Jim Thorpe - Lit By Lightning

[Kwyn]

I’ve always been fascinated by Jim Thorpe. He was the subject of my first research paper back in elementary school and his story and achievements have inspired me ever since.

Been looking forward to this for some time!

The documentary traces Thorpe’s incredible journey from the Sac and Fox reservation to achieving Olympic gold, playing in Major League Baseball and the NFL, and serving as the first president of the APFA (which later became the NFL).

It is a fast-paced look at his superhuman achievements and the racial prejudices he faced during an era when Native Americans were not even recognized as U.S. citizens


https://www.netflix.com/us/title/82765260?s=i&trkid=13747225&shareType=Title&shareUuid=60041DBA-E3AF-4F6E-AE29-63ECF28F647C&trg=cp&unifiedEntityIdEncoded=Video:82765260&vlang=en

 

[Kwyn]

Background on Pop Warner being such a big part of this was pretty cool.

Funny story from the show: Pop created a gimmick uniform that had a pocket sewed into the uniform and the player would stuff the ball in it so defenders didn’t know who had the ball.

 

[LouBrown]

I’ve always been fascinated by Jim Thorpe. He was the subject of my first research paper back in elementary school and his story and achievements have inspired me ever since.

Been looking forward to this for some time!

The documentary traces Thorpe’s incredible journey from the Sac and Fox reservation to achieving Olympic gold, playing in Major League Baseball and the NFL, and serving as the first president of the APFA (which later became the NFL).

It is a fast-paced look at his superhuman achievements and the racial prejudices he faced during an era when Native Americans were not even recognized as U.S. citizens


https://www.netflix.com/us/title/82765260?s=i&trkid=13747225&shareType=Title&shareUuid=60041DBA-E3AF-4F6E-AE29-63ECF28F647C&trg=cp&unifiedEntityIdEncoded=Video:82765260&vlang=en

Added to queue - I'm surprised I haven't seen this before. THanks for sharing.

 

[Kwyn]

Background on Pop Warner being such a big part of this was pretty cool.

Funny story from the show: Pop created a gimmick uniform that had a pocket sewed into the uniform and the player would stuff the ball in it so defenders didn’t know who had the ball.

“Pretty cool” was a bad way for me to phrase that.

Pop betrayed Thorpe to preserve his own name. He knew Thorpe had played summer league ball. Lots of his athletes did.

He actually wrote the letter that Thorpe submitted, admitting he had been paid for baseball.

Warner denied he wrote it but the truth did come out and he was exposed.

He was subsequenly stripped of his achievements and it took a hundred years for him to get them back.

 

[Kwyn]

Added to queue - I'm surprised I haven't seen this before. THanks for sharing.

It jsut came out today!

 

[LouBrown]

It jsut came out today!

Lol that would explain it.

I think that link says 2025 but maybe it just came to Netflix

 

[stag hunter]

I’ve always been fascinated by Jim Thorpe. He was the subject of my first research paper back in elementary school and his story and achievements have inspired me ever since.

Been looking forward to this for some time!

The documentary traces Thorpe’s incredible journey from the Sac and Fox reservation to achieving Olympic gold, playing in Major League Baseball and the NFL, and serving as the first president of the APFA (which later became the NFL).

It is a fast-paced look at his superhuman achievements and the racial prejudices he faced during an era when Native Americans were not even recognized as U.S. citizens


https://www.netflix.com/us/title/82765260?s=i&trkid=13747225&shareType=Title&shareUuid=60041DBA-E3AF-4F6E-AE29-63ECF28F647C&trg=cp&unifiedEntityIdEncoded=Video:82765260&vlang=en

Thx for posting, have the book but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

As an aside, I was doing some research about my Grandma’s uncle, who was one of the first African-Americans to play Ivy League football.

It was a huge thrill for me to find out that in his freshman year he earned a start against a Jim Thorpe-led Carlisle team… and actually lined up against him on both sides of the ball at end. Someday I’d like to visit the school’s archives and see if I can unearth any action shots from the game.

Btw I’d recommend anyone who’s interested in the history of the game to check out the PFRA and their forum.

 

[Kwyn]

Thx for posting, have the book but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

As an aside, I was doing some research about my Grandma’s uncle, who was one of the first African-Americans to play Ivy League football.

It was a huge thrill for me to find out that in his freshman year he earned a start against a Jim Thorpe-led Carlisle team… and actually lined up against him on both sides of the ball at end. Someday I’d like to visit the school’s archives and see if I can unearth any action shots from the game.

Btw I’d recommend anyone who’s interested in the history of the game to check out the PFRA and their forum.

Great story. Thanks