Athletes

Mary Lou Retton

Bill Thompson

Did you know that December 21st is National Short Girl Appreciation Day? Ever since 1984, one of America’s favorite short girls has been Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton.

At the age of just 16, Retton became the first Anerucab woman to ever win the gold medal in all-around gymnastics competition at the Olympics. She also won two silver medals, and two bronze medals.

Her boundless energy and infectious smile made her one of America’s most famous, and most beloved, athletes.

I met her in the spring of 2000, when she wrote a motivational book on how to achieve happiness in life.

So here now, from 2000, Mary Lou Retton.

Mary Lout Retton will be 53 in January. She lives in Texas.

Joe Theismann

Bill Thompson

Very few professional athletes are best remembered for the game, or the play, that ended their career. But Joe Theismann maybe one of them.

It was on this date, November 18th, 1985 — 35 years ago — that Joe Theismann sustained a gruesome, career-ending injury before a national TV audience.

It was the second quarter of the Monday night game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants, at Washington’s RFK Stadium. Theismann, the Redskin quarterback, called a a “flea flicker” play, and seconds later was tackled by Lawrence Taylor of the Giants.

The impact snapped Theismann’s lower right leg in half.

He never played football again.I met him two years later, after he had written a book about his football career an d the play that ended it..

So here now, from 1987, Joe Theismann:

Joe Theismann is 71 now. You can still see him as an analyst on the NFL Network, and he’s a popular motivational speaker.

Cal Ripken

Bill Thompson

In 21 seasons with his hometown Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken racked up some very enivable numbers:

3,184 hits. 431 home runs. 1,695 runs batted in. A 19-time All-Star, and two-time American League Most Valuable Plater.

But perhaps his greatest number was 2,632. That’s how many consecutive games Ripken played in,shattering the Lou Gehrig record of 2,130, 25 years ago this weekend.

I met him 11 years after he broke the record. He had just written a book called “Parenting Youth Athletes the Ripken Way.”

So here now, from 2006, Cal Ripken:

Cal Ripken retired from baseball in 2001. A year after our interview, he was electyed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s 60 now and still lives in Maryland.

Denny McLain

Bill Thompson

In all of major league baseball history, going back well over a hundred years, there has been only a handful of pitchers who have won 30 or more games in a single season.

That very short list includes names like Cy Young, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Dizzy Dean.

And .. the last to do it — righthander Denny McLain.

It was on September 14th, 1968 that McLain, pitching for the Detroit Tigers, struck out ten to notch his 30th win of the season.

Fast forward 20 years, almost to the day — that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1988, Denny McLain.

Denny McLain swept the 1968 American League MVP and Cy Young awards and won the Cy Young winner in 1969 as well, before his career imploded after rotator cuff issues.

But Denny McLain, who is 76 now, baseball’s last 30-game winner, never did make it to the Hall of Fame.

Sam Huff

Bill Thompson

Sam Huff was such a force in the National Football League in the 1950s and ’60s that CBS television produced a special called “The Violent World of Sam Huff.”

One of the first middle linebackers in the NFL, Huff was one of the game’s toughest competitors, first for the New York Giants, later for the Washington Redskins.

Huff played in six NFL Championship Games and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

And for more than 20 years Sam Huff was a color commentator on Redskins radio broadcasts.
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I met him in 2011, when he wrote a very frank memoir.

So here now, from 2011, Sam Huff.

Sam Huff is 85 now,

Andrea Jaeger

Bill Thompson
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In 1981, at the age of 16, Andrea Jaeger was ranked number two in the world among professional women tennis players.

But at age 19, a shoulder injury ended her five-year pro career.

Within two years, however, Jaeger launched her second career as an advocate for children with life-threatening illnesses.

I met her almost 20 years later, when she wrote a book called “First Service,” the story of how faith in God inspired her, and changed her life.

So here now, from 2004, Andrea Jaeger:

Andrea Jaeger is 55 now,

Two years after our interview, Amdrea Jaeger became “Sister Andrea” — she’s a member of the Episcopal Church’s Anglican Order of Preachers.