By Lance Tominaga, ESPN Honolulu Web Editor.
Ready for a friendly Saturday Pop Quiz? Today, we look at some famous “firsts” in the sports universe. For example, Roger Bannister will forever be known as the first person to run a sub-four minute mile (he ran a 3:59.4 in 1954). So get ready to dive into the history books and learn about some more “famous firsts” in sports:
- Which NFL team lost the first Super Bowl?
- In 1990, this man became the first African-American NFL head coach in the modern era.
- Sonny Banks was a heavyweight fighter in the early 1960s. What “famous first” is he best known for?
- Who was the first-ever No. 1 draft pick in the NBA’s Draft Lottery era?
- What was the main event of the very first WrestleMania?
- Who was the first freshman to win college football’s coveted Heisman Trophy?
- Earlier this year, she became the first freshman to win a major college basketball “Player of the Year” award.
- Who was the first player to be unanimously voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
- Who became the first golfer to win four consecutive PGA Tour Grand Slam events?
- Who was the first guard to be drafted by an NBA team directly out of high school?
ANSWERS:
- The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Green Bay Packers, 35-10, in 1967.
- Art Shell was hired as the Los Angeles Raiders’ head coach in 1990.
- In 1962, Banks became the first boxer to knock down Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) in a professional fight.
- Patrick Ewing (1985, New York Knick’s)
- Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
- Johnny Manziel won it in 2012.
- Paige Bueckers of UConn actually won all four “Player of the Year” awards she was eligible for.
- Famed New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera was a unanimous inductee for the 2019 class.
- Tiger Woods achieved this feat over the 2000 and 2001 calendar years, winning the U.S. Open, The Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and the The Masters in 2001.
- Kobe Bryant. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 draft.