You Shot Me

Now, Jim Thorpe of course
He was a good athlete, all
Around athlete, everything
But you take the Olympic
Fellows of today, you know
That they practice Olympics
Years around for several years
But Jim Thorpe was out there
Playing baseball. He didn't
Try at all for the Olympics
But Pop Warner got him up
There and thought he should
Make the Olympics. So he
Gave him a trial in all those
Events up there and he just
Picked it up. Thorpe was his
Own track coach. But then
Anyway, he picked it up and
Without any previous training
See, stepping in and doing that
He went over there and
Set the world on fire. You
Know, as an Olympic man
The King of Sweden went
Out there and greeted him
He said, 'You're the greatest
Athlete in the world.' Thorpe
Said, thank you, King
Pop Warner would later say
Jim's performance at practice that day
Was the greatest display of athletics he'd seen and
He'd never see the same from another athlete
From nineteen-o-seven to nineteen-o-eight
The world of college football would feel Jim's weight
He debuted in Philly versus undefeated Penn
They blew 'em out twenty-six, six, that's fin
They hadn't beat Harvard in the past ten games
But they seen 'em this time and they ashed them flames
No player went harder than the Thorpe last name
At the drop of a dime changed a boring ass game
Before the Indians it was all on the ground
A game of brute force with no flare to be found
They innovated put it in the air like Cheech
Wouldn't be what it is without a cold ass neech
The biggest box office team in the whole nation
Forty five stacks now consider inflation
Amateur so the coach ain't pay them
Imagine that the main attract get Nathan
Ten, two and one record in his second season
Ran away from boarding school in the summer season
Minor league baseball for some meager checks
A common practice so athletes could cover debts
But they used fakes names to get by the rules
Can't be an amateur if your money's in the books
A shady game that Jim Thorpe played with wolves
He didn't know so when it mattered they would paint him crook
He used his real name he didn't have a need to lie
He never planned on going back to school to play for guy
Homeward bound to Oklahoma to be with his fam
A couple years and Warner had him come do it again
Without him on the team the team was average
Hyped his return as the return of a savage
Ticket sales so the coach lived lavish
Coat tail riding the goat's attraction
Didn't miss a beat played through injury
To once again beat another undefeated Harvard team
Kicked the game winning field goal on a bad leg
Even ran opponents over on a bad day
Known to chuckle before a scuffle and punch
Bar brawling with bullies eating their lunch
Not only brute he was fast if you wanna run
His co-star in track Lewis Tewanima
Boarding school Natives made it to the Olympics
Writers said he was lazy about his fitness
He was on the ship running laps around the deck
They were talking shit cause he was a Native threat
Minutes before competition his shoes went missing
So he had to wear a misfit pair for distance
Still he won the gold in more than half of missions
Critics doubted him and yet Jim had the vision
Won the pentathlon and the decathlon
The first Olympian ever to do it, little did he know he
Had started a movement, four Olympics later
Finally seen some improvement
His world records stood for sixteen years
Couldn't train year round like his modern day peers
The King of Sweden gave him gold that he earned
And said sir you're the greatest athlete in the world
Upon his return stateside, the knickerbocker state
Gave Jim a ticker tape parade ride
Sports offers poured in by the dozen
Plenty bread in the oven but he left it by the wayside
Competitive to a fault
Had unfinished business with squads he still wanted to halt
Loyal to a fault
Played ball for Pop when he could've put stacks in a vault
Warner knew what it was
He didn't want Jim to leave cause he would lose on them bucks
He was a selfish old mug
And when it came time to show love he just pulled out the rug
Little did Jim know he was no real big bro
The deal wasn't quid pro still ran like a big bull
Skilled he killed West Point and took home the victory
Natives beat Army it went down in history
All American collegiate Champion
The first to rush for three-thousand yards in it
The news knew he played baseball for change
And they hated a Native so they sure reported it
Pop Warner let Jim take the fall
Threw him under the bus even though he too knew
Olympics committee was quick to strip Jim
Of his medals and records they broke their own rules