New York Giants

13 great father-son combos in sports

Published Jun. 19, 2016 10:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Fathers and sons have bonded over sports for generations, but these combos took that a step further — a step onto the field of play.

Like father, like son. Here are 13 great father-son combos in sports:

"The Kid" is one of the best players in the history of the game, having hit 630 home runs, but pops wasn't bad either. The Big Red Machine outfielder was a two-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star who had 2,143 hits in his 19 year career.

The two played together for two seasons in Seattle in 1990 and 1991, where they became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs.

Much like the Griffeys, the son outdid the father, but Bobby set a high mark for Barry. Bobby was a three-time Gold Glove winner, a three-time All-Star, and hit 332 homers to go with 461 stolen bases.

Barry, of course, is arguably (it's a heated argument) the greatest player to ever live. He's the all-time home run king, with 762, and he stole 514 bases too.

We know the exploits of the Black Mamba — one the greatest players to ever step foot on the hardwood. He learned the game from his dad, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, who scored 5,252 points in an eight-year NBA career.

Ever wonder why Kobe speaks fluent Italian? It's because the Bryants moved to Italy when Kobe was 6 so Jellybean could continue his pro basketball career.

When Klay Thompson said that his Warriors are better than the 1980's "Showtime" Lakers, it was a playful, direct shot at his dad, Mychal, who was a two-time champion with those teams.

Mychal averaged 13.7 points per game in his 12-year career. Klay has become one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, having hit 276 3-pointers in the Warriors' 73-win regular season.

All three of Mychal's sons have played professional sports. Mychal Jr. has played in the D-League and overseas, and Trayce is a starting outfielder for the Dodgers.

Both sharpshooters are legally named Wardell Curry, but to the American public, they're Dell and Steph. Dell was a reliable shooter off the bench for 17 seasons, making 1,245 3-pointers and finishing with a career shooting percentage of .457, numbers that Stephen has well surpassed in seven-year career. (In the last five seasons, Steph Curry has made 1,276 3s.)

Stephen has won back-to-back MVPs, the latter of which in unanimous fashion, the first in NBA history.

Steph's younger brother, Seth, is poised to sign a new, lucrative contract as a free agent this offseason after a strong finish to the season with the Sacramento Kings.

The Mannings are the first family of football, and the patriarch, Archie Manning set a high standard as the immensely popular, swashbuckling quarterback for Ole Miss and the New Orleans Saints.

It's fair to say that his sons have surpassed that standard.

Both Peyton and Eli Manning have won two Super Bowl championships as quarterbacks. Peyton as the only player to helm two teams to Super Bowl title, and Eli won twice with the Giants.

Peyton is arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL, having set the league records for touchdowns (539) and yards (71,940.)

Like father like son — Cecil was one of the most prolific power hitters of the 1990's, hitting 319 home runs and driving in 1,008 runs in his career, which began in 1985 with the Toronto Blue Jays, saw a one-year stop in Japan, and ended in 1998 after a six-year stint with the Tigers.

His son, Prince, is just about to surpass his dad's strong career:

He's a six-time All-Star with Milwaukee, Detroit, and Texas, averaging 32 homers and 104 RBI per 162-game season.

The Fielders are the only father-son duo to both hit 50 home runs in a season.

Bobby, the Golden Jet, is one of the best players in NHL history — a revolutionary on the ice and off it. His slapshot, still considered in many circles to be the hardest in the history of hockey, made him the first player in the history of the league to score more than 50 goals in a season.

Bobby left the Chicago Blackhawks, whom he helped win the Stanley Cup in 1961, to join the WHL's Winnipeg Jets in 1972 for an absurd — at the time— $1 million signing bonus.

Brett's career wasn't as prodigious as his dad's, but he also is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, having scored 741 goals in 1269 career games, including the triple-overtime winner to clinch the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.

The Intimidator and his son, known around the sport and beyond as simply "Junior", are two of the most popular American athletes in the last half-century. Senior won 76 times in his 27-year career, which tragically came to an end with a fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Ken Norton Sr. was one of the best boxers in a golden age of the sport, best known for his three fights with Muhammad Ali, of which he won the first in 12 rounds by split decision. The WBC heavyweight champion from 1977-1978, Norton was inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

His son, Ken Norton Jr., a linebacker, was the first NFL player to win a Super Bowl in three-straight years, winning championships from 1992 to 1994, with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. He made 1,130 tackles in his 13-year career.

Grant is one of the best basketball players of the 1990s, leading Duke to national titles in 1991 and 1992, and becoming the first player in ACC history to net 1,900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked in his collegiate career. As a pro, from 1994-2013, he made seven All-Star games and won the Rookie of the Year award with Jason Kidd in 1995.

His father, Calvin, was a four-time Pro Bowl running back and two-time All-Pro selection who scored 42 touchdowns for the Cowboys, Redskins, and Browns.

Lee Petty was the first superstars in NASCAR, having won 54 races and posting 332 top-10s in his career which spanned from 1949 to 1964.

The late Gordie Howe was one of the greatest hockey players to ever lace up skates, scoring 975 professional goals over a 31-year career, the first 25 coming with the Detroit Red Wings.

His son Mark had a strong NHL career as well. He was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 after a career that saw four All-Star games, the 10th most goals in WHA history, and 28 shorthanded goals in the NHL.

At age 45, Gordie played with his sons Mark and Marty for the WHA's Houston Aero — he scored 100 points, 99 points, and 102 points in the three subsequent seasons. All three moved to the New Englan— later Hartford— Whalers, where he scored 102 points at age 47. He played until age 51.