Top 10 Father/Son Sports Legends

by Bodog Sportsbook | Jun 19 2009

In honor of all the great Dads out there this Father's Day, we'd like to present our list of the Top 10 Father/Son combinations in sports history. But first, there is only one Dad out there who can call himself The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, one half of the No. 1 Father/Daughter team with women's super middleweight boxing champion Laila Ali.

1. Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning: Archie never even made it to the playoffs as a member of the New Orleans Saints, but he did go to the Pro Bowl twice. Peyton and Eli have each won the Super Bowl. All three were finalists for the Heisman Trophy - Archie and Eli at Ole Miss and Peyton at Tennessee.

2. Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.: NASCAR's family lines run deep, with Lee and Richard Petty logging the most miles, but the Earnhardt legacy put its stamp on the entire sport well before No. 3's untimely crash at the 2001 Daytona 500. Junior won that race three years later.

3. Gordie, Mark and Marty Howe: It's rare enough for father and son to get to play for the same team at the same time. How about father and two sons? Gordie Howe, after a storied 25-year career with the Detroit Red Wings, came out of retirement and starred in the WHA with the Houston Aeros alongside sons Mark and Marty. At age 52, he duplicated the feat with the Hartford Whalers in 1980, following the NHL/WHA merger.

4. Bobby and Barry Bonds: The Bonds legacy may be tainted at this point, but this remains baseball's top father-son act. Bobby was a three-time All-Star in right field and a five-time member of the 30-30 club for home runs and steals. Barry was a 14-time All-Star in left and leads all MLB players in career home runs with 762.

5. Ken Norton and Ken Norton Jr.: The first two-sport duo on our list. The elder Norton was one of the leading heavyweight boxers of the 1970s and one of only two men (Joe Frazier being the other) to beat Muhammad Ali in his prime. The younger Norton was a three-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker in the NFL, twice with the Dallas Cowboys and once with the San Francisco 49ers.

6. Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr.: The two Griffeys played together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990, becoming the first father-son combo in the majors to do so. Griffey pere won a pair of World Series rings with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s; Griffey fils was the AL MVP in 1997 before being traded to Cincinnati two years later. He's back for one more tour of duty in Seattle.

7. Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve: The budding Formula 1 career of Gilles Villeneuve ended when he was killed at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, three years after finishing second overall to Ferrari teammate Jody Scheckter in the driver standings. Jacques Villeneuve took the title for Williams in 1997, two years after winning the Indianapolis 500 and the CART Championship.

8. Felipe and Moises Alou: Felipe was the first Dominican player to earn a regular job in the majors and the best of the three Alou brothers in the outfield - Matty and Jesus being no slouches themselves. Then Alou became manager of the Montreal Expos in 1992, the same year his son Moises made his MLB debut in Montreal. They would work together again in San Francisco in 2005, after Moises had earned six All-Star selections and a World Series title with the Florida Marlins in 1997.

9. Calvin and Grant Hill: The other two-sport family on our list. Calvin Hill was the running back for the Cowboys from 1969 to 1974, where he was named to the Pro Bowl four times and won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1971 campaign. Grant Hill is still playing quality basketball for the Phoenix Suns in search of that elusive NBA ring; he won two NCAA titles with Duke in 1991 and 1992.

10. Bobby and Brett Hull: Two of the very best hockey players of all-time. Bobby scored 610 goals in the NHL (plus another 303 in the WHA) and led the Chicago Blackhawks to their last Stanley Cup win in 1961. Brett scored 741 goals (third overall in NHL history) and won the Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 before adding another with Detroit in 2002.