WBOB Original Reads

Fox's Top 5: Father-Son Combos in Sports

6/18/2021

Ryan L. Fox

Over the years, there have been many father-son combos in the world of sports. Some have played different sports (i.e. one plays basketball and the other football) while some have played the same sport (i.e. following in dad's footsteps/carrying the family legacy).

But out of all the father-son combos out there, there are a few that are synonymous with greatness. Just saying the family name, fans would recognize who you were talking about. So with that in mind, here are the Top 5 Father-Son Combos in sports.

Honorable Mention: Bobby Bonds & Barry Bonds

Bobby Bonds was in the major leagues from 1968 to 1981. During that time, he amassed a lifetime batting average of .268 to go with 332 career home runs, 1,024 career RBIs, 3 Gold Gloves, and 3 All-Star appearances as well as an All-Star MVP.

His son, Barry, played from 1986 to 2007 where his accolades include 7 MVPs, 14 All-Star appearances, 8 Gold Gloves, 12 Silver Sluggers, 2 Batting Titles, 3 NL Hank Aaron Awards to go along with a career batting average of .298, 762 career home runs and 1,996 career RBIs. Not to mention that Barry holds the single season record for home runs (73), walks (232), on-base percentage (.609), and slugging percentage (.863) as well as hold the career record for home runs (762), walks (2,558), and intentional walks (688).

From Left to Right: Ken Griffey Jr. & Ken Griffey Sr.

5. Father: Ken Griffey Sr.
Son: Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey was a major leaguer for 19 years (1973-1991) with 12 of those years coming with the Cincinnati Reds. During his time in the MLB, he was a 3x All-Star and helped the Reds win the 1975 and the 1976 World Series. When he hung up his cleats, he amassed 2,143 hits, 152 HRs, 859 RBIs, and had a career batting average of .296 as well as be inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. His son, Ken Griffey Jr., followed in his father’s foot steps in playing baseball as well.

Nicknamed ‘The Kid’, Ken Griffey Jr. broke into the big leagues in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners and went to go have an MLB career than spanned over 20 years (13 with the Mariners, 8.5 with the Cincinnati Reds, and 0.5 with the Chicago White Sox). During that span, The Kid made 13 All-Star appearances, won 10 Gold Gloves, 7 silver Slugger Awards, was named the 1997 AL MVP, the 2005 NL Comeback Player of the Year. He also had 2,781 hits, 630 home runs, 1,836 RBIs, a career batting average .284, was named to both the Seattle Mariners & Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, had his No. 24 jersey retired by the Mariners, was selected to the MLB All-Century Team, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 (receiving 99.32 % (437 out of 440) votes).

The father-son duo actual made MLB history back on September 14, 1990 in an away game against the California Angels. In that game, both Griffey Sr. and Griffey Jr. hit home runs off of Kirk McCaskill in the top 1st inning (Griffey Sr. on an 0-2 count and Griffey Jr. on a 3-0 count) to become the first father-son duo to hit a homerun in the same game. Although the Mariners ultimately lost the game 7-5, that feat has never been duplicated ever since.

From Left to Right: Eli Manning, Archie Manning, Peyton Manning

4. Father: Archie Manning
Son(s): Peyton Manning & Eli Manning

If there is one family that is well-known throughout football, it’s the Manning family.

Archie Manning was a 14-year veteran in the NFL (1971-1984) with most of his playing time coming with the New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately for Archie, the Saints were the dregs of the NFL as the QB from Ole Miss spent most of his time trying to not get clobbered by opposing defenders. As a starter, Archie went 35-101-3 as he threw for 23,911 yards and 125 TDs while making 2 Pro Bowls.

Archie had 3 sons, Cooper, Peyton, and Eli. While Cooper’s football career was cut short due to injury, Peyton and Eli went on to have illustrious careers.

For Peyton, he played 17 years (1998-2015) in the NFL (13 years with the Indianapolis Colts and 4 years with the Denver Broncos). During that time, he went 186-79 as a starter and threw for 71,940 yards and 539 TD passes (both were records at the time of his retirement in 2015). Peyton was named to 14 Pro Bowls, 7 All-Pro First Teams, the NFL HOF All-2000s Team, was the recipient of 5 League MVPs, 2 AP Offensive Player of the Year Awards, 3 Bert Bell Awards, the 2005 Walter Payton Man of the Year, was a 2x Super Bowl Champion, and was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

For Eli, he had a 16-year career all with the New York Giants. As a starter, Eli composed a 117-117 record while throwing for 57,023 yards and 366 TD passes. He also was named to 4 Pro Bowls, was named the 2016 Walter Payton Man of the Year, and was a 2x Super Bowl winner while being named MVP in both Super Bowls.

From Left to Right: Brett Hull and Bobby Hull

3. Father: Bobby Hull
Son: Brett Hull

Sometimes greatness just runs in the family from father to son. Such as the case with Bobby Hull and his son Brett Hull.

Bobby Hull first broke into the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1957-58 season. From there, he went on to have an illustrious 15-year career with the team (1957-1972). After a salary dispute, Bobby jumped from the NHL to play in the upstart World Hockey Association with the Winnipeg Jets in 1972. He played 7 seasons with the Jets until the WHA folded in 1979 and the team was merged into the NHL. Hull played one last season in the NHL, splitting time between the Jets and the Hartford Whalers (the latter team he was traded to during the 1979-90 NHL season).

When Bobby hung up his skates, he left a tremendous legacy.

In the NHL, he played in 1,063 games, scoring 610 career goals with the team (including having 4 seasons where he scored 50 or more goals in a single season) to go along with 560 assists for a career points total of 1,170 as well as have a plus/minus of 249. He was a 3x recipient of the Art Ross Trophy (NHL season points leader), a 2x recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy (League MVP), won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (player that showed great sportsmanship & skill) and Lester Patrick Trophy (a non-NHL award given to those who contributed to the game of hockey), was named NHL First All-Star Team 10 times and NHL Second All-Star Team 2 times, and has a Stanley Cup to his name.

With the WHA, he was named First All-Star Team 3 times and Second All-Star Team twice, won League MVP twice, and was a 3x winner of the Avco Cup (the WHA equivalent to the Stanley Cup). Bobby was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 as well as the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, the WHA Hall of Fame, and was an honored member of both the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

His son, Brett Hull, followed in his father’s footsteps and played in the NHL. But unlike his father, Brett played his entire 19-year professional hockey career solely in the NHL. Brett brook into the NHL during the 1986-87 season with the Calgary Flames. He ended up being traded from the Flames to the St. Louis Blues towards the end of the 1987-88 NHL Season. But from there, he enjoyed a 10-year span with the Blues (1988-98) that saw him become of the league’s top sharpshooters, scoring 40+ goals in 8 out of the 10 years he was with the Blues including 86 during the 1990-91 NHL season. Following his time with the Blues, Brett played 3 years with the Dallas Stars (1998-2001) and the Detroit Red Wings (2001-04) before finishing his NHL career with the Phoenix Coyotes (2005-06) and then retiring.

For his 19-year career in the NHL, Brett played in a total of 1,269 games. He scored 741 career goals (4th all-time in NHL history only behind Wayne Gretzkey 894, Gordie Howe 801, and Jaromir Jagr 766) and had 650 career assists for a career points total of 1,391 to go along with a career plus/minus of 23.

Although his accolades were as numerous as his father’s, they were nothing to sneeze at. Brett was a recipient of the Lady Byng, Hart Memorial, and Lester B. Pearson (now called the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the league’s best player voted by the NHLPA) Awards, was voted to 9 NHL All-Star Games and was named NHL First Team All-Star 3 times. But the one thing that Brett surpassed his father in was Stanley Cups as he won 2 Stanley Cups (1 with Dallas and 1 with Detroit) compared to Bobby’s 1. Brett also joined his father in the Hockey Hall of Fame when he was inducted in back in 2009.

A fun little tidbit about this father-son tandem. Bobby and Brett Hull are the only father-son tandem in NHL history to have 600+ career goals and 1,000+ career points each. Not to mention that they are the only father-son tandem to have scored 50+ goals in a single as well as have multiple seasons of scoring 50+ goals (they each have 5 seasons where they scored 50+ goals).

Lee Petty

Richard Petty

2. Father: Lee Petty
Son: Richard Petty

There are so many iconic father/son duos in the world of NASCAR. You have Dale Earnhardt Sr & Jr., Bill & Chase Elliot, and Mario & Michael Andretti just to name a few. But arguably the most famous and the most iconic father/son combo in NASCAR history is Lee Petty and his son Richard.

For starters, Lee Petty is considered by many as one of the ‘founding fathers’ of NASCAR. Lee was considered one of the sports top racers during the first few years, winning 54 career races and had 332 top 10 finishes to go 3 NASCAR championships as well as winning the first ever Daytona 500 in 1959. Lee raced for 16 years before retiring in 1964. He went on to be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.

His son, Richard Petty, on the other hand, is considered by many (if not all NASCAR fans) to be the greatest NASCAR racer in the sport’s history. Nicknamed ‘The King’, Richard won a record 200 career wins and had 712 Top 10 finishes during his 35-year career in NASCAR. He also was the first of three NASCAR driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championships 7 times (the other two drivers being Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jimmie Johnson), won the Daytona 500 a record 7 times, and holds a multitude of records such as the most consecutive NASCAR race wins in a single season (10 in 1967) and most NASCAR race wins in a single season (27 in 1967) just to name a few.

The King’s award list is also impressive.

Aside from his 7 NASCAR Cup Championship titles, Richard won the 1959 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, was named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver 8 times (including 5 consecutive years from 1974 to 1978), was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and won a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. He was also inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1989, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997, the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2011.

There's a fun little nugget of information about the two Pettys.

Back in 1959 during the Lakewood 500 stock car race down in Georgia, both Lee and Richard raced against each other with Richard seemingly winning the race. However Lee protested that Richard was actually a lap down and officials reversed the decision, awarding the race to Lee. Yup, that not even Lee's own son was spared from his competitive nature.

Luckily there were no hard feelings between the two.

In fact, Lee and Richard (along with Lee's other son Maurice Petty (Richard's younger son who would go on to have a Hall of Fame career as a NASCAR crew chief & engine builder) founded Lee Petty Engineering, their own racing team. It would go onto become Petty Enterprises and then later on become Richard Petty MotorSports (after merging with Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009) with team ownership passing from Lee to Richard. Many NASCAR drivers would drive for this team (and its incarnations) over the years like the Petty family, John Andretti, the Labonte brothers Terry & Bobby, Elliot Sadler, Aric Almirola, and Bubba Wallace just to name a few.

From Left to Right: Marty Howe, Gordie Howe, Mark Howe

1. Father: Gordie Howe
Son(s): Marty & Mark Howe

If there was a family name that was synonymous with the game of hockey, it is none other than the Howe family. Spanning from the 1940s and the 1990s, the Howe family has played in almost every single hockey league in the Americas as well as suited up for International Play as well. You had the legendary Gordie Howe, the Howe family patriarch (nicked named ‘Mr. Hockey’), his wife Colleen Howe, the Howe family matriarch (also affectionately nicknamed ‘Mrs. Hockey’), their two sons Marty and Mark Howe, and Gordie’s brother-in-law Vic Howe.

Known for his skill handling the puck as well as his physical prowess, Gordie patrolled the ice in the NHL from 1946 to 1971 with the Detroit Red Wings and then in 1979-80 with the Hartford Whalers. He played in 1,767 games while scoring 801 goals to go with 1,049 assists for a career point total of 1,850 points and had a career plus/minus of 160. Gordie also won a multitude of awards and acolades over the course of his hockey career.

He won the Art Ross Trophy (league’s top scorer) 6 times, the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) 6 times, was named Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1963, won the Lester Patrick Trophy (given to those who contributed to the game of hockey) in 1967, he hoisted Lord Stanley Cup 4 times all with the Red Wings (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955), was named to 21x NHL All-Star, was selected to NHL First All-Star Team 12 times, named NHL Second All-Star Team, and came up with the ‘Gordie Howe Hat-Trick’ (where a player would get a goal, an assist, and a fight in a single game although Gordie himself only gotten 2 because nobody wanted to fight him). He also became the first NHL players to play in 5 different decades as well as be the oldest NHL player to skate on the ice (51 during the 1979-1980 season)

When Gordie first retired from the NHL in 1971, he received the Order of Canada (the 2nd highest merit of honor in Canada) and was voted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He was also voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the following year in 1972. After he retired again in 1980, he pretty much hung up his skates

But after sitting out 2 years, Gordie came out of retirement in 1973 to play in the upstart World Hockey Association with the Houston Aeros with both his sons, Mark and Marty Howe.
Gordie played with the Aeros from 1973 to 1977 and then with the New England Whalers from 1977 to 1979 as the WHA folded and a bunch of WHA teams joined the NHL. During his 6-year career in the WHA, Gordie played in 419 games while scoring 174 goals to go with 334 assists for a total of 508 points and had a career plus/minus of 136. He also won 2 Avo Cup Trophies (the WHA Championship) in 1974 and 1975 with the Aeros as well as win the Gary L. Davidson trophy in 1974 as League MVP that year (ironically enough, the trophy was renamed the Gordie Howe Trophy the following year) and be named to 2 WHA First All-Star Teams.

The oldest son, Marty Howe, played in the WHA with his father and brother with the Houston Aeros from 1973 to 1977 and then with the New England Whalers from 1977 to 1979 when the league folded. During his time in the WHA, Marty played in 449 games while scoring 67 goals to go with 117 assists for a total of 184 points and had a career plus/minus of 135. He also won 2 Avo Cups (1974 & 1975) with the Aeros as well as be named a WHA All-Star once in 1976.

After the WHA folded in 1979, Marty ended up playing in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers from 1979 to 1982 and then again from 1983 to 1985 as well as play one season with the Boston Bruins (1982-1983). During his 6-year career in the NHL, Marty only played in 197 games while scoring 2 goals to go with 29 assists for a total of 31 points and had a career plus/minus of 7. An unfortunate drop-off from his playing days in the WHA.

Mark, Gordon’s youngest son, broke into professional hockey when he played with the Houston Aeros in the WHA from 1973 to 1977 with his father and brother. He also joined them when they went to the New England Whalers, playing with the Whalers from 1977 to 1979 until the WHA folded. During his time in the WHA, Mark played in 426 games while scoring 208 goals to go with 296 assists for a total of 504 points and had a career plus/minus of 154. He also won the Lou Kaplan Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in 1974, named First-Team All-Star in 1979 and Second-Team All-Star in 1974, and won 2 Avo Cups (1974 & 1975) with the Aeros.

He continued his hockey career with the Whalers when they joined the NHL, playing with them from 1979 to 1982. But after a suffering a gruesome injury during the 1980-81 NHL season that resulted in a downplay of his game, the Whalers ended up trading Mark to the Philadelphia Flyers for players and picks during the offseason prior to the start of the 1982-83 NHL Season. After a successful 10 seasons with the Flyers (1982-1992), Mark signed with the Detroit Red Wings (his dad’s old team) in 1992 and played 3 seasons with them (1992-1995) before retiring from hockey.

During his 16 years in the NHL, Mark played in 929 games while scoring 197 goals to go with 545 assists for a total of 742 points and had a career plus/minus of 400, the highest career plus/minus by a U.S. born defenseman in NHL history. Mark was also named to 3 NHL First All-Star Teams, was a 5x NHL All-Star, and won the NHL Plus/Minus Award during the 1986-87 season for having the highest plus/minus that year (+87).

Though some people will say that the Howe family only gets its recognition from Gordie, Marty and Mike were able to escape their father's shadow and able to carve their own respective careers.