Elvis & Sports

Image via SI.com

Elvis Presley Was Obsessed w/ Football?

 Image via Elvis Austrailia.com

What many fans don't know is that 'The King of Rock and Roll' was like others,  a major sports fanatic. Elvis played football in Highschool and boxed, as well. He was an decent racquetball player too and even enjoyed watching wrestling. All in all, sources show he cherished watching sports on his spare time.But his favorite sport? Football. Elvis even had three TVs installed at his infamous Graceland mansion so he could watch different games and Football was usually his #1 choice. Clearly, Elvis Presley had a great deal of interests throughout everyday life — from filmmaking to music to performing and as mentioned playing & watching football. 

Image via Jason Aikens Twitter

His favorite team was the Cleveland Browns through the 60s and became great friends with star running back Jim Brown. In the 1970s,  Presley became a faithful devotee of the Steelers and their star quarterback, Bradshaw, who takes up the story.

Elvis Presley & Muhammad Ali Friendship

Image via ElvisPresleyBiography.com

Outside of football. Elvis loved boxing and became good friends with the great one, Muhammad Ali. Elvis and Ali initially met in February 1973 in Las Vegas and took photos with one another. Presley gave Ali a specially crafted robe while Ali gifted Elvis boxing gloves that wrote: "Elvis, You are the Greatest. From Muhammad Ali. Harmony 1973." Rumors had it that the relationship continued after as Elvis reportedly would watch Ali spar at 4am post-performances and long nights.

Elvis & Karate

Image via Kung-FuKingdom.com

The artist additionally cherished karate and was introduced to the sport in 1958 after he was drafted into the Army and positioned in Germany. His most memorable teacher was a German shotokan named Juergen Seydel. Elvis fostered an enthusiasm for Karate which went on all through his life. At the point when he got back to Memphis, Elvis procured his first-degree dark belt in 1960 under Chito-Ryu beautician Hank Slemansky. Afterward, he trained at a Memphis dojo under Master Kang Rhee, who gave to him a seventh degree dark belt in March of 1973 and his eighth in September of 1974.  Elvis would then after open his own dojo in the Tennessee Karate Institute in the Crosstown area of Memphis in 1974. All through his post Army vocation, he went through hours contemplating and fostering his karate abilities. When it came to the sport, Elvis was not "Elvis the Entertainer," he became "Elvis the Martial Artist."