Athletes Are People, Too: The 53 Covers Of People Magazine That Featured Sportsfolk

Because Sports Illustrated and our Time Inc. sister publication People are old as hell, we've both have had heaps of notable persons on the covers of our magazines. (This was a very big deal back when people consumed media in physical formats.) The list of players with enough sports-cultural cache to appear frequently on SI won't surprise you: Michael Jordan led the charge (as he was wont to do) with 50 covers, followed by Muhammad Ali (38) and Tiger Woods (24). But you have to be a truly special athlete, one with genuine crossover appeal and perhaps larger societal significance, to appear on People. (Or you have to be an actor playing an athlete, or Richard Simmons.) Whatever the case, it's only happened these 53 times.

Athletes Are People, Too: The 53 Covers Of People Magazine That Featured Sportsfolk

Gabby Douglas (Aug. 20, 2012): The first woman of color to become the Olympic individual all-around champion became a crossover star after last year’s London Games.

Mickey Mantle (Aug. 28, 1995): A classic photo of the Mick graced the cover shortly after his 1995 death.

Greg Louganis (Mar. 6, 1995): The four-time Olympic gold medalist opened up about his experience with AIDS.

O.J. Simpson (Sept. 26, 1994): Simpson's trial remained a topic of intense public interest throughout the next two years.

O.J. Simpson (July 4, 1994): ... as America struggled to put together the pieces of what happened that night in L.A.

O.J. Simpson (June 27, 1994): The accused football star appeared on People for two straight weeks around the time of his arrest ...

Princess Diana (June 13, 1994): Hey, she wasn’t an athlete, but who can argue with her impeccable sense of style?

Jennifer Capriati (May 30, 1994): Nothing makes for a more salacious headline than a fallen hero.

Tonya Harding (Feb. 14, 1994): … and then Harding ahead of the Lillehammer Olympics.

Nancy Kerrigan (Jan. 24, 1994): One of the more bizarre Olympics stories of all time landed cover appearances for Kerrigan …

Arthur Ashe (Feb. 22, 1993): The tennis great and advocate for HIV and AIDS awareness appeared on the cover posthumously.

John McEnroe (Dec. 14, 1992): The tennis champ's highly public split with Tatum O'Neal made the cover in the early '90s.

Ekaterina Gordeeva (Mar. 25, 1996): The Olympic pairs figure skater continued with a singles career after the untimely death of her husband and partner.

Kerri Strug (Aug. 19, 1996): The pint-sized Olympic gymnast headlined a cover feting America’s Olympic heroes.

Tiger Woods (Dec. 14, 2009): Tiger’s Thanksgivingus mirabilis was a no-brainer for the cover.

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf (Nov. 9, 2009): Agassi first revealed details of his magnificent autobiography in a People cover story.

Dale Earnhardt (Feb. 10, 2003): … then again two years later.

Dale Earnhardt (Mar. 5, 2001): The racing legend appeared on the cover after his untimely passing in a Daytona 500 crash …

U.S. women’s soccer team (July 26, 1999): The team’s dramatic win in the Women’s World Cup also earned them Sportswomen of the Year honors.

Andre Agassi (Apr. 26, 1999): The tennis star’s personal life appeared on the cover weeks before he locked down a career Grand Slam in Paris.

U.S. figure skaters (Feb. 23, 1998): Michelle Kwan, Nicole Bobek and Tara Lipinski (who eventually won gold) landed the cover during the Nagano Olympics.

Scott Hamilton (Sept. 8, 1997): The Olympic gold medalist had a much-publicized battle with testicular cancer.

Tiger Woods (June 16, 1997): The subhed may evoke snickers in retrospect, but Tiger was a bona fide global superstar after becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Masters.

Andre Agassi (May 5, 1997): Agassi's wedding to Brooke Shields landed the front -- but it wouldn't be their only cover together.

Olympic skaters (Dec. 16, 1996): The drama with Olympic athletes is often just as juicy off the ice.

Magic Johnson (Oct. 19, 1992): The former NBA star spoke out about his wild past and experience with AIDS.

Mike Tyson (Feb. 24, 1992): The former heavyweight champ’s final People cover appearance came just after his rape conviction.

Chris Evert (Nov. 25, 1991): The tennis legend remains the only athlete to land a People cover in three different decades.

O.J. Simpson (Oct. 17, 1977): Near the end of his career (and shortly before an appearance on Saturday Night Live), the multi-talented running back landed the cover.

Tom Seaver (July 25, 1977): The pitcher and his wife landed the cover of People (and Sports Illustrated) shortly after his trade to the Reds.

Bruce Jenner (Apr. 11, 1977): Long before he became a Kardashian patriarch, Jenner was best known as an Olympic hero for winning the decathlon in Montreal.

Björn Borg (Mar. 3, 1977): The stylish Swede had just turned 21 when People took notice.

Chris Evert (Feb. 16, 1976): Later that year, Evert would become the second woman to be named Sportsman of the Year.

Howard Cosell (Sept. 29, 1975): The Monday Night Football broadcaster was branching out into variety fare.

Muhammad Ali (July 7, 1975): The 33-year-old heavyweight champ appeared on the cover ahead of his rubber match with Joe Frazier.

Jimmy Connors (May 5, 1975): The tennis champ was 22 when his image makeover got the cover treatment.

Chris Evert and Billie Jean King (Feb. 3, 1975): Fresh off Evert’s breakthrough 1974 season, the torch was passed in women’s tennis.

Joe Namath (Sept. 16, 1974): The first of Broadway Joe’s two People cover appearances.

Larry Csonka (July 22, 1974): The fullback’s fame was at an all-time high with the Dolphins coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins.

Joe Namath (Sept. 25, 1978): Namath managed the cover of a sports-heavy issue (note the article on Pam Shriver) despite the death of Who drummer Keith Moon.

Paul Newman (June 25, 1979): The actor’s racing career culminated in 1979 when his team won a Can-Am Team Championship.

Tai Babilonia (Apr. 17, 1989): The five-time U.S. national champion pairs skater told all for a cover story nearly a decade after her last Olympics. (And, hey, Fred Savage!)

Mike Tyson (Sept. 26, 1988): The Tyson-Givens drama commanded public attention throughout 1988.

Mike Tyson (June 27, 1988): The date of this issue — June 27, 1988 — is widely acknowledged as the stratospheric peak of Tyson’s career: when he obliterated Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds.

Robert Redford (May 28, 1984): The movie star appeared as Roy Hobbs near the release of The Natural.

Mr. T (May 30, 1983): Clubber Lang and kittens, natch.

Sylvester Stallone (June 21, 1982): George Plimpton penned the cover story on Stallone pegged to the release of Rocky III.

Richard Simmons (Nov. 2, 1981): The fitness guru got limber on a 1981 cover.

Billie Jean King (May 25, 1981): The tennis star and her then-husband spoke out in a cover story.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Sept. 8, 1980): "Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"

Chris Evert (Feb. 4, 1980): The retirement turned out to be a false start — but it was certainly cover-worthy at the time.

Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire (July 23, 1979): Rocky II, one of the three highest-crossing flicks of 1979, landed Rocky and Adrian on the front.

Mark Spitz (July 8, 1974): The nine-time Olympic gold medalist also joined his wife on the cover of Sports Illustrated.