Random Facts & Stats From The World Of Sports
- Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
- Since the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award was adapted prior to the 1982-83 season, only one winner has averaged a double-double for the season (1987-88; Roy Tarpley - 13.5 points, 11.8 rebounds per game).
- No team in major league history has ever started out a season 0-4 and went on to win the World Series that season.
- There are 15 AL East players that will make $10,000,000+ this season, 12 of which play for the Red Sox & Yankees.
- Deion Sanders became the first player to compete in a Super Bowl and a World Series.
- Quarterback Gale Gilbert is the only player in NFL history to play in five Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXV-XXIX; four with Buffalo and one with San Diego).
- Dominic Rhodes and LeGarrette Blount are the only undrafted rookies to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.
- Former Bengals punter Pat McInally is the only player to have a perfect score on the annual pre-draft Wonderlic test.
- Tim Rattay is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw three touchdowns on three consecutive passes.
- Pittsburgh is the only city where all major sports teams have the same colors: Black and Gold.
- It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.
- Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game.
- The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continually held sports event in the United States (1875). The second oldest is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show (1876).
- Steve Young is the great-great-grandson of Mormon leader Brigham Young.
- The referee tossed a jump ball after every basket in basketball until 1937.
- The 1912 Olympics was the last time that gold medals were solid gold. Ever since, they’ve been silver with gold plating.
- During World War II, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers combined to become the Steagles after many of their players went to fight the war.
- A bowling pin only needs to tilt 7.5 degrees to fall down.
- Five-Card Poker has 2,598,960 possible hands.
- The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.
- In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first of six home runs.
- In bowling, three strikes in a row was called a turkey. The term originated in the 1800s when at holiday time, the first member of a team to score three strikes in a row won a free turkey.
- Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Rashaun Woods caught six touchdown passes against Southern Methodist in 2003.
- Major League Baseball teams use about 850,000 balls per season.
- The record for the most NASCAR wins is held by Richard Petty: 200 wins (and 7 championships).
- The NBA instituted the three-point shot after the 1978-79 season, an idea which was adopted from the ABA.
- The Chicago Bulls franchise have amazingly won all six NBA Finals series in which they have played in.
- In 2001, Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes became the first undrafted player to lead the NFL in rushing.
- The Indianapolis Colts are the first team in NFL history to win 12 or more games in five consecutive years.
- Between them, Bob and Scott Kowalkowski (father and son) played in the first and last NFL game at the Pontiac Silverdome.
- Buddy Ryan once punched fellow coach Kevin Gilbride in the face on Monday Night Football.
- The last NFL team to go out of business was the Dallas Texans in 1952.
- The Colts were the first NFL team to have cheerleaders.
- Dan Reeves, Tony Dungy and Mike Ditka have all appeared in Super Bowls as players, assistant coaches and head coaches.
- Terry Bradshaw is the first and only NFL player to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- The largest attendance for a NFL regular-season game is 103,467 (Cardinals vs. 49ers at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium).
- Despite being the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, Ray Lewis was passed over for the traditional post-game Disneyland commercial due to his recent involvement in a murder trial.
- Tony Dungy was the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl.
- Running back Ricky Williams is a qualified yoga instructor.
- Running back Joseph Addai was a frequent guest on the Emeril Live cooking show, while a student at LSU.
- Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson once raced a horse for charity. Johnson won.
- The Colorado Rockies drafted Michael Vick to play baseball, despite the fact that he hasn’t played since 8th grade.
- On Super Bowl Sunday, it is estimated that 14,500 tons of potato chips are consumed.
- Quarterback Kurt Warner played for the Arena League’s Iowa Barnstormers before starting his NFL career. He took his team to the Arena Bowl in both 1996 and 1997.
- The Monday following the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, antacid sales increased by 20 percent.
- Ray Lewis’ favorite song is “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.
- Fullback Lorenzo Neal is the only player to block for a 1,000 yard rusher in 11 straight seasons - Adrian Murrell (Jets, 1997), Warrick Dunn (Buccaneers, 1998), Eddie George (Titans, 1999-00), Corey Dillon (Bengals, 2001-02), and LaDainian Tomlinson (Chargers, 2003-07)
- Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has never hit a pinch-hit homerun
- Kyle Busch is the only NASCAR driver to win the Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and Sprint Cup Series races in the same weekend (Bristol, 2010)
- The Utah Jazz have only had four lottery picks since it's 1985 inception
- Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Mark Hellickson is the first pitcher since 1920 to pitch at least six innings and give up three hits or less in the first three games of a career
- The Indianapolis Colts are the only team in NFL history to have six consecutive seasons with 12 or more wins
- Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford has the most 4-point plays (28) than any player in NBA history
- In the past 30 years, Steve Kerr is the only NBA player to win four consecutive championships
- From 2001-03, the Detroit Lions were 0-24 on the road (the longest such streak in NFL history)
- There are only eight Heisman Trophy winners in the NFL Hall of Fame
- Since the first Super Bowl in 1966, there has only been one player on the losing team to be named Super Bowl MVP (Cowboys defensive lineman Chuck Howley, 1970 - Colts 16, Cowboys 13)
- St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols played three games in Triple-AAA with the Memphis Redbirds before being called up to the majors
- The Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game winning streak not only is an NBA record, it also remains the best in any major US professional sport.
- NBA referee Joe Crawford’s brother is veteran Major League Baseball umpire Jerry Crawford, and he is the son of retired Major League Baseball umpire Shag Crawford.
- Pau Gasol enrolled in medical school before signing his first professional basketball contract.
- Dwight Howard’s family refer to him as the “Miracle Child” as his mother miscarried seven times before he was born.
- As a high school senior, LeBron attended the Adidas ABCD Camp wearing Nike sneakers. At the Nike All-American Camp, he wore Adidas.
- Playing as teammates on an AAU squad, Ron Artest and Elton Brand once had a fight during the warm-ups.
- Vince Carter was a drum major in his high school band and was offered a music scholarship to Bethune-Cookman.
- As of August 2010, Angel Pagan has had over 1150 plate appearances without being hit by a pitch.
- The average life span of a major league baseball is 7 pitches.
- Gale Sayers (Chicago Bears, RB) has the highest career kick return yard average (minimum 75 returns) at 30.56.
- The Chicago Bears hold the record for the most games finished in a tie over a single season with six ties (1932).
- In 2008, the Detroit Lions became the first National Football League team to go through an entire 16-game season without winning a single contest.
- The 1976 and 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losers of their first 26 games, they finally broke through as winners in the last two weeks of the 1977 season. The Bucs were shutout 11 times during those two season.
- Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. didn't miss a game in 16 years. He played in 2,632 consecutive games from April 30, 1982 to Sept. 19, 1998.
- Orel Hershiser once pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings.
- Mickey Mantle hit a 643-foot home run -- the longest ever recorded -- in 1960.
- Bob Feller struck out 15 batters during his MLB debut as a 17 year-old in 1936.
- The inventor of baseball is also credited with firing the first Union shot of Civil War.
- Reggie Jackson had four consecutive home runs spanning Games Five and Six of the 1977 World Series.
- Kevin Garnett’s mother was a Jehovah’s Witness, and as such he was nineteen before he celebrated his first Christmas and Halloween.
- WWE star the Undertaker played high school basketball with Magic Johnson.
- Former WWE star and current actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson played NCAA football at the University of Miami.
- Allen Iverson was recruited heavier out of high school as an all-state quarterback.
