Elvis and sports went together like ham and eggs.
Elvis “, The King,” Presley, was well known for songs like Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Love Me Tender, and That’s All Right Mama. He was also known for swinging his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show, for hating the Hippie culture of the ’60s and, in the end, dying on the toilet at his Graceland home in Memphis, TN–at age 42, the victim of a prescription drug overdose.
Courtesy: PopSugar
That was a long time ago (he died in 1977), but Elvis has never left the national spotlight. And that’s where he’ll stay.
It was announced recently that yet another biopic of his life is in the making with rapper G Eazy and One Direction alum, Harry Styles, as Elvis possibilities, and with Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
What many people don’t know is that ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ was also a big sports fan. Elvis played football in high school and boxed, too. He was an avid racquetball player (he played on the day he died) and loved to watch pro wrestling.
In fact, he loved watching sports of all kinds. Back in the day when people watched one TV at a time, Elvis had three TVs at Graceland so that he could watch multiple sporting events simultaneously. Football was his favorite.
Sports figures watched Elvis, too. Upon hearing the news of his death, baseball player Tug McGraw grabbed his guitar and sang one of Elvis’ songs as his team was on a bus trip.
“Gone but not forgotten” are often uttered indiscriminately–so often so that the words can have little value. That’s not the case with Elvis Presley. Yes, Elvis is gone, but he’ll never, ever be forgotten.
Congratulations to Austin Butler for getting the Elvis role. I would’ve loved Harry Styles as Elvis, but Austin is a new talent, so I’m looking foward to it. Besides, I’ll see Harry as Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid.