Athletes You Didn't Know Were Conservative
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Voting Rules
Athletes who have shown, or mentioned in interviews, public support for Republican candidates or conservative causes.
This list of famous Republican athletes includes some of the most famous athletes in the world, many of whom you would have never imagined had conservative ideals. In general, professional athletes - including NFL, NBA, tennis, soccer, and MLB stars - are extremely disciplined and have had to work hard to achieve their dreams. These ideals readily lend themselves to conservative values and politics. Many athletes you may have assumed were Democrats, like Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Joe Montana, are actually Republicans.
Who are the most famous Republican athletes? This list includes photos and biographical information about each one of these Republican athletes. It is very interesting to see what athletes belong to the conservative Republic party. This list displays the Republican sport stars and conservative athletes who excel in sports and openly share their support for the Republican party.Ranked by
- Age: 52Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. A right-handed player with a single-handed backhand, his precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete". His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final. Sampras held the all-time record of seven Wimbledon Men's Singles titles with William Renshaw until 2017 when Roger Federer won his 8th title. Sampras also won five US Open titles, a joint Open-era record shared by Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors, and two Australian Open titles. His 14 Grand Slam titles were a record, surpassed when Federer won his 15th Grand Slam title at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and later also by Rafael Nadal at the 2017 French Open and Novak Djokovic at the 2019 Australian Open. Sampras won 64 singles titles. He first reached world No. 1 in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks (second behind Federer 310 weeks as No. 1 player), including a record six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
- Age: 86Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed The King, is a former NASCAR driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series). He was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times (Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson are the only other drivers to accomplish this feat), winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races (10 of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone. Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 Top 10 finishes in his record 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971–1989. Petty was the only driver to ever win in his 500th race start, until Matt Kenseth joined him in 2013. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. Petty remains very active, as both a NASCAR team owner (Richard Petty Motorsports) in the Cup Series and owner of Petty's Garage (car restoration and modification shop) in Level Cross, North Carolina. Petty is a second generation driver. His father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a three-time NASCAR champion. His son Kyle was also a NASCAR driver. His grandson, Adam (Kyle's son), was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on May 12, 2000, five weeks after Lee's death. Adam's brother Austin works on day-to-day operations of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a Hole in the Wall Gang Camp established by the Pettys after Adam's death. Petty married Lynda Owens in 1958. She died on March 25, 2014 at her home in Level Cross, North Carolina at age 72, after a long battle with cancer. They had four children—Kyle Petty, Sharon Petty-Farlow, Lisa Petty-Luck, and Rebecca Petty-Moffit. The family resides in Petty's home town of Level Cross, North Carolina and operates Richard Petty Motorsports. The Richard Petty Museum was formerly in nearby Randleman, North Carolina but moved back to its original location in March 2014. He has also made a appearance in Cars.
- Age: 46Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is a former American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the University of Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, and went on to become the team's starting quarterback in his second season after an injury to QB Drew Bledsoe. Due to his late selection, Brady is considered the biggest "steal" in the history of the NFL Draft. Brady has played in ten Super Bowls, winning seven of them, the most of any player in NFL history. Brady has won five Super Bowl MVP awards (Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX, LI, and LV), the most ever by a player, as well as three league MVP awards (2007, 2010, 2017); he is the oldest player to have received either award. Brady has also been selected to 14 Pro Bowls, which ties the NFL record for most selections. He is considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
- Dec. at 77 (1929-2006)Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( SHEM-bek-lər; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8. Only Nick Saban, Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne have recorded 200 victories in fewer games as a coach in major college football. In his 21 seasons as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Schembechler's teams amassed a record of 194–48–5 and won or shared 13 Big Ten Conference titles. Though his Michigan teams never won a national championship, in all but one season they finished ranked, and 16 times they placed in the final top ten of both major polls. Schembechler played college football as a tackle at Miami University, where in 1949 and 1950 he was coached by Woody Hayes, for whom he served as an assistant coach at Ohio State University in 1952 and from 1958 to 1962. In his first ten years at Michigan, Schembechler's teams squared off in a fierce rivalry against Hayes's Buckeyes squads. During that stretch in the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry, dubbed the "Ten-Year War," Hayes and Schembechler's teams won or shared the Big Ten Conference crown every season and usually each placed in the national rankings. In 1988, Schembechler assumed the role of athletic director at Michigan, succeeding Don Canham, the man who hired him as football coach in 1969. Schembechler retired as head football coach after the 1989 season. His longtime assistants, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, helmed the team for the next 18 years. Schembechler left the University of Michigan in 1990 to take a job as president of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers, which he held until 1992. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1993. During his later years, Schembechler remained in Southeast Michigan and hosted a sports radio show. He died in 2006 at the age of 77 on the eve of that year's Michigan–Ohio State football game, a historic No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown.
- Age: 82Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is a former American basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently third all-time, behind his former player and assistant coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, who are both still active. Knight is best known as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers from 1971 to 2000. He also coached at Texas Tech (2001–2008) and at Army (1965–1971).While at Indiana, Knight led his teams to three NCAA championships, one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, and 11 Big Ten Conference championships. His 1975–76 team went undefeated during the regular season and won the 1976 NCAA tournament. The 1976 Indiana squad is the last men's college basketball team to go undefeated for the entire season. Knight received National Coach of the Year honors four times and Big Ten Coach of the Year honors eight times. In 1984, he coached the USA men's Olympic team to a gold medal, becoming one of only three basketball coaches to win an NCAA title, NIT title, and an Olympic gold medal. Knight was one of college basketball's most successful and innovative coaches, having popularized the motion offense. He has also been praised for running good programs (none of his teams was ever sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations), and most of his players graduated. However, Knight has sparked controversy with his behavior. He famously threw a chair across the court during a game and was once arrested for assaulting a police officer. Knight regularly displayed a volatile nature and was prone to violent outbursts with students and during encounters with members of the press. He was also recorded on videotape grabbing one of his players by the neck. Knight remains "the object of near fanatical devotion" from many of his former players and Indiana fans. Nevertheless, Knight's combative nature and unacceptable pattern of behavior reached a saturation point, and university president Myles Brand fired him in 2000.In 2008, Knight joined ESPN as a men's college basketball studio analyst during Championship Week and for coverage of the NCAA Tournament. He continued covering college basketball for ESPN through the 2014–15 season.
- Age: 91James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician who represented Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He is the sole Major League Baseball athlete to have been elected to both the United States Senate and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bunning pitched from 1955 to 1971 for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers. When Bunning retired, he had the second-highest total career strikeouts in Major League history; he currently ranks 18th. As a member of the Phillies, Bunning pitched the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history on June 21, 1964, the first game of a Father's Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium, against the New York Mets. The perfect game was the first since 1880 in the National League. Bunning was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1996 after election by the Hall's Veterans Committee. After retiring from baseball, Bunning returned to his native northern Kentucky and was elected to the Fort Thomas city council, then the Kentucky Senate, in which he served as minority leader. In 1986, Bunning was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky's 4th congressional district, and served in the House from 1987 to 1999. He was elected to the United States Senate from Kentucky in 1998 and served two terms as the Republican junior U.S. Senator. In July 2009, he announced that he would not run for re-election in 2010. Bunning gave his farewell speech to the Senate on December 9, 2010, and was succeeded by Rand Paul on January 3, 2011.
