ESPN's Mt Rushmore of Sports by state

norm

SportsNation nominations carved the faces of 191 people onto the 52 Mt. Rushmores of Sports.

Among the greats memorialized for each state, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., is the father-son combo of Archie and Peyton Manning, the only relatives among the honorees.

Hank Aaron and Barry Sanders, iconic figures for three states, are among 15 people chosen for more than one Mt. Rushmore. Lute Olson, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Michael Jordan, John Wooden, Peyton Manning, Wilt Chamberlain, Walter Payton, Brett Favre, Phil Jackson, Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson and Lawrence Taylor all look down from two Rushmores.

Although athletes were most popular, SportsNation also chose 39 coaches or managers. Three of the 10 coaches on SportsCentury's Greatest Coaches of the 20th Century List, John McGraw (No. 6), George Halas (No. 7) and Knute Rockne (No. 10), were omitted.

Five have current connections to ESPN: Magic Johnson, Bob Knight, Brent Musburger, Steve Young and Tom Brennan.

Missing SportsCentury notables included Joe DiMaggio (No. 22), Joe Montana (No. 25), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 26), Oscar Robertson (No. 36), Sandy Koufax (No. 42), and Julius Erving (No. 43).

Also missing were baseball's all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds; baseball's all-time wins leader, Cy Young; the NFL's all-time rushing yards leader, Emmitt Smith; and the NHL's all-time leading scorer, Wayne Gretzky.

Alabama
Hank Aaron
Bear Bryant
Bo Jackson
Willie Mays

Alaska
Carlos Boozer
Scott Gomez
Joe Redington
Susan Butcher

Arizona
Pat Tillman
Lute Olson
Jerry Colangeo
Luis Gonzalez

Arkansas
Scottie Pippen
Frank Broyles
Brooks Robinson
John McDonnell

California
Tiger Woods
John Wooden
Magic Johnson
Jackie Robinson

Colorado
John Elway
Joe Sakic
Todd Helton
Goose Gossage

Connecticut
Jim Calhoun
Geno Auriemma
Chris Drury
Walter Camp

Delaware
Rich Gannon
Randy White
Tubby Raymond
Dallas Green

Florida
Dan Marino
Don Shula
Bobby Bowden
Tim Tebow

Georgia
Hank Aaron
Herschel Walker
Ty Cobb
Bobby Jones

Hawaii
Duke Kahanamoku
Bryan Clay
Colt Brennan
Wally Yonamine

Idaho
Harmon Killebrew
Picabo Street
Jerry Kramer
Dan O'Brien

Illinois
Michael Jordan
Walter Payton
Ernie Banks
Mike Ditka

Indiana
Larry Bird
Bob Knight
Peyton Manning
John Wooden

Iowa
Dan Gable
Kurt Warner
Nile Kinnick
Bob Feller

Kansas
Barry Sanders
Wilt Chamberlain
Danny Manning
Jim Ryun

Kentucky
Muhammad Ali
Adolph Rupp
Secretariat
Rick Pitino

Louisiana
Terry Bradshaw
Pete Maravich
Shaquille O'Neal
Bill Russell

Maine
Cindy Blodgett
Paul Kariya
Joan Benoit
Mike Bordick

Maryland
Cal Ripken Jr.
Michael Phelps
Johnny Unitas
Brooks Robinson

Massachusetts
Ted Williams
Bobby Orr
Tom Brady
Red Auerbach

Michigan
Steve Yzerman
Barry Sanders
Gordie Howe
Joe Louis

Minnesota
Kirby Puckett
Herb Brooks
Harmon Killebrew
Bud Grant

Mississippi
Jerry Rice
Walter Payton
Brett Favre
Archie Manning

Missouri
Stan Musial
Jack Buck
Lamar Hunt
George Brett

Montana
Brent Musberger
Evel Knievel
Phil Jackson
Dave McNally

Nebraska
Tom Osborne
Tommie Frazier
Bob Gibson
Gale Sayers

Nevada
Greg Maddux
Andre Agassi
Jerry Tarkanian
Mike Tyson

New Hampshire
Carlton Fisk
Bode Miller
Chris Carpenter
Jenny Thompson

New Jersey
Martin Brodeur
Bill Parcells
Carl Lewis
Lawrence Taylor

New Mexico
Brian Urlacher
Al Unser Sr.
Nancy Lopez
Tommy McDonald

New York
Babe Ruth
Jackie Robinson
Jim Brown
Joe Namath

North Carolina
Michael Jordan
Dean Smith
Dale Earnhardt
Mike Krzyzewski

North Dakota
Roger Maris
Phil Jackson
Lute Olson
Darin Erstad

Ohio
Jack Nicklaus
Jesse Owens
Paul Brown
Woody Hayes

Oklahoma
Mickey Mantle
Jim Thorpe
Barry Sanders
Barry Switzer

Oregon
Steve Prefontaine
Clyde Drexler
Phil Knight
Gary Payton

Pennsylvania
Joe Paterno
Mario Lemieux
Roberto Clemente
Wilt Chamberlain

Puerto Rico
Roberto Clemente
Ivan Rodriguez
Wilfredo Benitez
Jose Ortiz

Rhode Island
Ernie DiGregorio
Rocco Baldelli
Nap Lajoie
Dave Gavitt

South Carolina
Joe Frazier
Kevin Garnett
Shoeless Joe Jackson
John McKissick

South Dakota
Adam Vinatieri
Sparky Anderson
Billy Mills
Brock Lesnar

Tennessee
Pat Summitt
Peyton Manning
Reggie White
Wilma Rudolph

Texas
Nolan Ryan
Lance Armstrong
Tom Landry
Earl Campbell

Utah
John Stockton
Karl Malone
Steve Young
LaVell Edwards

Vermont
Jake Burton
Tom Brennan
John LeClair
Patty Sheehan

Virginia
Arthur Ashe
Bruce Smith
Lawrence Taylor
Sam Snead

Washington
Ken Griffey Jr.
Steve Largent
Edgar Martinez
Don James

Washington, D.C.
Joe Gibbs
Sammy Baugh
John Thompson
Walter Johnson

West Virginia
Jerry West
Mary Lou Retton
Sam Huff
Randy Moss

Wisconsin
Vince Lombardi
Brett Favre
Hank Aaron
Al McGuire

Wyoming
Rulon Gardner
Jay Novacek
Kenny Sailors
Bobby Harris

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsce ... id=3879785

tybird

As to my home state of Alabama, I would replace Bo Jackson with either Jesse Owens or Joe Louis.

WhyGo77

Joe Namath? Really? Somebody needs to explain that one to me...Sure, he called an upset in the Super Bowl, but the man's all-time quarterback record is 62-63-4. A losing record. He threw 173 career TD's and 220 career INT's. That is flat out awful. He shouldn't even be a Hall of Famer, and now they want to give him an honor like this for New York? c'mon.

What about Lou Gehrig? Tom Seaver? Joe DiMaggio? Willis Reed? Brian Leetch?

Joe Namath...wow.

81

considering Wayne is Canadian and did alot of his damage up in Edmonton, that really isn't a suprise.

FenwayFaithful

norm wrote:

Rhode Island
Ernie DiGregorio
Rocco Baldelli
Nap Lajoie
Dave Gavitt

This one's my favorite.

MayDay10

WhyGo77 wrote:

Joe Namath? Really? Somebody needs to explain that one to me...Sure, he called an upset in the Super Bowl, but the man's all-time quarterback record is 62-63-4. A losing record. He threw 173 career TD's and 220 career INT's. That is flat out awful. He shouldn't even be a Hall of Famer, and now they want to give him an honor like this for New York? c'mon.

What about Lou Gehrig? Tom Seaver? Joe DiMaggio? Willis Reed? Brian Leetch?

Joe Namath...wow.

Namath really is a terrible choice.

Would have liked to see Buffalo thrown a bone with Bruce Smith perhaps.... But I understand.

Rip off Namath and throw in Mike Tyson.

aneutronbomb

tough to fuck wit pa, but if id did i'd try to find a way to get arnie up there, as well as rooney

81

Tim Tebow is the best they could up with for FL?

NickyNooch

81 wrote:

Tim Tebow is the best they could up with for FL?

Deion Sanders should be on there. I don't know what they were thinking putting Tebow on there.

aNiMaL

From Washington I would add Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, and Downtown Freddy Brown. Plus, Chuck Knox, Mike Holmgren, Lenny Wilkens, Lou Piniella and George Karl.

Its Evolution Baby

Magic was great but should NOT be in the California Mt. Rushmore over Joe Montana. I have no problem with Wooden, Robinson, or Woods although if you want to leave Magic and take off Woods that's fine too. Point is the greatest QB of all time needs to be on the list.

Oh well I'm sure Joe made a lot of enemies over the years with his last second comebacks. Collinsworth still is bitter towards the Niners if you listen to him.

dcfaithful

I think that is a valid choice for Utah....definitely Stockton and Malone...

LloydXmas

CT sucks as usual.

Pearl James

Yikes Illinois, obviously MJ and Sweetness are good picks, but Ernie Banks and Ditka? What about Bobby Hull? Frank Thomas? They should have limited it to one sport each, after all, Mt Rushmore honors presidents for what theyve done when they were presidents at different times. But like always, ESPN fucks up everything.

PRL1JAM

Magic Johnson belongs on that list, plain and simple. If you want to make an argument for Joe Montana being there too, I respect that. But no way in hell would I ever put Joe Montana on any list over Earvin

eyedclaar

I went to school with Picabo Street. My older bro played football with her older brother, Bubba. That's right, Bubba and Picabo.

CServant

For Colorado, remove Gossage and add a Nugget, my vote is Alex English. Maybe in 10 years or so Carlmelo Anthony will make a case for inclusion, but still has things to prove.

Wobbie

norm wrote:

Nevada
Greg Maddux
Andre Agassi
Jerry Tarkanian
Mike Tyson

Off the top of my head, I'd say replace Tyson with Matt Williams. Tyson's a New Yorker (big shock, huh?)

DewieCox

Pearl James wrote:

Yikes Illinois, obviously MJ and Sweetness are good picks, but Ernie Banks and Ditka? What about Bobby Hull? Frank Thomas? They should have limited it to one sport each, after all, Mt Rushmore honors presidents for what theyve done when they were presidents at different times. But like always, ESPN fucks up everything.

I say this as a Cardinals and Frank Thomas fan....Ernie Banks should be up there, no questions asked.

Ditka shouldn't even sniff it, especially over guys like Butkus or Red Grange, or Hull or Thomas for that matter.

Isn't Chelios huge in Chicago?

keeponrockin

aNiMaL wrote:

From Washington I would add Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, and Downtown Freddy Brown. Plus, Chuck Knox, Mike Holmgren, Lenny Wilkens, Lou Piniella and George Karl.

Lou Pinella I agree with. I don't know who you would take off though.

Yellow Ledbelly

My state of Mississippi was a no-brainer. Three of the best football players ever plus one who might have been