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:
“Laid out for death, let thy last kindness be
With leaves and moss-work for to cover me:
And while the wood-nymphs my cold corpse inter,
Sing thou my dirge, sweet-warbling chorister!
For epitaph, in foliage, next write this:
Here, here the tomb of Robin Herrick is.”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
“It’s a very delicate surgical operation—to cut out the heart without killing the patient. The history of our country, however, is a very tough old patient, and we’ll do the best we can.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Sorel (Philip Merivale)