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Each year millions of children take to America's athletic fields and gyms with visions of becoming the next Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Serena Williams. By the time they reach their teens, many are still good enough to compete interscholastically. Fewer advance to compete at the collegiate level, and even less survive to play at a professional level, even if only in the minor leagues. Those athletes who get to put on a uniform at Yankee Stadium, Lambeau Field, Boston Garden or an Olympic venue are a gifted few indeed. Yet, every decade or two, an anomaly comes along, an athlete good enough to play more than one sport at the highest level. Here's a list of the Greatest Multi-Sport Athletes of all time.
Ed. Note: The author, Frank Pace, ranks the first three athletes. The subsequent nine are in alphabetical order.  Jim Thorpe was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th Century by the Associated Press (AP) in 1950. #1 Jim Thorpe: Voted the Top Athlete of the First 50 years of the 20th century by the Associated Press in 1950, Thorpe may be the greatest athlete in American history. Consider the facts. In the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe won two Gold Medals, finished fourth in the high jump and seventh in the long jump. As a college football player and two-time All-American, he played offense, defense, and was the place kicker and punter for the Carlisle Indians, while leading the team to an 11-1 record and a National Championship in the same year he won his twin Olympic Golds. Thorpe went on to play eight years in the NFL, and was named All-Pro in 1923 by the Green Bay Gazette, as a player for the Oorang Indians. The NFL recognizes the Green Bay Gazette as the league's official All Pro Team for 1923. Thorpe played major league baseball for six seasons, with his finest year in 1927 when he hit .327 for the Boston Braves. Jim Thorpe is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Track & Field Hall of Fame.  "Bo" Jackson was the first athlete to make an All-Star Team in two professional sports. #2 Bo Jackson: Vincent "Bo" Jackson was the first athlete to make an All-Star Team in two professional sports. A 1985 Heisman Trophy winner and two sport star at Auburn, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer's told Bo he couldn't play two sports and insisted that he had to make a choice - baseball or football. The Buc's gamble failed when Jackson chose baseball and signed with the Kansas City Royals. Once there, Bo made his MLB debut on September 2, 1986, eventually earning MVP honors in the 1989 All Star game. One year later, with Jackson no longer the property of Tampa Bay, Al Davis (still of sound mind) signed Jackson to a part-time contract, which allowed the running back to join the Raiders during the mid-season after he had concluded his baseball obligations. Jackson's 1986 Brian Bosworth bowling over performance, against the Seattle Seahawks - when he rushed for 221 yards - became one of the seminal games in Monday Night Football history. Jackson was on his way to a Hall of Fame football career when a hip injury and subsequent hip replacement surgery brought a premature end to both his baseball and football careers. His famous "Bo Knows" commercials for Nike further established Jackson as a cultural icon. #3 Jim Brown: Football legend is widely considered the Greatest Running Back of All Time. This past April, Brown was named the # 1 Player in NFL history by The Sporting News. Named All Pro in each of the nine seasons he played, Brown retired holding just about every NFL offensive record, some of which still stand. He finished his career with 12,312 rushing yards, 126 touchdowns and an average 5.2 yards per carry. He is the only player in NFL history to finish his career averaging more than100 yards gained per game played. Brown was an All-American at Syracuse in football and lacrosse. He is considered by many to be the Greatest Lacrosse player the US has ever produced. Jim Brown is a member of The Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and both the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. THE HONOR ROLL:  The Celtics GM Red Auerbach bought out Danny Ainge's Blue Jay contract from a willing seller. Danny Ainge: In 1981, Ainge won the John R. Wooden Award as top player in NCAA basketball while at BYU. He made it to the big leagues as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, where a .220 batting average in 665 at bats during three years convinced him he should rethink his original decision not to play in the NBA. The Celtics wily GM Red Auerbach - who had drafted him # 1 - bought out his Blue Jay contract from a willing seller. Ainge joined the Celts the next fall and became a stalwart on Celtic teams, which would win the NBA championship in 1984 and 1986. Perhaps Ainge's greatest accomplishment as a Celtic would come some 20 years later, when as Executive Director of Basketball Operations for the Celtics, he engineered the trade that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston, where Garnett would lead the Celtics to the 2008 NBA Championship. Gene Conley: At 6'8" Long Gene was an imposing figure both on the mound and on the basketball court. Conley is the only man to win a World Championship in two different sports - as a pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves in 1957, and a reserve forward for the Boston Celtics in 1959 to 1961. His teammates included Ted Williams and Bill Russell. A four-time American League All Star, and the winning pitcher in the 1955 All Star Game, Conley's basketball talents were brought to the attention of Celtics Coach Red Auerbach by Bill Sharman, who had seen him play for Washington State in a game against UCLA. Conley finished his pitching career with 91 wins and 888 strikeouts. His NBA totals included 2,069 points and 2,212 rebounds.
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