Jacob Mohlis

Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

Mt Rushmore of Sports
When it comes to the greatest athletes of all-time there is one name
that for sure comes to mind: Michael Jordan. I consider "MJ" to be one of the
most influential and greatest athlete in the history of all sports. He
epitomizes what you would want in an athlete. Jordan played basketball at
the University of North Carolina for three seasons and won a National
Championship. He went on to get drafted 3rd overall in the 1984 NBA Draft,
and the 2 teams who passed on him would forever regret it, but the Bulls
would go onto win 6 Championships in Michael's career.
To put it this way: Michael's biography on the NBA website states: "By
acclimation, Michael Jordan is the Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time." He
played for 6 NBA Championships which is the highest team accolade that all
teams strive for every year. Of the 6 that he played for he won all 6,
including a 3 peat twice in his career. In the 1995-1996 season he led the
Bulls to an NBA record 72 wins and 10 losses.
Individual Accolades wise "His Airness" which is his nickname because
of his unique jumping ability, his stats and awards are unmatched. He won 5
MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards, 10 All-NBA first team, 9 All-Defensive
first team, 14 NBA all star games in 15 seasons, 10 scoring titles, 6 NBA
Finals MVP awards in 6 appearances, Jordan holds the NBA records for

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and
highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 2009 he
was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1999 he was
named the North American Athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. Among all of
his athletic accomplishments he also is one of the richest athletes of all-time
due to his Jordan clothing brand and TV/Sponsorship endorsements. What
makes Jordan's career all that more impressive is that he retired twice, once
to play Minor League Baseball which shows to his overall athleticism. To me
he is the greatest athlete of all-time and the key piece to this Mt Rushmore.
People need to stop this LeBron nonsense and realize Michael Jordan is the
greatest ever, he truly changed the game of basketball and made it what it is
today.
Speaking of people who had a great impact on the sports world, this
man had one of the most significant. This man is Jackie Robinson, he played
baseball but it was more than that. Jackie is most known for breaking the
color barrier for the game of baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 and
died at the age of 53. Jackie may be known more for what he accomplished
off the field than on it but that is not to discredit what he did as a baseball
player. Jackie first attended a Junior College before moving on to UCLA. At
UCLA he was a 4 sport varsity athlete (in which he was the first to do so) in
basketball, baseball, football, and track. After he graduated he dabbled in
semi-pro football but was eventually drafted into the Army during World War
2. After the war he was told by a friend to try out for the Kansas City

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

Monarchs, this turned out to be a great thing. He started his baseball career
with the Monarchs in the "Negro League" which was a baseball league for
African Americans in the 20th century.
After one year with the Monarchs he was signed by the Royals who
were then part of the International League. The following year, 6 days before
the season he was called up to the Los Angeles Dodgers. On April 15, 1947
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of Major League Baseball and started
at First Base for the Dodgers. He was 28 at the time, although his career was
short it was rather impressive. He was a 6 time All Star, won a world series
championship in 6 appearances, he also won the Rookie of the Year in 1947.
He was a career .311 hitter which is very impressive, he hit 137 homeruns
and stole 197 stolen bases.
After baseball he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
and the jersey number 42 was retired by Major League Baseball. He was the
first black vice president of a Major American cooperation. He helped
establish the Freedom National Bank, was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also very involved in
politics after his career. Jackie Robinson said himself he didn't want to be
recognized for what he did on the field but also for society and that couldn't
be more true.
Continuing with the theme of being superior on and off the field the
next athlete is Muhammad Ali. Muhammad was born January 17th, 1942,

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

with the true name of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. He was born and raised in
Louisville Kentucky. This is where he was told to learn how to box by a police
officer. He went on to set a record of 100-5 as an amateur. Early in his
professional career he sought out long time idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his
coach but was turned down.
He earned the nickname of The Greatest and The People's Champ. In
his career he won 56 of 61 fights and won 37 of those by knockout (K.O). He
won Gold at the 1960 Olympics as part of the US team in the light
heavyweight division. He is regarded as the best heavyweight boxing
champion of all time and for good reason. His record and dominance of other
champions show exactly why that is. He is not known for just his boxing but
also his value of religious freedom, and racial justice. He converted to Islam
and that is also when he changed his name. He was not only known for his
fighting skills but the fight he put up towards racial discrimination. He was
yet another prominent black athlete from the 60s that fought against racial
prejudice. Muhammad Ali had a terrific career and exemplified that by what
he did outside the ring and for that I consider him one of the greatest
athletes of all time.
For the last spot on my Sport Mt Rushmore there is a large handful of
deserving men and women but I decided to go with Jack Nicklaus. Jack was
born on January 21, 1940. He is for the most part considered the greatest
golfer of all time and for good reason. All the talk over the last few years has

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

been whether or not Tiger Woods would pass him in major championship
wins. So far Jack or nicknamed "The Golden Bear" has held his spot at the
top. Jack became a professional in 1961 and immediately made an impact on
the tour.
Less than a year after turning pro he won the 1962 US Open which was
his first professional win. In 1966 he won the Masters for the second year in a
row, first person to do this. Between 1971 and 1980 he would win nine more
majors and become the all time leader with 13 wins. But he was not done
there, he would win his last major in 1986 when he won the Masters at age
46, the oldest man to do so. He continued his golf career after that on the
senior tour until 2005. Among his career achievements he is 3rd all time with
73 tour wins even though he really only played in the majors for most of his
career. He won 115 professional events in total along with winning The
Masters which is considered the utmost prize six times!
Although all of his on course achievements are great, like most of the
other athletes he contributed outside of his sport. He spent time with golf
course design, charity work, and book writing. He runs the Memorial
tournament which is part of the PGA tour. He runs one of the largest golf
course design companies in the world. And he also has wrote some of the
leading golf instructional books in the world. He has contributed to many
different charities in his lifetime and has raised thousands of dollars as part
of his charity work.

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014

All of these athletes exemplify what it means to be great role models

on and off the field of competition. I choose these 4 athletes because they
have unmatched abilities and skills in there given field. These athletes year
in and year out proved to be the elite of their sport. These athletes are a part
of the reason that I love sports today even though they retired long ago their
legacy lives on.

Jacob Mohlis
Sports Marketing
10/1/2014