Sports Daddy
We met Gordie Howe one Saturday morning while eating breakfast. (Gordie Howe, Alexandra, Me, Anna…i forgot his dog’s name, i think it was named after one of his hockey nemesises)
With Father’s Day just having been celebrated, who’s the greatest dad in sports? Now we’ve all seen the horror of those professional athletes that “sire” offspring and never stick around to get them through life or even welcome them home from the hospital.
Professional basketball and football are filled with those stories so we don’t need to waste any more time and space on them. Just google the issue if you want to find some.
But who are the great sports dads? The athletes who take time to love their kids and raise them up right? I think the first that comes to my mind are the Griffeys – father Ken and son Ken Jr. Now daddy played for the Reds and Junior spent most of his career playing for Seattle before he had a disastrous homecoming of sorts to play for the Reds. But while with the Mariners, Sr. and Jr. suited up in the outfield together in 1990. They hit back to back home runs in one game – now how cool is that? It wasn’t just for show, the old man could still play. And both are highly regarded in Major League Baseball.
In the NFL you’ve got the Manning family, though Archie didn’t play with his sons in the NFL, he did pave the way for them to get there. Peyton first and then Eli. Oldest brother Cooper would have been the first to make it but stenosis or narrowing of the spinal column in his neck cut his career short while in college at Ole Miss. Archie took a world class beating while playing for the Saints and didn’t raise a fuss or act like a diva. He built a lot of goodwill and bridges throughout the sport that is paying off for his kids.
Isn’t that what every dad wants to do for his kid? Make their way in life just a little or a lot easier? Go through the crap of playing for a poorly run and horrible franchise so your kids can have it better?
In the NBA, Rick Barry had three sons go onto play – Brent, Drew and Jon – but none of them have attained the accolades of their Hall of Fame dad.
In the NHL, Gordie Howe got to play with both of his sons, Mark and Marty. And though they didn’t come close to being the player their dad was, neither has anyone else in the world of hockey.
So as a dad, aren’t we all supposed to make our kids better – at everything? Whether its their job or hobby but most importantly, as a dad, I want my kids to be better people. But if they happen to be better than me at my chosen profession, that would be awesome.
Who’s your favorite sports dad?
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