Editing Jim Thorpe (section)

==Amateur career==
===College career===
[[File:Jim Thorpe 1912.jpg|thumb|alt=Closeup of Thorpe looking up to the sky|Thorpe in 1912]]
[[File:Glenn Warner, Jim Thorpe tackling a dummy.jpg|thumb|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe tackling a dummy that is made of weights and pulley on wire, with Coach Warner, 1912]]

Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle in 1907 when he walked past the track and, still in street clothes, beat all the school's [[high jump]]ers with an impromptu 5-ft 9-in jump that broke the school record.<ref name="bookrag">''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. [http://www.bookrags.com/Jim_Thorpe Jim Thorpe], [[Thomson-Gale]], ''Bookrags'', June 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2007.

{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Jim Thorpe |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Biography}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=On this day in history, May 28, 1888, Jim Thorpe, 'greatest athlete in the world,' is born {{!}} Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/this-day-history-may-28-1888-jim-thorpe-greatest-athlete-world-born.amp |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=www.foxnews.com}}</ref> His earliest recorded track and field results come from 1907. He also competed in football, baseball, [[field lacrosse|lacrosse]], [[tennis]], [[boxing]], [[handball]], and [[ballroom dancing]], winning the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.<ref name=museum/><ref name="SI2004">{{Cite news |date=August 8, 2004 |title=Jim Thorpe cruelly treated by authorities |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/08/bc.olympics.athletics.thorpe/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114205622/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/08/bc.olympics.athletics.thorpe/ |archive-date=November 14, 2007 |access-date=April 15, 2008 |publisher=CNN Sports Illustrated |agency=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayer |first=Daphne |date=2020-11-25 |title=The Greatest Native American Athlete: Jim Thorpe (Wa-tho-Huk) |url=https://canals.org/2020/11/25/the-greatest-native-american-athlete-jim-thorpe-wa-tho-huk/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=National Canal Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Glenn Scobey Warner|Pop Warner]] was hesitant to allow Thorpe, his best track and field athlete, to compete in such a physical game as football.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} Thorpe, however, convinced Warner to let him try some rushing plays in practice against the school team's defense; Warner assumed he would be tackled easily and give up the idea.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} Thorpe "ran around past and through them not once, but twice".{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} He walked over to Warner and said, "Nobody is going to tackle Jim", while flipping him the ball.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}}

Thorpe first gained nationwide notice in 1911 for his athletic ability.<ref name="Redskin">{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1912 |title=Indian Thorpe in Olympiad: Redskin from Carlisle Will Strive for Place on American Team |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/04/28/archives/indian-thorpe-in-olympiad-redskin-from-carlisle-will-strive-for.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=T9}}</ref> As a [[running back]], [[defensive back]], [[placekicker]] and [[punter (football position)|punter]], Thorpe scored all of his team's four field goals in an 18–15 upset of [[Harvard Crimson football|Harvard]], a top-ranked team in the early days of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association#History|National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA).{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}}<ref name="NCAAHarvard">{{Cite web |last=Richmond |first=Sam |date=November 11, 2015 |title=Jim Thorpe leads Carlisle to upset of Harvard in 1911 |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2015-11-11/jim-thorpe-leads-carlisle-upset-harvard-1911 |access-date=August 29, 2018 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association}}</ref> He also rushed for 173 yards in the game, and after this loss, Harvard didn’t lose another game until 1915.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2020-01-14 |title=The 150 greatest players in college football history: Jim Brown is No. 1 |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/cfb150players/the-150-greatest-players-college-football-150-year-history |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref> Carlisle would go on to finish the 1911 season with an 11–1 record and were retroactively named [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS#Other selectors|national collegiate champions]] in a book titled "''Champions of College Football''", written by [[Bill Libby]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Libby National Champions |url=https://www.billlibby.com/libby-national-champions |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Bill Libby |language=en}}</ref> In 1912, Thorpe led the nation with 29 [[Touchdown|touchdowns]] and 224 points scored during the season, according to the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=College Football Hall of Famers Who Are Olympic Medalist |url=https://www.cfbhall.com/news-and-happenings/blog/college-football-hall-of-famers-who-are-olympic-medalist/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.cfbhall.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Steve Boda, a researcher for the NCAA, credits Thorpe with 27 touchdowns and 224 points. Thorpe rushed 191 times for 1,869 yards, according to Boda; the figures do not include statistics from two of Carlisle's 14 games in 1912 because full records are not available.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=151}}

Carlisle's 1912 record included a 27–6 victory over the West Point [[United States Military Academy|Army team]].<ref name="NYTobit" /> In that game, Thorpe's 92-yard touchdown was nullified by a teammate's penalty, but on the next play Thorpe rushed for a 97-yard touchdown.<ref name="usoc">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=http://www.usoc.org/26_37888.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201621/http://www.usoc.org/26_37888.htm |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |website=usoc.org}}</ref> Future President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who played against him in that game, recalled of Thorpe in a 1961 speech:

{{blockquote|
Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw.<ref name="CNN">Botelho, Greg. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/09/jim.thorpe/ "Roller-coaster life of Indian icon, sports' first star"], CNN.com, July 14, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref>
}}

Thorpe was a third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] in 1908{{Sfn|Cook|2011|p=42}} and a first-team All-American in 1911 and 1912.<ref name="NYTobit" /> Football was – and remained – Thorpe's favorite sport.<ref>O'Hanlon-Lincoln. p. 144.<br />* [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=213 Jim Thorpe], profootballhalloffame.com. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref> He did not compete in track and field in 1910 or 1911,{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=113}} although this turned out to be the sport in which he gained his greatest fame.<ref name="NYTobit" />

<blockquote>In the spring of 1912, he started training for the Olympics. He had confined his efforts to jumps, hurdles and shot-puts, but now added pole vaulting, javelin, discus, hammer and 56&nbsp;lb weight. In the Olympic trials held at Celtic Park in New York, his all-round ability stood out in all these events and so he earned a place on the team that went to Sweden.<ref name="NYTobit" /></blockquote>

The poet [[Marianne Moore]], who taught Thorpe at Carlisle, recalled:<blockquote> He had a kind of ease in his gait that is hard to describe. Equilibrium with no stricture, but couched in the lineup of football he was the epitome of concentration, wary, with an effect of plenty in reserve.{{Sfn|Maraniss|2022|p=147}}</blockquote>

=== Olympic career ===
For the [[1912 Summer Olympics]] in Stockholm, Sweden, two new multi-event disciplines were included, the [[pentathlon]] and the [[decathlon]].{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=112}} A pentathlon, based on the ancient Greek event, had been introduced at the [[1906 Intercalated Games]].{{Sfn|Zarnowski|2013|p=150}} The 1912 version consisted of the [[long jump]], [[javelin throw]], 200-meter dash, [[discus throw]], and 1500-meter run.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=112}}

The decathlon was a relatively new event in modern athletics, although a similar competition known as the all-around championship had been part of American track meets since the 1880s. A [[Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's all-around|men's version]] had been featured on the program of the [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 St.&nbsp;Louis Olympics]]. The events of the new decathlon differed slightly from the American version.{{Sfn|Zarnowski|2005|pp=29–30, 240}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's All-Around Championship |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1904/ATH/mens-all-around-championship.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171728/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1904/ATH/mens-all-around-championship.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=January 25, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref>

Thorpe was so versatile that he served as Carlisle's one-man team in several track meets.<ref name="NYTobit" /> According to his obituary in ''[[The New York Times]]'', he could run the 100-yard dash in 10&nbsp;seconds flat; the 220 in 21.8&nbsp;seconds; the 440 in 51.8&nbsp;seconds; the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35; the 120-yard high hurdles in 15&nbsp;seconds; and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24&nbsp;seconds.<ref name="NYTobit">{{Cite news |date=March 29, 1953 |title=Jim Thorpe is Dead on West Coast at 64 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/03/29/archives/jim-thorpe-is-dead-on-west-coast-at-64-jim-thorpe-dead-on-the-coast.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701182600/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0528.html |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |access-date=December 7, 2020 |work=The New York Times |page=A1}}</ref> He could long jump 23&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in and high-jump 6&nbsp;ft 5&nbsp;in.<ref name="NYTobit" /> He could [[pole vault]] 11&nbsp;feet; [[shot put|put the shot]] 47&nbsp;ft 9&nbsp;in; [[javelin throw|throw the javelin]] 163&nbsp;feet; and throw the [[discus throw|discus]] 136&nbsp;feet.<ref name="NYTobit" />

Thorpe entered the U.S.&nbsp;Olympic trials for both the pentathlon and the decathlon. He easily earned a place on the pentathlon team, winning three events. The decathlon trial was subsequently cancelled, and Thorpe was chosen to represent the U.S. in the event.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=114}} The pentathlon and decathlon teams also included [[Avery Brundage]], a future [[International Olympic Committee]] president.{{Sfn|Findling|Pelle|2004|pp=473–474}}

Thorpe was extremely busy in the Olympics. Along with the decathlon and pentathlon, he competed in the long jump and high jump.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79125 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |website=Olympedia}}</ref> The first competition was the pentathlon on July 7.<ref name="sr" /> He won four of the five events and placed third in the javelin,{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=127–128}} an event he had not competed in before 1912.<ref name="recognized">{{Cite magazine |last=Jenkins |first=Sally |date=July 2012 |title=Why Are Jim Thorpe's Olympic Records Still Not Recognized? |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-are-jim-thorpes-olympic-records-still-not-recognized-130986336/?page=4&no-ist |access-date=August 15, 2016 |magazine=Smithsonian}}</ref> Although the pentathlon was primarily decided on place points, points were also earned for the marks achieved in the individual events. Thorpe won the gold medal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Pentathlon |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-pentathlon.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175029/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-pentathlon.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 30, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref> That same day, he qualified for the high jump final, in which he finished in a tie for fourth. On July 12, Thorpe placed seventh in the long jump.<ref name="sr" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's High Jump Qualifying Round |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-high-jump-qualifying-round.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417065811/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-high-jump-qualifying-round.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 30, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref>

Thorpe's final event was the decathlon, his first (and as it turned out, his only) decathlon.<ref name="sr">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175027/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=170 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122071842/https://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=170 |archive-date=January 22, 2018 |access-date=January 21, 2018 |publisher=National Track and Field Hall of Fame}}</ref> Strong competition from local favorite [[Hugo Wieslander]] was expected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hugo Wieslander |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/hugo-wieslander-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175426/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/hugo-wieslander-1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref> Thorpe, however, defeated Wieslander by 688 points.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=130}} He placed in the top four in all ten events, and his Olympic record of 8,413 points stood for nearly two decades.<ref name="bookrag" /> Even more remarkably, because someone had stolen his shoes just before he was due to compete, he found a mismatched pair of replacements, including one from a trash can, and won the gold medal wearing them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tucker |first=Neely |date=March 15, 2012 |title=Battle over athlete Jim Thorpe's burial site continues |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/battle-over-athlete-jim-thorpes-burial-site-continues/2012/02/21/gIQAn5DLES_story.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>{{Sfn|Dodge|2013|p=145}} Overall, Thorpe won eight of the 15 individual events comprising the pentathlon and decathlon.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Sally |date=August 10, 2012 |title=Greatest Olympic athlete? Jim Thorpe, not Usain Bolt |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/greatest-olympic-athlete-jim-thorpe-not-usain-bolt/2012/08/10/f9114872-e33c-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html |access-date=June 7, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

As was the custom of the day, the medals were presented to the athletes during the closing ceremonies of the games. Along with the two gold medals, Thorpe also received two challenge prizes, which had been donated by King [[Gustaf V|Gustav&nbsp;V of Sweden]] for the decathlon and Czar [[Nicholas&nbsp;II of Russia]] for the pentathlon. Several sources recount that, when awarding Thorpe his prize, King Gustav said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world", to which Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King".<ref name="Flatter">{{Cite web |last=Flatter |first=Ron |title=ESPN.com: Thorpe preceded Deion, Bo |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016499.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=www.espn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bernotas |first1=Bob |title=Jim Thorpe: Sac and Fox athlete |last2=Baird |first2=W. David |date=1992 |publisher=Chelsea House |isbn=978-0-7910-1722-7 |series=North American Indians of achievement |location=New York}}</ref> While the compliment from King Gustav is confirmed in the September 1912 publication of ''The Red Man'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Red Man (Vol. 5, No. 1) {{!}} Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center |url=https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/publications/red-man-vol-5-no-1 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=carlisleindian.dickinson.edu}}</ref> Thorpe biographer Kate Buford suggests that Thorpe's remark was embellished, as she believes that such a response "would have been out of character for a man who was highly uncomfortable in public ceremonies and hated to stand out."{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=131}} The quoted reply did not appear in newspapers until 1948–36&nbsp;years after his appearance in the Olympics–<ref>e.g.,&nbsp;"Sports in Brief", ''Amarillo (TX) Daily News'', Saturday, March 13, 1948, p. 2 (available at newspaperarchive.com).</ref>and surfaced in books by 1952.<ref>John Durant and Otto Bettmann, ''Pictorial History of American Sports, from Colonial Times to the Present'' (A. S. Barnes, 1952) p. 143.</ref>

Thorpe's successes were followed in the United States. On the Olympic team's return, Thorpe was the star attraction in a [[ticker-tape parade]] on [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]].<ref name="Flatter" /> He remembered later, "I heard people yelling my name, and I couldn't realize how one fellow could have so many friends."<ref name="Flatter" />

Apart from his track and field appearances, Thorpe also played in one of two exhibition [[Baseball at the 1912 Summer Olympics|baseball games at the 1912&nbsp;Olympics]], which featured two teams composed mostly of U.S.&nbsp;track and field athletes.{{Sfn|Cava|1992|pp=8–9}} Thorpe had previous experience in the sport, as the public soon learned.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=158–161}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Photograph of Jim Thorpe with Admirers - NARA - 595392.tif|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe shaking hands with [[Moses Friedman]] while [[Pop Warner|Glenn "Pop" Warner]] (left), [[Lewis Tewanima]] (center), and a crowd look on
File:Jim Thorpe.jpg|upright|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe in [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] uniform, c.&nbsp;1909
File:Photograph of Jim Thorpe - NARA - 595347.jpg|upright|alt=Thorpe crouching and looking to the right|Thorpe, {{circa|1910}}
File:Jim Thorpe, 1912 Summer Olympics.jpg|upright|alt=Thorpe standing, wearing a United States Olympic jersey|Thorpe at the [[1912 Summer Olympics]]
</gallery>

===All-Around champion===
After his victories at the Olympic Games in Sweden, on September 2, 1912, Thorpe returned to Celtic Park, the home of the [[Irish American Athletic Club]], in [[Queens]], New York (where he had qualified four months earlier for the Olympic Games), to compete in the [[Amateur Athletic Union]]'s All-Around Championship. Competing against [[Bruno Brodd]] of the Irish American Athletic Club and [[John L. Bredemus]] of [[Princeton University]], he won seven of the ten events contested and came in second in the remaining three. With a total point score of 7,476&nbsp;points, Thorpe broke the previous record of 7,385&nbsp;points set in 1909 (also at Celtic Park), by [[Martin Sheridan]], the champion athlete of the Irish American Athletic Club.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1912 |title=Indian Thorpe is Best Athlete&nbsp;– Olympic Champion Wins All-Around Championship and Breaks Record |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/09/03/archives/indian-thorpe-is-best-athlete-olympic-champion-wins-allaround.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 29, 1912 |title=Hopes to Set New Record |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/albert-lea-evening-tribune-aug-29-1912-p-6/ |access-date=September 14, 2018 |website=Albert Lea Evening Tribune |page=6}}</ref> Sheridan, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, was present to watch his record broken. He approached Thorpe after the event and shook his hand saying, "Jim, my boy, you're a great man. I never expect to look upon a finer athlete." He told a reporter from ''[[New York World]]'', "Thorpe is the greatest athlete that ever lived. He has me beaten fifty ways. Even when I was in my prime, I could not do what he did today."{{Sfn|Wheeler|1979|p=118}}

===Controversy===
In 1912, [[Olympic Games#Amateurism and professionalism|strict rules]] regarding [[Amateur sports|amateurism]] were in effect for athletes participating in the Olympics. Athletes who received money prizes for competitions, were sports teachers, or had competed previously against professionals, were not considered amateurs. They were barred from competition.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=121}}

In late January 1913, the ''[[Worcester Telegram]]'' reported that Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics, and other U.S.&nbsp;newspapers followed up the story.<ref name="Flatter" /><ref>""Jim" Thorpe Admits He Is Professional, and Retires from Athletics", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', January 28, 1913, p. 8. "Charges that Thorpe had played professional baseball in Winston Salem, N.C. were first published in a Worcester (Mass.) newspaper last week."</ref> Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball in the [[Eastern Carolina League]] for [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina]], in 1909 and 1910, receiving meager pay; reportedly as little as US$2 (${{Inflation|US|2|1910|r=0|fmt=c}} today) per game and as much as US$35 (${{Inflation|US|35|1910|r=0|fmt=c}} today) per week.<ref name="Anderson" /> College players, in fact, regularly spent summers playing professionally in order to earn some money, but most used aliases, unlike Thorpe.<ref name="CNN" /> Although the public did not seem to care much about Thorpe's past,{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=50}} the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] (AAU), and especially its secretary [[James Edward Sullivan]], took the case very seriously.{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=40}}

Thorpe wrote a letter to Sullivan, in which he admitted playing professional baseball:<ref name="Flatter" />

{{blockquote|I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things. In fact, I did not know that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I knew several other college men had done, except that they did not use their own names&nbsp;...}}

His letter did not help.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=161}} The AAU decided to withdraw Thorpe's amateur status retroactively.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Campagna |first=Jeff |date=May 28, 2010 |title=Wishing Jim Thorpe a Happy Birthday |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wishing-jim-thorpe-a-happy-birthday-133250524/ |access-date=May 11, 2017 |magazine=Smithsonian}}</ref> Later that year, the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) unanimously decided to [[List of stripped Olympic medals|strip]] Thorpe of his Olympic titles, medals and awards, and declare him a professional.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=167}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thomas |first=Louisa |date=July 29, 2016 |title=Doping and an Olympic Crisis of Idealism |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/doping-and-an-olympic-crisis-of-idealism |access-date=May 11, 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>{{Sfn|Quirk|2014|p=42}}

Although Thorpe had played for money, the AAU and IOC did not follow their own rules for disqualification. The rulebook for the 1912&nbsp;Olympics stated that protests had to be made "within 30&nbsp;days from the closing ceremonies of the games."<ref name="usoc" /> The first newspaper reports did not appear until January 1913, about six months after the Stockholm Games had concluded.<ref name="usoc" /> There is also some evidence that Thorpe was known to have played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics, but the AAU had ignored the issue until being confronted with it in 1913.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=162}}{{Sfn|Dyreson|1998|p=171}} The only positive aspect of this affair for Thorpe was that, as soon as the news was reported that he had been declared a professional, he received offers from professional sports clubs.{{Sfn|Rendell|2004|p=60}}