Who am I? American Sports Legends Quiz

Answer: Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb was originally from Georgia, hence his nickname. He was with the Detroit Tigers for 22 seasons, including six as a manager. He finished his career in 1928 after playing two years with the Philadelphia Athletics. Ty Cobb was an outstanding baseball player.

His career record shows that he had an overall batting average on .366, 4,189 hits, 117 home runs, 1938 runs batted in, and 892 stolen bases. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.2% of the vote in 1936. Walter Johnson's nicknames were "Barney" and "The Big Train". Frank Smith was nicknamed the "Piano Mover". Willie Keeler's nickname was "Wee Willie".

Answer: True

Jim Thorpe was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. He was a very versatile athlete. He competed for the USA in the 1912 Olympics in the pentathlon and the decathlon, winning gold medals in both events. He was also a professional baseball, basketball, and American football player.

Unfortunately, he had been paid for playing baseball before he competed at the Olympics. This was found to violate the rules that forced Olympic athletes to be amateurs and he was stripped of his medals in 1913. In 1983, the International Olympic Committee reinstated his medals because the protest about his payment did not occur within 30 days of the competition.

Unfortunately, this was 30 years after Thorpe passed away.

Answer: Simpson

O.J. Simpson played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Buffalo Bills, and two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. During that time, he achieved many outstanding statistics, including the fastest player to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 rushing, both of which he set in 1973. Simpson had a relatively successful career in entertainment after he retired from football.

This includes becoming a television sports announcer, as well as an actor in various television programs and movies.

In 1994, Simpson was charged and tried for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, both of whom had been stabbed to death. He was found not guilty in the criminal court, but was later found responsible for their deaths in a civil court.

Answer: Ferdinand

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in 1947. By the time he was nine years old, he was 5ft 8in (172.7 cm) tall. He had reached 6ft 8in (203.3 cm) by the time he was in eighth grade. Alcindor set city records for scoring and rebounds while playing on his high school basketball team in New York City where he grew up.

In 1965, he attended the University of California-Los Angeles where he continued to play basketball. He was drafted from college to the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1969. Alcindor converted to Islam in 1971 when he took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which means "noble, powerful servant". Abdul-Jabbar played with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, setting many records for his outstanding play, including holding the NBA point record when he retired in 1989, and being the first NBA player to play for 20 seasons.

Answer: Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace was born in 1993, so was too young to make NASCAR's list in 1998. He is an extremely successful African-American driver. He started racing at the young age of nine years at the Bandolero and Legends series. His first national race was in 2012, and his career took off from there. The other drivers in the options have all either retired or passed away.

Answer: Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard, born in 1956, is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. This is because he was a champion in five different weight classes during his professional career. Evander Holyfield was born in 1962. During his boxing career, he was a champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Floyd Mayweather Jr. was born in 1977.

He represented the US at the 1996 Olympics before starting an undefeated professional boxing career. Mike Tyson was born in 1966.

He was a heavyweight boxer, perhaps most notable for having bitten off the ear of an opponent during a match.

Answer: Golf

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias won two track and field gold medals for the USA at the 1932 Olympics. After her amateur career, she turned to professional golf where she won ten Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) major events. Besides track and field and golf, she also played baseball and basketball.

Many sports enthusiasts believe that she is one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

Answer: Centre

In most years, only about 25% of players in the National Hockey League (NHL) were born in the US. That said, Michigan-born Mike Modano is regarded by many as one of the best hockey players ever. He played for the Minnesota North Stars, the Dallas Stars, and the Detroit Red Wings over the span of his career that lasted from 1989-2011. During that time, he played in 1,499 games, had 561 goals and 813 assists, of which 92 were game-winning goals. When he retired, he held the "American-born" records for the most goals, the most points, the most playoff points, and the most games.

Answer: Helen Wills

Helen Wills won nineteen singles tournaments during her career that lasted from 1919 through 1938. She also won many doubles and mixed doubles tournaments during this time. Wills was ranked Number One female tennis player nine times over the course of her career, from 1927 through 1933, then again in 1935 and in 1938. Serena Williams has now passed Wills' record, with over twenty singles wins. Maureen Connolly won nine, Chris Evert won eighteen, and Billie Jean King won twelve singles tournaments over the course of their careers.

Answer: Yes

Landon Donovan retired from playing soccer in 2018. He was considered by many to be the best U.S. player ever. He played on professional teams on "both sides of the pond", amassing so many goals and assists that he set records as he went. He played for Major League Soccer (MLS) teams in the USA, as well as a number of European teams.

He won the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award four times, and the Honda Player of the Year award seven times. He was on the US team that reached the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in 2002.

In the 2010 World Cup, he scored three goals, which made him the highest-scoring American player in World Cup history. The MLS trophy for the Most Valuable Player has been renamed the Landon Donovan Award in order to honour his outstanding contributions to the teams on which he played.