Alabama Sports

May 2022

Alabama has played a significant role in the history of American sports, and it’s not just one sport but a multitude of sports. Many well-known athletes that have become household names, began their careers in Alabama. 

One of Alabama’s more famous athletes, who was born in Oakville, Alabama, Jesse Owens, is lauded as perhaps one of the greatest athletes in American track and field. He was the first American to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games in 1936. There is also Major League Baseball’s famous Center Fielder, Willie Mays, who played major league baseball for 22 years for the New York/San Francisco Giants before finishing his career with the New York Mets. He was born and raised in Westfield, Alabama.

Alabama's Nascar royal family is the Allisons. Bobby Allison founded the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, who won lots of short-track races with high payouts. Allison won the Daytona 500 three times over the course of his career in Nascar. His son Davey Allison, followed in his footsteps, making a name for himself in the industry until his life was cut short due to a helicopter accident in 1993. Davey’s legacy includes 86 wins in 10 years. 

Other famous Alabama sports figures include Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson, Joe Namath, Bear Bryant, Nick Saban, Tommy Tuberville, Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, Pat Sullivan and Cam Newton...