Making it to the top level in just one sport takes a shedload of determination, but being amongst the best in two requires a freakish hunger for success.
These athletes laugh in the face of burnout, chuckle at the idea of specialisation and flat out refuse to focus on past success. These are the multi-sport athletes and here are six of our favourites.
6. Andy Goram, Football & Cricket
As a legendary goalkeeper he played 43 times for Scotland, won the Scottish Premier League six times and lined out for a Premier League-winning Manchester United. His mild schizoprenia also inspired the famous, if somewhat cruel, football chant, “there’s only two Andy Gorams”.
The Rangers legend also represented his country four times in cricket… and no, he wasn’t the wicket keeper.
5. Katie Taylor, Boxing and Football
Our Katie isn’t half bad at the boxing. She’s already won virtually everything there is to win in the ring and it turns out she is quite good on the pitch as well.
Katie has been capped 19 times for Ireland and remains the only footballer who Duncan Ferguson is afraid of.
4. Bo Jackson, American Football and Baseball
Being remembered as the only athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American Sports is not a bad legacy to have. He is considered a legend by LA Raiders, where he lined out for four seasons before injury curtailed his NFL career.
He also played for Kansas City Royals (1986–1990), Chicago White Sox (1991, 1993) and the California Angels (1994) in the MLB. Looking at the video below, he probably could have made it in parkour too.
3. Tadhg Kennelly, Australian Rules and Gaelic Football
The late Jim Stynes is arguably the most talented Irishman to ever grace an Aussie Rules pitch. However, Stynes never won a senior All-Ireland medal.
Kerry’s Tadgh Kennelly, on the other hand, won the AFL Premiership in 2005 and then returned home to win an All-Ireland in 2009.
It’s unfortunate Kennelly’s All Ireland final contribution will mostly be remembered for a cheap-shot on Cork’s Nicholas Murphy (around the 1:00 on the video below), rather than the two fantastic points he scored.
2. Bob Hayes – Olympic Sprinter & American Football
Two gold medals at the Olympics would be enough of a career achievement for most athletes. Bob “the bullet” Hayes is not like most athletes though.
We imagine his first thought after winning golds in the 100m and 100m relay at the 1964 Olympics was ‘what’s next?’
The answer was an illustrious American football career which saw him win a Superbowl with the Dallas Cowboys and get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1. Kevin Moran, Gaelic Football & Football
Most Gaelic Footballers (outside of Kerry) would be happy to finish their career with three provincial titles, two All-Ireland medals and an All-Star. Well, Kevin Moran was too.
His GAA career that is. After winning the Championship with Dublin in 1976 and ’77 he decided to focus on his soccer career.
Few people would consider that decision a bad one: Moran won over 70 caps for Ireland and two FA Cups playing for Manchester United.
He also managed to get himself into the history books for being the first player to ever get sent off in a FA Cup Final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMjK5f59zUs
So that’s it, six athletes who probably would have succeeded no matter which sport they chose because they had the right type of hunger… not the hunger that turns you into a monster.
*Note, we’ve left out players that transferred from rugby union to rugby league or visa-versa and dual GAA players because there would have been far too many to mention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4ZVBMD8jLE
