweight to his natural ability. Exactly. 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.560 Let's start with the basics of his identity, 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.719 which is just so central to his entire story. 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:42.260 He was born James Francis Thorpe, likely in late 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:45.530 May 1887. And this was near Prague, Oklahoma, 00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:48.390 in what was then called Indian Territory. That's 00:01:48.390 --> 00:01:50.549 right. And the sources all highlight his sack 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:53.510 and fox name, Wathahuk. I love this name because 00:01:53.510 --> 00:01:56.409 it's so evocative. It translates to bright path 00:01:56.409 --> 00:01:58.670 the lightning makes as it goes across the sky. 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:00.670 Which is often just shortened to bright path. 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:03.180 Given the suddenness and brilliance with which 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:05.799 he burst onto the world stage, it's an almost 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:08.180 prophetic piece of nomenclature. It really is. 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:10.639 It speaks volumes about the expectations placed 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:13.439 upon him by his community. But what we absolutely 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.319 cannot lose sight of is the critical context 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.620 of the time. Thorpe achieved these feats during 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:23.000 an era of severe racial inequality in the U .S. 00:02:23.370 --> 00:02:26.550 Our sources make it clear that while he was competing 00:02:26.550 --> 00:02:29.430 for the United States, Native Americans faced 00:02:29.430 --> 00:02:31.870 immense barriers. Just think about this for a 00:02:31.870 --> 00:02:34.189 second. Go on. Native Americans were not even 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:37.129 universally granted U .S. citizenship until the 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:40.889 Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. 1924. That's 00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:43.270 12 years after he won his Olympic gold medals. 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:46.169 So he was navigating a system that actively worked 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:48.789 to suppress his culture and opportunities, even 00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:51.050 as he represented the country. That structural 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:53.620 reality is essential. He wasn't just a great 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:56.620 athlete. He was a revolutionary figure who rose 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:59.560 from profound disadvantage in a deeply unequal 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.419 system to achieve global superstardom. And the 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:04.719 history books, I mean, they confirm that stardom 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:07.719 has not faded. Even decades after his passing, 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.979 his stature remains just unparalleled. In 1950, 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:14.740 the Associated Press ranked him the greatest 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.400 athlete. from the first 50 years of the 20th 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:19.879 century. But the truly stunning measure of his 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.860 continued relevance, for me, came in the year 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:26.180 2000. The ABC Sports Poll. Exactly. They conducted 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:28.699 a poll asking for the greatest athlete of the 00:03:28.699 --> 00:03:32.439 20th century, and Thorpe won. He beat out legends 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.580 like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Babe Ruth. 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.300 That kind of historical consensus beating figures 00:03:38.300 --> 00:03:40.400 who define their respective sports in massive 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.599 television eras is extraordinary. It is. It tells 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:45.259 us that his physical talents were recognized 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:47.960 not merely as high level confidence, but as a 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.520 genuine, unique, historical peak of human motor 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.520 skills and versatility. OK, let's unpack this, 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:54.159 starting with the foundation of that talent, 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:55.960 which was forged in a surprisingly difficult 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:59.849 early life. It was a childhood marked by. immense 00:03:59.849 --> 00:04:02.610 instability and tragedy thorpe was baptized jacobus 00:04:02.610 --> 00:04:04.990 franciscus thorpe reflecting the blend of his 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:07.729 family's heritage right his father hiram thorpe 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:11.629 was sack and fox and irish and his mother charlotte 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:15.370 view was citizen potawatomi and french and tragedy 00:04:15.370 --> 00:04:18.129 arrived very early he attended the sack and fox 00:04:18.129 --> 00:04:20.829 indian agency school with his twin brother charlie 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:23.040 and when they were nine Charlie died of pneumonia, 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:25.500 which must have been, I mean, just a catastrophic 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.300 loss for a young boy. Unimaginable. And that 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:30.879 compounding grief just followed rapidly. Just 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:33.759 a few years later, his mother died due to complications 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:37.389 from childbirth. Wow. So these two losses create 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:40.269 a profound instability, leading Thorpe to run 00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:42.449 away from school repeatedly. He was, you know, 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:44.990 understandably struggling deeply to cope. This 00:04:44.990 --> 00:04:47.269 behavior is what led to his enrollment in 1904 00:04:47.269 --> 00:04:51.170 at age 16 in the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial 00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:53.949 School in Pennsylvania. Right. And this move 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:57.149 in itself is a fascinating paradox. How so? Because 00:04:57.149 --> 00:04:59.810 schools like Carlisle were founded with the explicit 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:01.889 mission to assimilate Native American children, 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:04.569 often brutally suppressing their cultural identity. 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:07.069 And yet. this institution that was designed for 00:05:07.069 --> 00:05:09.810 erasure ultimately produced one of the most celebrated 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:12.850 cultural figures in modern history. But the tragedies 00:05:12.850 --> 00:05:15.629 continued even then. They did. Later that same 00:05:15.629 --> 00:05:18.250 year, his father died from gangrene poisoning 00:05:18.250 --> 00:05:21.709 after a hunting accident. So now, Thorpe was 00:05:21.709 --> 00:05:24.079 fully orphaned. He dropped out of Carlisle after 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.120 that, right? For a time. He worked on a farm 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.120 before eventually returning to the school. And 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.279 it's that return to Carlisle that really changed 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:32.680 the course of modern athletics. This is where 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.620 he meets Glenn Scobie Pop Warner. Pop Warner, 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:37.860 as we know, became one of the most iconic and 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:41.899 successful early American football coaches. But 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:44.519 what's fascinating is how Thorpe's athletic career 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:48.720 at Carlisle even began. It was almost accidental. 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:52.139 the story of his discovery in 1907 is perfect 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:54.620 he was just walking past the track field still 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:56.319 wearing his street clothes not bothering with 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.720 practice gear just sees the high jump it and 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.939 decides on a whim to give it a try he ends up 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.180 beating the standing school record right then 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.519 and there with an impromptu jump of five feet 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:09.259 nine inches that's the sign of a truly innate 00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:12.759 natural athlete He wasn't practicing a technique 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:15.600 learned over years. He was simply expressing 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.199 a physical talent that was instantly superior 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:21.120 to those who were actively training. But Pop 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.160 Warner was initially a little concerned. Very 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.639 concerned. He saw Thorpe as a potential track 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.560 star for the Olympics, and he was extremely hesitant 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.100 to let him play football. Why? Because of the 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:34.740 risks? Exactly. He feared the physical risks 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:37.519 inherent in the early, really brutal versions 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:40.120 of the game might ruin his Olympic prospects. 00:06:40.459 --> 00:06:43.839 But Thorpe, he had other ideas. Thorpe had zero 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.800 fear of physical risk and a very direct way of 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.439 communicating his intentions. The famous anecdote 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.899 is brilliant. Tell us. During a practice, he 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:54.079 asked to run against the defense. Warner expected 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.019 him to be instantly piled on. Instead, Thorpe 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:59.000 ran past and through the entire defense, not 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.089 just once, but twice. Wow. He then just casually 00:07:03.089 --> 00:07:05.069 flips the ball to Warner and says, nobody's going 00:07:05.069 --> 00:07:07.670 to tackle Jim. It's the ultimate mic drop moment 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:10.189 for a coach. It's a statement of self -assured 00:07:10.189 --> 00:07:12.970 brilliance. It is. And that brilliance was spread 00:07:12.970 --> 00:07:16.350 across every single field. Our sources note his 00:07:16.350 --> 00:07:19.829 shocking versatility even in college. He excelled 00:07:19.829 --> 00:07:23.430 in baseball, lacrosse, tennis, boxing, and handball. 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:26.449 But the detail that truly rounds out the profile 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:28.730 and makes you realize the sheer breadth of his 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:30.410 coordination. I think I know what you're going 00:07:30.410 --> 00:07:32.970 to say. In 1912, the same year he prepared for 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:34.829 the Olympics, he also won the intercollegiate 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:37.569 ballroom dancing championship. Ballroom dancing. 00:07:38.269 --> 00:07:40.769 It's incredible. It shows a mastery of rhythm, 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:44.290 coordination, strength, and finesse. All the 00:07:44.290 --> 00:07:46.449 elements that would define his explosive play 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:48.550 on the gridiron. And it was college football 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:51.050 that first brought him true national prominence. 00:07:51.250 --> 00:07:55.139 It began in 1911. Thorpe was Carlisle's all -in 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:57.800 -one player. Running back, defensive back, place 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.420 kicker, and punter. All of it. And that year, 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:02.819 in a major upset against the top -ranked Harvard 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:05.680 team, Thorpe single -handedly accounted for all 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.100 the offense. All of it. He scored all four field 00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:10.600 goals, leading Carlisle to an 18 -15 victory. 00:08:10.779 --> 00:08:13.639 And on top of that, he rushed for 173 yards that 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.540 day. We should pause on that for a second. In 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:18.339 an era when college football was still a brutal... 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:22.579 ground focused, low scoring affair, you know, 00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:25.079 before the forward pass revolutionized the game. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:28.500 A player scoring 18 points on field goals alone 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.600 while also dominating the rushing attack. was 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.259 just unheard of. It wasn't just a win. It was 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:37.240 an athletic revolution. The 1911 Carlisle team 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.220 finished 11 -1, and they were retrospectively 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:42.600 named National Collegiate Champions. He built 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.279 on that momentum in 1912, leading the entire 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.379 nation with 29 touchdowns and 224 points scored. 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:50.899 And the rushing statistics we have, 191 carries 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:54.480 for 1 ,869 yards, are likely an understatement. 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.679 Why is that? Because the records for two games 00:08:56.679 --> 00:09:00.389 from that 14 -game season are just... Incomplete. 00:09:00.429 --> 00:09:03.309 They're lost. He was a statistical outlier, a 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:05.490 full -field talent in a period of specialization. 00:09:05.750 --> 00:09:08.649 And, of course, 1912 included the famous 27 -6 00:09:08.649 --> 00:09:11.509 victory over the West Point Army team. It's here 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.490 that future President Dwight D. Eisenhower played 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.070 against Thorpe. Right. And Eisenhower's recollection, 00:09:16.149 --> 00:09:19.350 delivered decades later in 1961, remains the 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:22.149 quintessential summary of Thorpe's almost mythical 00:09:22.149 --> 00:09:25.409 talent. What did he say? Eisenhower said, Here 00:09:25.409 --> 00:09:27.669 and there, there are some people who are supremely 00:09:27.669 --> 00:09:30.879 endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:32.700 never practiced in his life, and he could do 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:34.899 anything better than any other football player 00:09:34.899 --> 00:09:38.240 I ever saw. That quote is often celebrated, but 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.799 let's stop and analyze it for a second. In the 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.580 context of early 20th century athletics, where 00:09:43.580 --> 00:09:46.120 training was often rudimentary but still mandatory, 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.679 what does it truly suggest about his innate physical 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.460 advantages? It suggests his baseline physical 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.519 literacy was just astronomical. Most players 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.639 needed intense, repetitive drills just to master 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.379 the fundamentals of blocking or tackling, which 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:04.000 were much more dangerous back then. And Thorpe 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.580 didn't. Thorpe didn't just understand the game. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.179 His body instantly knew the optimal movement 00:10:09.179 --> 00:10:12.000 pattern for any situation. He had perfect economy 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.799 of motion. So Eisenhower's comment really confirms 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.399 that Thorpe's gap in raw, untrainable talent 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.200 was so immense that he didn't need the conditioning 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:22.700 or technical repetition required by every other 00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:24.980 human being on the field. He was simply operating 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:27.559 on a different plane. He earned third -team All 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.840 -American honors in 1908 and then was a two -time 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:34.990 consensus All -American in 1911 and 1912. But 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:37.549 while football was his first love, the world 00:10:37.549 --> 00:10:40.210 was about to realize the full extent of his talent 00:10:40.210 --> 00:10:43.570 in the summer of 1912. That spring, he focused 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:46.029 entirely on preparing for the Stockholm Olympics. 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:48.429 His versatility meant he couldn't just train 00:10:48.429 --> 00:10:51.210 for one event. He was mastering the jumps, hurdles, 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:54.590 shot put, pole vaulting, javelin, disc... Everything. 00:10:55.259 --> 00:10:57.500 And when the decathlon trial was canceled, he's 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:00.179 chosen to represent the U .S., based purely on 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:03.139 his known all -around ability, joining a team 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:05.440 that included his future rival, Avery Brundage. 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:07.919 Let's put his raw metrics into perspective for 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.200 a minute. His New York Times obituary noted he 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.379 could run the 100 -yard dash in 10 seconds flat. 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:14.820 10 seconds flat. And high jump 6 feet 5 inches. 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:17.200 These are professional world -class numbers even 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.960 today, let alone for someone who was doing this 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.740 as a side project to football. The 1912 Stockholm 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:24.730 Games were the platform. He was slated to compete 00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:28.090 in two brand new disciplines, the classic pentathlon, 00:11:28.269 --> 00:11:30.750 which was the long jump, javelin, 200 meter discus 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:33.610 and 1500 meters, and the new modern decathlon. 00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:36.990 He had a grueling schedule competing in the individual 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:39.929 high jump and long jump finals alongside the 00:11:39.929 --> 00:11:42.769 two combined events. First up was the pentathlon 00:11:42.769 --> 00:11:45.980 on July 7th. And this was a show of pure dominance. 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:48.940 Complete dominance. Thorpe won four of the five 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:51.399 events. He only placed third in the javelin. 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:53.320 And that's notable because he had literally only 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:55.740 just started training for that event that year. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.039 Exactly. He took the gold medal easily. And astonishingly, 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:03.299 he finished up that same day by tying for fourth 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:06.059 in the individual high jump final. Then came 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:08.460 the decathlon. Yes. And this is the event that 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:10.980 truly crystallized his greatest athlete title. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.590 This was a 10 event. three -day competition. 00:12:14.129 --> 00:12:17.049 And here's the fact that Ida always needs repeating. 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:19.370 This was his first and only decathlon competition 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:22.710 ever. Ever. The American team was strong, but 00:12:22.710 --> 00:12:25.289 the local expectation was that the Swedish favorite, 00:12:25.470 --> 00:12:28.590 Hugo Weislander, would win. But Thorpe was. He 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:30.909 was just untouchable. His margin of victory was 00:12:30.909 --> 00:12:34.190 staggering. He defeated Weislander by 688 points. 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:36.950 Put that into perspective for us. What does 688 00:12:36.950 --> 00:12:39.429 points mean in a decathlon? It's the equivalent 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:41.149 of winning three or four separate individual 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:43.950 events. I mean, it wasn't a close contest. It 00:12:43.950 --> 00:12:46.850 was a demonstration. And his final score of 8 00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:50.330 ,413 points set an Olympic record that stood 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:53.789 for nearly two decades. And crucially, he placed 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:57.980 in the top four in all 10 events total. Across 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:01.059 the combined disciplines, he won eight of the 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:04.419 15 individual events. It's statistical proof 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:07.059 of total physical supremacy. He wasn't relying 00:13:07.059 --> 00:13:09.700 on one or two strong events. No, he was elite 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:11.600 in everything. And the anecdote surrounding this 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.179 is just legendary. The stolen shoes. Oh, the 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:16.440 shoes. Just before the competition, his actual 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.240 track shoes were stolen. He had to scrounge up 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.019 a mismatched pair, including one reportedly taken 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:24.519 from a trash can. And he won the gold medal wearing 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.179 those makeshift shoes. It's a detail that elevates 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:30.120 the legend because it suggests that his advantage 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:33.740 over the field was so massive, so inherent, that 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:36.159 external factors like proper equipment were simply 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.399 irrelevant. He was competing against the world 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.039 using gear literally sourced from a trash can, 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:43.740 and he still annihilated the competition. The 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:45.559 pinnacle arrived during the closing ceremony. 00:13:46.370 --> 00:13:50.190 King Gustav V of Sweden presented him with the 00:13:50.190 --> 00:13:52.509 two gold medals and the two ornate challenge 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:55.669 prizes donated by King Gustav and Tsar Nicholas 00:13:55.669 --> 00:13:58.809 II of Russia. And that's the moment immortalized 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:01.629 by the famous quote. King Gustav V looked at 00:14:01.629 --> 00:14:04.809 Tharp and said, You, sir, are the greatest athlete 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.090 in the world. The ultimate compliment acknowledged 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:10.419 worldwide. But here's where it gets really heartbreaking, 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.759 because that pinnacle of glory was immediately 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:16.559 followed by a steep, unjust fall. And it all 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:19.279 centered on the draconian amateurism rules of 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.700 the era. The contrast is shocking. In 1912, the 00:14:22.700 --> 00:14:24.659 Olympic movement was governed by strict rules 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:27.200 designed to preserve the ideal of the gentleman 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:29.639 amateur. So what did that actually mean? It meant 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:31.639 athletes were strictly barred if they had received 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:33.620 any money prizes, worked as sports teachers, 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.480 or had competed against professionals. The rules 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.639 were primarily designed to exclude the working 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.409 class who needed pay to play. And the controversy 00:14:41.409 --> 00:14:43.470 erupted six months after the Stockholm Games 00:14:43.470 --> 00:14:47.370 in January 1913. Right. Reports surfaced in a 00:14:47.370 --> 00:14:49.450 Worcester newspaper and were quickly picked up 00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:51.490 nationally, revealing that Thorpe had played 00:14:51.490 --> 00:14:54.269 semi -professional baseball in the Eastern Carolina 00:14:54.269 --> 00:14:56.889 League. This was for Rocky Mount, North Carolina 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:00.029 in 1909 and 1910. And we need to clarify what 00:15:00.029 --> 00:15:02.549 that meant financially. This wasn't some lucrative 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:05.230 contract. He received what our sources describe 00:15:05.230 --> 00:15:10.639 as meager pay, as little as $2 per game. Maybe 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.960 up to $35 a week. It was essentially money to 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.299 cover living expenses during the summer off -season. 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:18.460 And critically, this was a very common practice 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:20.899 for college athletes at the time. It was. The 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:23.720 difference. They all used aliases, ringer names, 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:27.139 to protect their amateur status. And Thorpe, 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.659 in what can only be described as astonishing 00:15:29.659 --> 00:15:33.500 honesty or maybe profound naivete, used his own 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:36.250 name. His admission to the Amateur Athletic Union, 00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:38.950 the AAU, is often cited because of its simple 00:15:38.950 --> 00:15:41.649 honesty. It really demonstrates his lack of worldliness 00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:43.970 regarding these bureaucratic traps. He wrote 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:47.029 a letter to the AAU secretary, James Edward Sullivan, 00:15:47.309 --> 00:15:50.669 admitting guilt, and he said, I hope I will be 00:15:50.669 --> 00:15:52.710 partly excused by the fact that I was simply 00:15:52.710 --> 00:15:55.549 an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about 00:15:55.549 --> 00:15:57.710 such things. He basically says, I didn't know 00:15:57.710 --> 00:15:59.509 I was doing wrong because other college guys 00:15:59.509 --> 00:16:01.070 were doing it. They just didn't use their real 00:16:01.070 --> 00:16:03.389 names. It's an apology that explains, I didn't 00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:05.250 know the rules and I was just trying to earn 00:16:05.250 --> 00:16:08.129 a few dollars. But despite this public honest 00:16:08.129 --> 00:16:11.090 letter and a strong wave of public support, the 00:16:11.090 --> 00:16:15.309 AAU and the IOC chose to be ruthless. They moved 00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:18.590 immediately, retroactively, withdrawing his amateur 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:21.740 status. The International Olympic Committee followed 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:24.960 suit later that year, unanimously stripping Thorpe 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:27.379 of his titles, his gold medals and all associated 00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:30.279 awards. He was declared a professional. And here 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.159 is the core injustice that fueled the decades 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:35.940 long fight for justice. They violated their own 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:38.899 rules to do this. Absolutely. The rulebook they 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:41.799 invoked mandated that protests regarding an athlete's 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.879 eligibility had to be made within 30 days from 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.200 the closing ceremonies of the games. 30 days. 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:50.580 And Thorpe's report surfaced in January 1913, 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:53.240 about six months later. So they just ignored 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:56.240 their own rules. The IOC and AAU consciously 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.740 chose to ignore their own statute of limitations 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:03.120 to enforce this punitive measure. Critics widely 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.700 suggest this was fueled by racial prejudice against 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.599 a Native American athlete challenging the elite 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.599 gentleman amateur establishment. The stripping 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:14.200 of the medals was immediate and brutal. Yet the 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.019 only positive outcome, and there's a real irony 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:19.000 here, was that being declared a professional 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.539 immediately cleared the path for the ultimate 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:24.480 professional career. If the amateur establishment 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.539 wouldn't have him, professional sports certainly 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:29.269 would. This forced pivot led directly to the 00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:31.309 explosion of the professional multiverse career 00:17:31.309 --> 00:17:34.069 that followed. He immediately signed with Major 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:37.509 League Baseball. In January 1913, he chose the 00:17:37.509 --> 00:17:39.569 New York Giants. The defending National League 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:41.690 champion. Right. And he was instantly the biggest 00:17:41.690 --> 00:17:43.970 celebrity in American sports. He joined the Giants 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:46.630 as an outfielder. In 1913, when the Giants repeated 00:17:46.630 --> 00:17:49.750 as NL champions, he was immediately chosen to 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:52.390 be the star attraction for a world tour. This 00:17:52.390 --> 00:17:55.170 tour featured the Giants and the Chicago White 00:17:55.170 --> 00:17:57.490 Sox. And it was a masterclass in global sports 00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:00.269 marketing. It proved that Thorpe's fame transcended 00:18:00.269 --> 00:18:02.309 borders and language. He was the main drawing 00:18:02.309 --> 00:18:05.150 card, generating massive publicity and gate receipts 00:18:05.150 --> 00:18:07.029 everywhere they went. And think about the scale 00:18:07.029 --> 00:18:10.549 of his tour. He met Pope Pius X in the Vatican. 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:13.769 Wow. He played before a crowd of 20 ,000 in London, 00:18:13.890 --> 00:18:18.269 including King George V. He met Abbas II, Hilni 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:21.490 Bey, the Khedive of Egypt. This was not just 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:24.250 a baseball player. He was a global cultural ambassador 00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:27.430 for American sports, entirely due to his Olympic 00:18:27.430 --> 00:18:30.730 fame. His MLB career spanned six seasons total, 00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:33.109 playing for the Giants, the Cincinnati Reds and 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.690 the Boston Braves. He accumulated a respectable 00:18:35.690 --> 00:18:39.569 .252 batting average over 289 games, playing 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:41.859 sporadically as an outfielder. He continued in 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:44.420 minor league baseball until 1922. And there's 00:18:44.420 --> 00:18:47.240 a truly great piece of baseball trivia during 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:49.799 his time with the Reds in 1917. The double no 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.299 -hitter. Exactly. He was involved in a game featuring 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:54.720 a rare double no -hitter where both pitchers 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.859 held the opposition hitless through nine innings. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.940 The game was scoreless. And it was Jim Sorp in 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:01.740 the 10th inning who drove in the winning run. 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:05.240 A crucial clutch moment delivered by the man 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:08.559 the world knew as the greatest athlete. But while 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.319 baseball was a lucrative stop, his true passion 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:13.460 and the sport where he had the most revolutionary 00:19:13.460 --> 00:19:18.660 impact was football. No question. In 1915, Thorpe 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.259 signed with the Canton Bulldogs. The compensation 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:23.779 he received immediately professionalized the 00:19:23.779 --> 00:19:27.579 sport. $250 a game. So we're talking about the 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.519 equivalent of about, what, $7 ,800 today? Round 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.339 that, yes. An absolutely unprecedented wage for 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:35.880 football at that time. His impact was immediate 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.140 and measurable in dollars and cents. It was. 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:40.160 Before he signed, the Bulldogs were averaging 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.880 just 1 ,200 fans per game. For Thorpe's debut 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:46.000 against the Massillon Tigers, 8 ,000 fans showed 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.079 up. So his presence, his star power, it validated 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.779 the concept of paid professional football. He 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:53.819 was the economic engine that proved the model 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.200 could work. And he led the Canton Bulldogs to 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.279 Ohio League titles in 1916, 1917, and 1919. He 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:02.579 was devastating on the field, a runner, kicker, 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:05.220 defensive back. And the folklore surrounding 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:08.599 his kicking ability is incredible. The 95 -yard 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:10.980 punt. The sources recall that he secured the 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:13.859 1919 championship game by kicking a reported 00:20:13.859 --> 00:20:16.960 wind assisted 95 yard punt from his team's own 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:20.140 five yard line. That kind of booming game changing 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:22.900 power was essential in a low scoring era. And 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:25.559 institutionally, his role in the creation of 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:29.480 the NFL is foundational. In 1920, the Bulldogs 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:31.759 were one of 14 teams that formed the American 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.079 Professional Football Association. Which officially 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:37.240 became the NFL in 1922. And Thorpe was nominally 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.440 the organization's first president from 1920 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.480 to 1921. His role was largely symbolic, right? 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:44.440 He spent most of that year actually playing for 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.500 Canton. It was. But his presence as the most 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:50.720 famous athlete in the world. gave the new fledgling 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.819 league instant credibility and star power, helping 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:56.440 it transition from a regional Ohio league to 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:58.839 a national organization. He continued coaching 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:01.279 and playing, even helping to establish a unique 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:04.220 and fascinating, though complex, team, the Ourang 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:07.440 Indians. This is a deep cut into early NFL history. 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:12.559 From 1921 to 1923, he organized and played for 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:15.380 the Ourang Indians, an entirely all -Natal American 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:18.690 team based in LaRue, Ohio. And the team was funded 00:21:18.690 --> 00:21:21.569 by a dog kennel owner. That's right. He used 00:21:21.569 --> 00:21:23.910 the team to advertise his famous Airedale dogs, 00:21:24.230 --> 00:21:27.029 often featuring dog -related halftime stunts. 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:30.690 It was a different time. So the Orang Indians 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:33.730 represent a complex mix of cultural pride and 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:36.390 exploitation. Very much so. It offered a unique 00:21:36.390 --> 00:21:39.049 platform for Native American athletes, but it 00:21:39.049 --> 00:21:41.390 was also a blatant marketing gimmick centered 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:44.589 on exoticism. Thorpe was instrumental in organizing 00:21:44.589 --> 00:21:46.740 it and keeping it going. And he finally retired 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.079 from professional football remarkably late. At 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:53.240 age 41 in 1928, he played 52 games for six different 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:55.880 NFL teams and earned first team All -Pro honors 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:58.799 in 1923. That's a career longevity that's simply 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:00.900 staggering for such a physically brutal sport. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:02.799 And the professional versatility didn't even 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.890 stop there. This brings us to the fourth professional 00:22:04.890 --> 00:22:07.569 sport, one that was largely unknown until recently. 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:09.690 His professional basketball career. Exactly. 00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:12.609 This detail was missed by many early biographers 00:22:12.609 --> 00:22:14.990 and historians until a ticket and some press 00:22:14.990 --> 00:22:16.970 clippings documenting his time in professional 00:22:16.970 --> 00:22:20.089 basketball were rediscovered around 2005. It's 00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:23.829 true. By 1926, Jim Thorpe was the main feature 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:26.289 of the world -famous Indians of LaRue, Ohio. 00:22:26.829 --> 00:22:29.089 Not just a football team, but a barnstorming 00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:31.769 professional basketball team composed entirely 00:22:31.769 --> 00:22:34.509 of American Indians. They toured for at least 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:38.589 two years, from 1927 to 1928, playing exhibition 00:22:38.589 --> 00:22:41.549 games across the country. So a four -sport professional 00:22:41.549 --> 00:22:44.430 career. Track, football, baseball, and basketball. 00:22:44.769 --> 00:22:46.589 And when you consider that he is the best in 00:22:46.589 --> 00:22:48.950 the world in two Olympic disciplines and a star 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:51.549 in three major professional team sports, you 00:22:51.549 --> 00:22:53.990 realize the greatest athlete title is not an 00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:57.309 exaggeration. It's a statement of fact. Yet despite 00:22:57.309 --> 00:23:00.089 this massive athletic portfolio, this iconic 00:23:00.089 --> 00:23:03.049 status, and his foundational role in three major 00:23:03.049 --> 00:23:05.970 American sports, the latter half of his life 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.730 tells a story of significant, heartbreaking struggle. 00:23:08.950 --> 00:23:11.190 The timing was just cruel. The end of his professional 00:23:11.190 --> 00:23:13.289 sports career, which offered him high wages for 00:23:13.289 --> 00:23:15.490 the time, coincided directly with the onset of 00:23:15.490 --> 00:23:17.549 the Great Depression. So the star power that 00:23:17.549 --> 00:23:21.190 had once commanded $250 a game suddenly didn't 00:23:21.190 --> 00:23:23.930 translate into stable long -term income. No. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:27.160 Thorpe struggled severely to earn a consistent 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:30.200 living. This contrast is perhaps the most painful 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:33.339 part of his biography. The man crowned by a king 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:36.099 as the greatest athlete in the world was forced 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:38.680 into a series of incredibly humbling and heartbreaking 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:42.059 odd jobs just to survive. Our sources list the 00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:44.200 jobs he took on during that time. Construction 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:48.099 worker, doorman or bouncer, security guard, ditch 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:50.480 digger. He even briefly joined the U .S. Merchant 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.670 Marine in 1945 during World War II. It illustrates 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:56.509 a complete societal failure to support or integrate 00:23:56.509 --> 00:23:59.569 a figure of his magnitude once his utility as 00:23:59.569 --> 00:24:02.190 a star attraction had faded. And that was exacerbated 00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:04.190 by the racial barriers that prevented him from 00:24:04.190 --> 00:24:06.009 leveraging his name into traditional business 00:24:06.009 --> 00:24:08.309 success or endorsements. And compounding his 00:24:08.309 --> 00:24:10.589 financial struggles, he suffered from chronic 00:24:10.589 --> 00:24:13.029 alcoholism in his later years, which further 00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:15.250 impacted his health and stability. He attempted 00:24:15.250 --> 00:24:17.690 to leverage his iconic name in Hollywood, appearing 00:24:17.690 --> 00:24:20.430 in over 70 films. But he was largely typecast. 00:24:20.910 --> 00:24:23.349 He appeared mostly as an extra, playing generic 00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:25.769 American Indian roles in westerns. Things like 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:29.210 the 1931 serial Battling with Buffalo Bill and 00:24:29.210 --> 00:24:31.730 later in films such as Wagon Master in 1950. 00:24:32.210 --> 00:24:35.170 And even his film opportunities reveal the exploitation 00:24:35.170 --> 00:24:39.420 he faced. In 1931, Eating cash desperately during 00:24:39.420 --> 00:24:41.859 the Depression, he sold the film rights to his 00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:45.700 life story to MGM. For how much? A mere $1 ,500. 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.799 Which, adjusting for inflation, that's only about 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:51.720 $31 ,000 today. A pittance for the rights to 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:53.660 one of the greatest life stories of the century. 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:56.279 Warner Bros. eventually acquired those rights 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:00.119 and produced the successful 1951 film Jim Thorpe 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:02.720 All -America. starring Burt Lancaster. And while 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:05.160 rumors persisted that he received no money from 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:07.440 that, our sources clarified that he was paid 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:11.619 $15 ,000 plus a $2 ,500 annuity donation from 00:25:11.619 --> 00:25:13.799 the studio's head of publicity. But the most 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.240 poignant detail, he only appeared briefly in 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.660 one scene. Fittingly, as a coaching assistant 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:21.259 on the sidelines, observing his own story from 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:23.740 the periphery. By the early 1950s, the money 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:26.299 had run out entirely. When he was hospitalized 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:29.539 for lip cancer in 1950, He was admitted as a 00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:32.700 charity case. A charity case. The man who was 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:35.160 voted the greatest athlete of the entire 20th 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:37.539 century. The public outcry was led by his third 00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:40.180 wife, Patricia. She publicly addressed the press, 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:42.660 weeping and pleading for financial assistance. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:46.900 And she stated the grim reality. We're broke. 00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:48.980 Jim has nothing but his name and his memories. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.849 He has often been exploited. He died three years 00:25:51.849 --> 00:25:55.170 later from heart failure on March 28, 1953, at 00:25:55.170 --> 00:25:57.930 the age of 65 in Lomita, California. His life 00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:00.049 trajectory from global pinnacle to hospitalized 00:26:00.049 --> 00:26:03.250 charity case stands as a powerful condemnation 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:05.730 of how the sporting and public systems abandoned 00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:08.009 him. And this tragic trajectory brings us to 00:26:08.009 --> 00:26:10.369 the final and perhaps most complex part of our 00:26:10.369 --> 00:26:13.380 deep dive. The decades -long, meticulous fight 00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:15.359 for justice. Which covers both the restoration 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:17.460 of his medals and the fight over his physical 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:20.059 remains. It's impossible to separate the amateurism 00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:22.700 controversy from the issue of race. Not at all. 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:25.519 It has been widely suggested and reflected in 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:28.390 public comments at the time that the Zealous 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:31.410 stripping of his status was fueled by systemic 00:26:31.410 --> 00:26:33.950 prejudice against Native Americans. Enforcing 00:26:33.950 --> 00:26:36.329 a definition of amateurism designed by white 00:26:36.329 --> 00:26:39.609 economic elites. Exactly. And the paradox of 00:26:39.609 --> 00:26:42.150 the Carlyle School highlights this. The institution 00:26:42.150 --> 00:26:44.769 itself marketed his success. Using headlines 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:48.430 like Indian Thorpe and Olympiad, Redskin from 00:26:48.430 --> 00:26:51.329 Carlisle will strive for place on American team. 00:26:51.589 --> 00:26:53.710 So they celebrated his athletic genius while 00:26:53.710 --> 00:26:56.269 simultaneously framing the competition in racial 00:26:56.269 --> 00:26:59.509 terms, Indians against whites, to attract interest. 00:26:59.829 --> 00:27:02.269 And yet, the moment a minor technicality arose, 00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:05.150 the white establishment used it to disqualify 00:27:05.150 --> 00:27:07.529 him entirely. The fight for Olympic reinstatement 00:27:07.529 --> 00:27:10.829 was long, arduous, and repeatedly rebuffed. And 00:27:10.829 --> 00:27:12.670 American Olympic officials, including his former 00:27:12.670 --> 00:27:15.470 teammate and later IOC president, Avery Brundage, 00:27:15.609 --> 00:27:17.890 were his biggest opponents. Brundage was famously 00:27:17.890 --> 00:27:20.349 inflexible, dismissing all appeals with the curt 00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:23.069 statement, ignorance is no excuse. This stance, 00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:26.029 particularly from Brundage, represents the institutional 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:29.910 rigidity that poisoned the amateur ideal. Brundage 00:27:29.910 --> 00:27:32.069 ignored the fact that Thorke's violation was 00:27:32.069 --> 00:27:34.990 minimal, common practice, and occurred when he 00:27:34.990 --> 00:27:37.259 was a minor. Not to mention that the IOC itself 00:27:37.259 --> 00:27:40.180 violated its own rules to punish him. The breakthrough 00:27:40.180 --> 00:27:43.740 finally came in 1982. Thanks to dedicated civilian 00:27:43.740 --> 00:27:46.480 supporters, led by author Robert Wheeler and 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.099 his wife Florence Ridland, who established the 00:27:49.099 --> 00:27:51.900 Jim Thorpe Foundation. Their work was not based 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:53.900 on sentiment. It was based on legal evidence. 00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:57.960 They proved definitively that the IOC had violated 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:00.900 its own rulebook by not processing the protest 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:03.500 within the mandated 30 -day window after the 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:05.799 games. With this overwhelming evidence and congressional 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:08.500 pressure, the IOC executive committee approved 00:28:08.500 --> 00:28:11.599 his reinstatement in October 1982. However, the 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:14.700 initial victory was only partial. In 1983, the 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:17.859 IOC offered a compromise that was, frankly, unsatisfactory. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.940 They declared him only the co -champion with 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:22.339 Ferdinand Bayh of Norway and Hugo Weislander 00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:25.119 of Sweden. It was a half -justice, despite the 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.619 fact that both Bee and Weislander had always 00:28:27.619 --> 00:28:29.599 maintained that Thorpe was the true and only 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.019 champion. They felt that granting him co -champion 00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:36.119 status was a way for the IOC to save face. While 00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.759 refusing to fully admit the severity of their 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:41.420 error. And tragically... Because his original 00:28:41.420 --> 00:28:43.680 medals had been stolen from museums where they 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:45.640 were displayed after the stripping of his titles, 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:48.279 his children only received replicas in 1983. 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:51.220 But the fight for full honor for sole champion 00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:54.339 status was far from over. It took nearly 40 more 00:28:54.339 --> 00:28:57.339 years of pressure. In 2020, a major petition, 00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:01.339 Bright Path Strong, circulated, backed by other 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:03.720 Olympic athletes and the SAC and Fox Nation. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.319 All arguing for his rightful place as the sole 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:08.920 winner. The key finally came when the National 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:11.339 Olympic Committees of Norway and Sweden, representing 00:29:11.339 --> 00:29:13.839 Baye and Weislander, formally gave their approval 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.539 to remove their athletes as co -champions. Stating 00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:18.119 they had always considered Thorpe the rightful 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:21.700 winner. And so finally, on July 14, 2022, 110 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:24.759 years after the achievement, the IOC voted to 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:27.319 reinstate Jim Thorpe as the sole winner of both 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:30.160 the pentathlon and the decathlon. a monumentally 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:32.119 slow correction of a historical institutional 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:35.500 error. Yet while the fight for his records was 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:38.240 won, the fight for his physical body has proven 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:41.319 even more protracted and complex, raising profound 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:44.599 questions about cultural ownership. This chapter 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:47.460 is truly the strangest, most painful coda to 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.700 his life. Immediately after his death in California, 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.359 his third wife, Patricia, intervened. She interrupted 00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:56.940 a traditional Sac and Fox Thunder clan burial 00:29:56.940 --> 00:29:59.259 ceremony that was already underway in Oklahoma. 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:01.539 And she subsequently took his body to Pennsylvania. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:05.440 Why Pennsylvania? She had heard that two struggling 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.440 small towns, Mochchunk and East Mochchunk, were 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.119 seeking ways to attract business and tourism. 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:14.079 So the towns made a cynical yet effective business 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:17.140 deal. They bought Thorke's remains. merged the 00:30:17.140 --> 00:30:19.720 two towns, and renamed the entire United Borough 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:22.779 Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. A place, astoundingly, 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:25.079 that Thorpe had never visited in his life. His 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:27.480 remains were interred there in 1957, resting 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:29.759 on mounds of soil collected from his native Oklahoma 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.720 and from the Stockholm Stadium. This commercialization 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.920 of his body immediately caused deep conflict 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:37.940 with his family and the Sac and Fox Nation. They 00:30:37.940 --> 00:30:40.240 felt his remains should rest in his tribal homeland. 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:44.819 In 2010, Thorpe's son, Jack, filed a federal 00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:47.019 lawsuit seeking the return of his father's remains 00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:49.539 to Oklahoma. And the family based their case 00:30:49.539 --> 00:30:51.940 on the Native American Graves Protection and 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:56.470 Repatriation Act, or NAGI -PRA? Right. This act 00:30:56.470 --> 00:30:58.630 provides a legal mechanism for Native American 00:30:58.630 --> 00:31:01.650 remains and cultural items to be returned to 00:31:01.650 --> 00:31:04.250 lineal descendants or tribes from federally funded 00:31:04.250 --> 00:31:06.869 museums and institutions. And the initial legal 00:31:06.869 --> 00:31:09.609 victory was significant for the family. In 2013, 00:31:09.910 --> 00:31:12.430 a U .S. district judge initially ruled in their 00:31:12.430 --> 00:31:14.829 favor. The judge stated that the borough of Jim 00:31:14.829 --> 00:31:18.089 Thorpe, PA, qualified as a museum under the terms 00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:20.849 of NAGY -PA because the burial site functioned 00:31:20.849 --> 00:31:23.250 as a repository for cultural artifacts and attracted 00:31:23.250 --> 00:31:26.049 tourism based on those items. However, that ruling 00:31:26.049 --> 00:31:28.509 was reversed in 2014 by the Third Circuit Court 00:31:28.509 --> 00:31:31.349 of Appeals. The appeals court meticulously determined 00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:34.509 that the borough was not a museum under the specific 00:31:34.509 --> 00:31:37.690 narrow statutory definition of now GPR. And that 00:31:37.690 --> 00:31:40.029 removed the federal law's jurisdiction over the 00:31:40.029 --> 00:31:42.490 remains. The court noted that the family's only 00:31:42.490 --> 00:31:44.910 remaining legal path was through Pennsylvania 00:31:44.910 --> 00:31:47.869 state law, which required clear and compelling 00:31:47.869 --> 00:31:50.890 reasons to move an interred body, a threshold 00:31:50.890 --> 00:31:53.869 that is extremely difficult to meet. The federal 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:57.049 legal saga under NHPRA effectively ended there. 00:31:57.210 --> 00:32:00.470 And the final federal blow came in 2015 when 00:32:00.470 --> 00:32:02.250 the Supreme Court refused to hear the matter, 00:32:02.430 --> 00:32:04.890 ensuring that Jim Thorpe's remains would stay 00:32:04.890 --> 00:32:07.410 in the town that had successfully exploited his 00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:09.869 name and legacy for economic revitalization. 00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:13.039 Overriding his family's wishes. Despite the ongoing 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.819 pain and controversy surrounding his final resting 00:32:15.819 --> 00:32:18.640 place, Jim Thorpe has accumulated immense final 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:21.200 honors. The SAC and Fox Nation added Olympic 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.480 rings to their official flag in his honor. The 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:25.779 Jim Thorpe Award is given annually to the best 00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:28.019 defensive back in college football. He's been 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:31.339 commemorated on a 32 -terra stamp in 1998, on 00:32:31.339 --> 00:32:34.079 the Native American dollar coin in 2018, and 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:35.859 most recently received the Presidential Medal 00:32:35.859 --> 00:32:39.220 of Freedom in 2024. It's a powerful, sweeping 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:42.480 legacy, defined simultaneously by unparalleled 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:45.599 talent and systemic turmoil. So what does this 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:48.140 all mean? We've looked at a man whose genius 00:32:48.140 --> 00:32:51.140 was instantaneous and multilayered, yet whose 00:32:51.140 --> 00:32:53.859 life was systematically penalized by the very 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:56.799 institutions meant to celebrate him. The story 00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:59.220 of Jim Thorpe is the definitive case study in 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:01.960 the fight for athletic equity. His path illustrates 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.660 the deep consequences of adhering to rigid, socially 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:08.680 biased bureaucratic rules, the amateurism ideal, 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:11.599 which actively punish the poor and marginalized. 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:14.660 We see that natural greatness simply cannot be 00:33:14.660 --> 00:33:17.380 contained or erased by flawed rules. But the 00:33:17.380 --> 00:33:19.700 process of correcting those historical wrongs 00:33:19.700 --> 00:33:22.569 is excruciatingly slow. taking over a century 00:33:22.569 --> 00:33:25.369 for his full Olympic honor to be legally restored. 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:28.029 His life also sharply illustrates the immense 00:33:28.029 --> 00:33:30.329 challenges faced by Native Americans seeking 00:33:30.329 --> 00:33:32.650 success in a system often designed to suppress 00:33:32.650 --> 00:33:35.250 them. The institutional control started at Carlisle, 00:33:35.329 --> 00:33:37.470 continued with the Olympic stripping of his medals, 00:33:37.589 --> 00:33:40.170 and culminated in the economic abandonment and 00:33:40.170 --> 00:33:42.789 control over his physical remains. All these 00:33:42.789 --> 00:33:45.769 struggles are facets of the same theme, ownership 00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:48.650 and narrative control over an iconic Native American 00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:52.359 figure. His career represents a beautiful, explosive 00:33:52.359 --> 00:33:55.019 moment of human potential. While his later life 00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:57.400 is a tragedy that spotlights institutional prejudice, 00:33:57.819 --> 00:34:00.839 he transcended race, sport, and era, yet was 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:03.019 constantly contained and defined by those same 00:34:03.019 --> 00:34:05.680 forces. Which leaves us with this final provocative 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.380 thought to consider. The enduring battle over 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:10.739 Jim Thorpe's legacy, specifically the stripping 00:34:10.739 --> 00:34:12.760 of his titles and the legal fight over his burial, 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:15.480 are both rooted in the desire of outside entities 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:18.530 to claim ownership of his identity. His medals 00:34:18.530 --> 00:34:21.690 are finally his alone, restored by the IOC. But 00:34:21.690 --> 00:34:24.349 the question remains, even today, can a town 00:34:24.349 --> 00:34:26.630 truly own a man's legacy, using his name for 00:34:26.630 --> 00:34:29.230 tourism and economic benefit, or does the bright 00:34:29.230 --> 00:34:31.289 path ultimately belong to the people and land 00:34:31.289 --> 00:34:33.530 he came from? This is something worth mulling 00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:33.710 over.