Cover History
The following list contains the athletes with most covers.
The magazine's cover is the basis of a sports myth known as the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. To find the number of times an athlete has appeared on the cover go to:
Most covers by athlete, 1954-2011
| Athlete | Number of covers |
|---|---|
| Michael Jordan | 57 |
| Muhammad Ali | 38 |
| Tiger Woods | 24 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 22 |
| Magic Johnson | 23 |
| Tom Brady | 19 |
| Kobe Bryant | 17 |
Most covers by team, 1954-May 2008
| Team | Number of covers |
|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 71 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 67 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 48 |
| Boston Red Sox | 46 |
| Chicago Bulls | 45 |
| Boston Celtics | 44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 37 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 33 |
Most covers by sport, 1954-2009
| Sport | Number of covers |
|---|---|
| Baseball-MLB | 628 |
| Pro Football-NFL | 550 |
| Pro Basketball-NBA | 325 |
| College Football | 202 |
| College Basketball | 181 |
| Golf | 155 |
| Boxing | 134 |
| Hockey | 100 |
| Track and Field | 99 |
| Tennis | 78 |
Celebrities on the cover, 1954-2010
| Celebrity | Year | Special notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ed Sullivan | 1959 | On cover as golfer |
| Gary Cooper | 1959 | Scuba diving |
| Bob Hope | 1963 | Owner of Cleveland Indians |
| Shirley MacLaine | 1964 | Promoting the film John Goldfarb, Please Come Home |
| Steve McQueen | 1971 | Riding a motorcycle |
| Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson | 1977 | Promoting the film Semi-Tough |
| Big Bird | 1977 | On the cover with Mark Fidrych |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | 1987 | Caption on cover was Hot Stuff |
| Ice Cube | 1999 | On cover with Shaquille O'Neal |
| Chris Rock | 2000 | Wearing Los Angeles Dodgers hat |
| Stephen Colbert | 2009 | Caption: Stephen Colbert and his Nation save the Olympics |
| Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale | 2010 | Promoting the film The Fighter |
| Brad Pitt | 2011 | Promoting the film Moneyball |
Fathers and sons who have been featured on the cover
| Father | Son(s) |
|---|---|
| Archie Manning | Peyton & Eli Manning |
| Calvin Hill | Grant Hill |
| Bobby Hull | Brett Hull |
| Bill Walton | Luke Walton |
| Jack Nicklaus | Gary Nicklaus |
| Phil Simms | Chris Simms |
| Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
| Cal Ripken, Sr. | Cal Ripken, Jr. & Billy Ripken |
| Mark McGwire | his son Matt |
| Drew Brees | his son Baylen |
| Boomer Esiason | his son Gunnar |
| Chuck Liddell | his son Cade |
Presidents who have been featured on the cover
| President | SI cover date | Special notes |
|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy | December 26, 1960 | First Lady Jackie Kennedy also on cover and Kennedy was President-Elect at the time of the cover. |
| Gerald Ford | July 8, 1974 | Cover came one month before President Richard Nixon announced he would resign from the Presidency. |
| Ronald Reagan | November 26, 1984 | On cover with Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing |
| Ronald Reagan | February 16, 1987 | On cover with America's Cup champion Dennis Conner |
| Bill Clinton | March 21, 1994 | On cover about the Arkansas college basketball team |
Tribute covers (In Memoriam)
| Athlete | SI cover date | Special notes |
|---|---|---|
| Len Bias | June 30, 1986 | Died of a cocaine overdose just after being drafted by the Boston Celtics |
| Arthur Ashe | February 15, 1993 | Tennis great and former US Open champion who died from AIDS |
| Reggie Lewis | August 9, 1993 | Celtics player who died due to a heart defect |
| Mickey Mantle | August 21, 1995 | Died after years of battling alcoholism |
| Walter Payton | November 8, 1999 | Died from rare liver disorder |
| Dale Earnhardt | February 26, 2001 | Died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. |
| Brittanie Cecil | April 1, 2002 | Fan killed as the result of being struck with a puck to the head while in the crowd at a Columbus Blue Jackets game |
| Ted Williams | July 15, 2002 | Boston Red Sox who died of cardiac arrest |
| Johnny Unitas | September 23, 2002 | Baltimore Colts great who died from heart attack |
| Pat Tillman | May 3, 2004 | Arizona Cardinals player who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. |
| Ed Thomas | July 6, 2009 | Parkersburg, Iowa high school football coach that was gunned down by one of his former players on the morning of June 24, 2009. |
| John Wooden | June 14, 2010 | UCLA Basketball coaching legend who died of natural causes at 99 years of age. |
| Junior Seau | May 2, 2012 | NFL Football one of the greatest linebackers, suicide at 43 years of age |
Read more about this topic: Sports Illustrated
Famous quotes containing the words cover and/or history:
“If I use the media, even with tricks, to publicise a black youth being shot in the back in Teaneck, New Jersey ... then I should be praised for it, and it’s more of a comment on them than me that it would take tricks to make them cover the loss of life.”
—Al, Rev. Sharpton (b. 1954)
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)