Top 10 Sports Stars Born In Michigan
The University of Michigan ended their 26-year wait for a national championship when defeating the Washington Huskies 34-13 in Houston last week.
The Wolverines were favorites with many of the leading sports betting sites to win their 12th national title. Jim Harbaugh's team delivered in spectacular fashion.
Celebrations lasted long into the night, and they will be celebrated further on Thursday, which is National Michigan Day. We thought we’d look at the greatest sportsperson born in Michigan and compile a top 10 list.
Putting together any list like this is difficult. How can you compare an individual star achieving their own success to one who played in a team with others to help?
Here is our Top 10:
1. Serena Williams
How could we not have the greatest female tennis player of all time at the top of our list? Williams falls into the category of doing it all on her own on the court, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
Born in Saginaw, Serena ended her career as the only player to have accomplished a career Grand Slam (winning all four majors in one year) in both singles and doubles.
She was ranked world number one for a staggering 319 weeks (just over six years), and after 1,014 career matches, she had a winning percentage of 84.6%.
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
When it comes to discussing the greatest boxers of all time, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is right in the mix. Born in Grand Rapids, Mayweather had to settle for a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Regarded as one of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all time, Mayweather didn’t do defeats in his professional career and retired with a perfect 50-0 record, including 26 wins in world title fights.
Mayweather, nicknamed "Money" after earning over $1 billion throughout his career, won 15 world title fights in four different weight divisions, which will take some beating.
3. Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson
When you're given the nickname "Magic," you know you have to be good. Earvin "Magic" Johnson was better than good. Johnson was earmarked for greatness during his college career at Michigan State, where he led them to a national title.
The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Johnson to help end their seven-season wait for a title, and he delivered. Dubbed "Magic" in high school, Johnson led the Lakers to the championship in his first season, the first of three titles in his career.
With nine NBA Finals appearances, 12 All-Star selections, and an Olympic Dream Team gold medal, Johnson is regarded as the greatest point guard of all time. Johnson’s average of 11.19 assists per game is still to be broken.
4. Draymond Green
Draymond Green is a polarizing player. While it’s easy to appreciate his ability on the basketball court, his bad behavior has irritated many people, including the league.
Born in Saginaw, Green recently returned from a 16-game suspension for his latest act of ill-discipline. On December 12, Green struck Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face.
When the four-time NBA champ and four-time All-Star concentrates on playing ball, Green is one of the best at stealing the ball, blocking shots, and rebounding—part of his all-around solid defensive game. The Warriors are favorites with sports betting apps.
5. Tony Dungy
One of the more elusive clubs in the NFL is the one whose members have won the Super Bowl both as players and head coaches. Only three men have done this, and one of them was born in Jackson, Michigan.
Today, Tony Dungy may be known for being a TV analyst on NBC’s "Football Night In America." But the defensive back then helped the Steelers win Super Bowl XIII.
Almost 30 years later, Dungy joined Mike Ditka and Tom Flores in that elusive club by leading the Indianapolis Colts to glory in Super Bowl XLI as the head coach masterminded a 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in rainy Miami when the Colts were seven-point favorites.
6. John Smoltz
Michigan has produced its fair share of baseball stars, and John Smoltz is right up there. Born in Warren, Smoltz enjoyed a 22-year career in the majors.
All but one were spent with the Atlanta Braves, where he had the most success. Seven years after his career started, Smoltz earned the right to be called world champion after the Braves beat the then-Cleveland Indians 4-2 in the 1995 World Series.
Smoltz ended his career with stints at the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, but only after eight All-Star selections, two NL wins, and two NL strikeout titles. The 1996 NL Cy Young winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
7. Jerome Bettis
Only a few players get the chance to end their NFL career by winning the Super Bowl, and that’s exactly how Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis called time on his NFL career.
Not only did Bettis, a six-time Pro-Bowler, get a Super Bowl ring in his career finale in Super Bowl XLIII, but the game was also played in Detroit, the home city of the Pittsburgh Steelers'' running back.
The 1993 Offensive Rookie of the Year and the 2001 Walter Payton Man of the Year finished his career with 13,664 rushing yards and 91 rushing touchdowns.
8. Claressa Shields
Claressa Shields was destined for greatness from a very early age. Her amateur boxing career came to a successful close with a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
Her professional career was just as successful, and she is one of only three boxers in the sport’s history, male or female, to hold all four major world titles in two different weight classes.
After her boxing career ended, the Flint-born boxer turned her skills to MMA. The 28-year-old has a 1-1 record in her new career and will want to improve on that moving forward.
9. Craig Patrick
Craig Patrick was born in Detroit on May 20, 1946, into a hockey family. His father Lynn won the Stanley Cup in 1940 with the New York Rangers, while his grandfather Lester was a six-time champion.
Patrick played nine seasons in the NHL but never got his hands on the coveted trophy. However, he did as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping them win back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1992.
Shortly after retiring from the sport, he served as an assistant coach at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, where the USA won gold. The Soviet Union was the overwhelming favorite, but Team USA shocked them by winning 4-3 in the "Miracle On Ice."
10. Mike Modano
Mike Modano retired from the NHL 12 years ago, but he remains the league's all-time goal-scoring and points leader amongst American-born players in NHL history.
A 21-year career spanned 1,499 games for three different teams, including the Detroit Red Wings. Born in Livonia, the center was named one of the NHL's 100 greatest players in 2017.
Two years later, Modano was inducted into hockey's Hall of Fame after scoring 561 goals and 1,374 points. He was also a member of the successful U.S. team that won gold at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
