Having a family with just one sporting superstar is fortunate enough but every now and again we see that apples do not fall far from the tree and children of great athletes and sports stars can also go on to find success in sport. This is a rare occurrence but one which has happened down the years.
The idea makes sense really, if a child is surrounded by the fruits of their parents labor and around sort generally then the idea that they would pick up this kind of career isn’t so strange, what is strange though is when that child goes on to emulate or outdo what their father has done. Let’s take a look at some of the most successful sporting families through the years.
The Elways
John Elway will forever be known and loved by the NFL team with whom he dedicated his entire Hall of Fame career John Elway won two Superbowl rings and is widely considered as one of the NFL’s most successful quarterbacks. Before John shot to fame, his father Jack Elway was a great ball player and an outstanding college coach, Jack inspired a generation of young athletes and even helped to boost the European league during his time in Frankfurt.
The Alis
Self-proclaimed and widely considered as the greatest of all-time, Muhammed Ali is the single most famous name in boxing, he was twice the Heavyweight World Champion, he was one of the fastest punchers and hardest hitters that boxing has ever known and nobody talked smack like he could. Having any kind of success as the offspring of such a great man was always going to be tough, such was the size of his shadow but daughter Laila had different ideas. Laila decided to head into the World of women’s boxing where she achieved a perfect record of 24 wins in 24 fights, including 21 knockouts. Ali also had a fight with the daughter of Joe Frazier in the first ever pay-per-view match in women’s boxing which she won by a judges decision.
The Mannings
Widely considered as the royal family of the NFL, no family has dominated the game like the Manning family have. Starting of with father Archie Manning during his 13 seasons for the New Orleans Saints, Manning Snr had an exciting and entertaining style which still sees him as number 16 in the list of all-time completions, then his sons came along. Peyton Manning is generally considered to be the greatest quarterback that has ever played the game and brother Eli is not too far behind, between them they have won an incredible 4 Superbowls and 6 MVPs. Eli plies his trade for the New York Giants and Peyton has retired after picking up his 4th Superbowl ring for the Broncos. No family has had the impact on the game like the Mannings have and it is unlikely that we will see this kind of success for many years to come.