The history of sports in Northern Kentucky goes back a long way. A very long way. Decades. Centuries.
We know you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a different and unique way of presenting our “50 sports icons in Northern Kentucky” as we’ll provide you one per day over the next 50 days.
Hall of Fames are everywhere in NKY, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, Thomas More and local high schools all have something to recognize their past.
We’ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn’t be in the top 50 and that’s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one’s who stuck out to us.
A weekly roundup of NKY sports headlines right to you every Monday at noon.
Sports Editor Evan Dennison spoke and conferred with several local NKY sports history buffs to get their opinions and lists of their own and who should be “locks” for the 50 sports icons. We compiled each list and came up with the 50 of our own (maybe cheated a little by putting families in as one) to present over the next 50 days.
Hope you enjoy as summer time rolls on!
The 39th of the 50 sports icons is Frank Jacobs. The Newport Central Catholic football standout that won Kentucky’s first-ever Mr. Football.
FRANK JACOBS
Jacobs was Kentucky’s first to receive Mr. Football honors back in 1986. Playing for Newport Central Catholic, Jacobs was a star on the football and baseball fields for the Thoroughbreds and received All-American honors during his career. He had all the big dog college football programs vetting him, Alabama, Auburn, UCLA, Oklahoma, LSU, Florida and USC before he ultimately chose to play for Lou Holtz and Notre Dame.
He was a part of the 1988 Notre Dame National Championship team, catching a touchdown pass in the game.
In high school, he was one of the centerpieces of NewCath’s fierce defense that allowed just a shade over six points per game in 1984. Jacobs played nose guard and tight end for the Thoroughbreds. At 6-foot-6, he was hard to stop when getting the ball thrown his way. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year for football in 1986.
After making the All-Freshman team for the Irish and then winning a national title his sophomore year, his football career hit a roadblock when he broke his ankle during his junior year. That’s when baseball came to the forefront. Being a standout baseball player, he hit 20 home runs in a season with Notre Dame and was the most valuable player on the team in 1991, voted on by his teammates. He was later drafted by the New York Mets in 1991.
Jacobs played five seasons in the minor leagues, hitting 57 home runs and driving in 288 runs. He reached the AAA level in the minors before giving up baseball. He also stood out in the classroom, making the Dean’s list at Notre Dame.
See the 50 sports icons on a day-to-day basis over the next 50 days
— Day 1:
Dave Cowens
— Day 2:
Shaun Alexander
— Day 3:
Homer Rice
— Day 4:
Dicky Beal
— Day 5:
Jared Lorenzen
— Day 6:
Jim Bunning
— Day 7:
Tom Ellis
— Day 8:
Nate Dusing
— Day 9:
Jim Connor
— Day 10:
Steve Cauthen
— Day 11:
Irv Goode
— Day 12:
Stan Steidel
— Day 13:
Kenney Shields
— Day 14:
David Justice
— Day 15:
Morgan Hentz
— Day 16:
Eddie Arcaro
— Day 17:
Nancy Winstel
— Day 18:
Steve Flesch
— Day 19:
Donna Murphy
— Day 20:
Randy Marsh
— Day 21:
Mike Yeagle
— Day 22:
Derrick Barnes
— Day 23:
Dale Mueller
— Day 24:
Dave Faust
— Day 25:
Kirsten Allen
— Day 26:
The Oldendick family
— Day 27:
Martin “Mote” Hils
— Day 28:
Nell Fookes
— Day 29:
Owen Hauck
— Day 30:
Becky Ruehl
— Day 31:
Tom Thacker
— Day 32:
Sydney Moss
— Day 33:
Bob Schneider
— Day 34:
The Walz family
— Day 35:
John Toebben
— Day 36:
Pat Scott
— Day 37:
Bob Arnzen
— Day 38:
Joan Mazzaro
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