Famous Athletes and Their Top Sports Illustrated Shots

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Richard Petty, 2004

Richard Petty, nicknamed “The King,” is a former race car driver who dominated the NASCAR series from 1958 to 1992. He became the first to win the Cup Series Championship seven times and holds a record of 200 wins in his prime, including the Daytona 500.

He finished in the top 10 at the 1991 Budweiser Glen International in his final racing years and declared his retirement after the 1992 season. He did qualify for the front row but dropped out due to oppressive heat. Later in 1995, Petty became a commentator for CBS and became a spokesperson for many brands and companies. 

Rob Gronkowski, 2012

Retired NFL player Rob Gronkowski was an American football tight end for the New England Patriots putting his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an end in March 2019. The three-time Super Bowl champion played alongside his best friend and legend Tom Brady and is the record-holder for the highest number of touchdown receptions by a tight end. 

After announcing his retirement from the sport, Bronkowski teased in January 2022 that he may come back onto the field again with the Buccaneers. We reckon he wants to set more incredible records, and he holds quite a few. This 2012 portrait of Gronkowski appeared in Sports Illustrated.

Maria Sharapova, 2005

Many would recognize this Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova for her beauty, but she was also once ranked the number one best player in 2005. She won the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) five times; her profession started in 2001 before she went on to announce her retirement in February 2020. 

Her worth is estimated at $180 million, which she got from her championship wins and many endorsements, including Tag Heuer and Nike. Sharapova got engaged to English entrepreneur Alexander Gilkes in 2020, and the two holidayed in Venice in September 2021, a nice change to their usual Santa Barbara home. 

Michael Jordan, 1998

Michael Jordan is regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time since winning the NBA championship with the Bulls for the first time in 1991, then achieving his own accolades by becoming the NBA MVP six times and many more.

He has become a significant figure when it comes to endorsements, scoring brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Nike, where created the signature shoe ‘Air Jordan’ in 1984, and it is still popular to this day. Jordan has an incredible $1.6 billion wealth, as recorded by Forbes in February 2022.

Nadia Comăneci, 1976

The Romanian, Nadia Elena Comăneci is a retired gymnast known for becoming the first to achieve a perfect 10.0 score at the Olympic Games in 1974 at the age of 14. She then went on to win nine gold medals and four World Artistic Gymnastic Championships during her career. 

Comăneci married fellow Olympic gold medalist Bart Connor in 1996. The two founded ‘Bart Connor Gymnastics Company’ in Oklahoma in the same year. They both work on ‘International Gymnast’ magazine and still contribute to the sports world today as analysts and commentators.

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