A hero who looks like me

Jim Thorpe and his fellow players in a snowstorm

Original 1919 photograph of former Carlisle football stars as they met on the gridiron for a professional game as the Canton Bulldogs were set to complete their undefeated season and the professional championship. Thorpe and Calac are wearing their Canton Jerseys while Guyon was smart and appears to be wearing some type of an insulated jersey or warm-up. CC0

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Jim Thorpe was stripped of the Olympic gold medals awarded to him in 1912, but activists finally got them back in 2022. Today, Thorpe's legacy is about more than medals or even correcting historic wrongs — young Native Americans are now looking to him for inspiration. Thorpe looms large to present-day role models like hip-hop artist Tall Paul, who puts it this way: "now I gotta be you for kids who wanna be me."