Ever since we’ve been on this earth, sports have always been a family tradition. We watch live games surrounded by family saying, “that’s what i want to do when i grow up,” and most of the time it never comes to fruition. Becoming a professional athlete is one of the biggest feats in human history, but having multiple family members make it in the pros has to be positively one of the most fascinating things you can ever see in sports. Whether it is brothers competing, or different generations of a family being represented. With that said, it would only be right to recognize these families first as honorable mentions that didn’t quite make this list…
Honorable Mentions
- The Williams Sisters
- The Hulls (Bobby, Dennis, Brett)
- The Mayweathers (Sr. Roger Jeff & Jr)
- The Andrettis (Mario, Michael, Jeff, John, Marco)
…And without further ado, here are the best Sports Family’s of All-Time
6. The Curry Family
The Curry’s have produced three of the best 3PT shooters in the history of the NBA. All three, including Dell (40.2%), Steph (43.5%) and Seth (44.3%) have shot over 40% from beyond the arc in their careers. Seth is #2, Steph is #6 and Dell is #39 All-Time from deep.
Dell Curry has scored 12,670 points in his career and is the Charlotte Hornets’ All-time leader in points (9,839) and 3pt field goals made (929). He was also the NBA Sixth Man of The Year (1994).
His son’s Steph and Seth have also followed his path to greatness in the NBA. Steph Curry has had the most success out of his dad and younger brother. Steph has accumulated 3x NBA champion, 2x MVP, 6x All-Star, 6x All-NBA, NBA scoring champion (2016), 50–40–90 club (2016), NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2015), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2010), AP Athlete of the Year (2015). He also led the 15-16 Warriors to 73 wins breaking the all mighty 95-96 Bulls record of 72 wins in a season.
His brother Seth has had a much harder path to the NBA. Undrafted out of Duke in 13’, Seth was a 2x D-League All-Star, 2x All-Nba D-League, NBA D-League All-Rookie First Team (2014) before getting his shot in the NBA and finally sticking around. He now plays for the Dallas Mavericks after signing a 4 Year $32M contract in 2019.
5. The Jones Family
The Jones family is one of the most under-rated families in sports, but they are definitely one of the top athletic families we have in sports today. Arthur, Chandler and Jon all have excelled in their sport. Growing up in Endicott NY, all were stand out stars in HS. Arthur and Chandler in football and Jon in wrestling, respectively.
Arthur and Chandler both were Top 20 recruits out of HS in Football and went on to play at nearby Syracuse University. Both brothers were drafted, Arthur in the 5th round to the Ravens, and Chandler 21st overall to the Patriots. Arthur never became a full time starter, but was a major role player in his career, winning a Super Bowl (XLVII) with the Ravens in the process. He put up 173 tackles and 10 sacks in his career with three teams.
Chandler, on the other hand has gone on to have an incredibly successful career. Chandler has also won Super Bowl (XLIX), he’s also a 3x Pro Bowler, 2x First-team All-Pro, NFL 10s All-Decade Team, PFWA All-Rookie Team (2012), and the NFL sacks leader in 2017.
The crown jewel of this family is Jon Jones, current UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Jones was a stand-out high school wrestler and state champion at Union-Endicott High School in upstate New York. He also won a national Junior College (JUCO) National Championship at Iowa Central Community College. Jon would go on to fight MMA and eventually get the the UFC after going 6-0 and he hasn’t looked back since. Jones is 26-1 in his career and was the youngest ever to win a UFC title at 23 Years and 242 Days. Most title fight wins (14), Longest unbeaten streak in UFC history (18) and his only loss is from a DQ. Jon Jones is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time and his legacy is still in progress.
4. The Sutter Family
The Sutter family, originally from Viking, Alberta is one of the most famous families in the National Hockey League. They just beat out the Hull and Staal families to get on this list, which is saying something… These six brothers have represented the first generation of Sutters in the NHL; Brent, Brian, Darryl, Duane, Rich, and Ron, as they all reached the NHL in the 1970s and 80s. And even after their careers Brian, Duane, Darryl, and Brent have gone on to become coaches and general managers as well. Collectively, the six Sutter brothers played over 5000 games, scored 1320 goals, racked up 1614 assists for a total of 2934 points all together. Playing in the prime era of fighting, the Sutter brothers also picked up a massive 7224 penalty minutes, as these guys loved to throw the hands. They also were winners, capturing 8 Stanley Cups (Duane 4, Brent 2 & Darryl 2) during and after their playing careers. In the second generation of the Sutters’, they have produced six sons with three of them playing in the NHL. Brandon Sutter the most successful of the second generation, has put up 727 games and 277 points in the NHL.
3. The Griffey Family
The Griffey’s are royalty in baseball history, They became one of the first father-and-son tandem to play on the same Major League Baseball team. With the 1990-91 Mariners, they famously smacked back-to-back home runs against the Angels on Sept. 14, 1990. Ken Griffey Sr. played 18 years in the league racking up a near .300 average, 2141 hits, 152 HRs and 859 RBI. Playing most of his career in Cincinnati for the Reds, Sr. also won two World Series and made the All-Star game 3x.
Then came his son, Ken Griffey Jr. who made an even bigger impact when he came to the league in 89’. He was the 1st pick in 87’ for the Mariners and his career kept going up from there with 13x All Star, 10x Gold Glove, 7x Silver Slugger and the 97’ AL MVP. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 16’ getting 99.32% of the votes. He finished his career with .284 average, 2781 hits, 631 HR, and 1836 RBI. Griffey became the first member of the Hall of Fame to record seasons with at least 40 home runs for a team in both the minor and major leagues. The only thing that eluded Jr in his career was that ever-coveted World Series ring.
2. The Matthew’s Family
The Matthews family is one of the most prominent within NFL history. They often called the “NFL’s First Family” as seven members of the family have played in the NFL and have combined for 25 Pro Bowl invitations, 11 first-team All-Pro selections, and 3x Super Bowl appearances.
Clay Matthews Sr. was drafted 25th overall in the 49’ draft where he would rejoin the NFL after his Korean War service . His two sons Clay Jr. and Bruce were monsters. Bruce, the better of the two, was drafted 9th in 83’, starting 293 games on the OL and made 14x Pro Bowls, 9x NFL First Teams and is on the 90’s All-Decade team. Jr. had a solid career too, being drafted 12th in 78” before making 4x Pro Bowls, and racking up close to 1600 tackles in his career.
The third Generation, Clay III and Jake currently play in the NFL today. Clay III was drafted 26th overall in 09’ is the only member of the family to win a Super Bowl (XLV). He’s Also made 6x Pro Bowls, 3x All-NFL and was 2010 PFWA NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Clay Jr. and Clay III, are the only father-son tandem to be named Defensive Player of the Week in the NFL. Additionally, Jake Matthews was drafted 6th overall in 14’, making him the highest drafted member of the family. Jake followed his dad’s path on the OL, playing OT for the Falcons making it to one Super Bowl…28-3 anyone!?! Sorry I couldn’t resist…
1. The Manning Family
The Manning Family is currently the most popular NFL family in history. The Manning’s are “THE QB Family”, and they run the Manning Passing Academy every year while helping players fully realize their potential on and off of the football field. The family consists of patriarch and former QB Archie Manning, his sons Cooper, Peyton and Eli plus his grandson Arch who is likely a future NFL QB. Archie was not as successful as his two sons, but was drafted 2nd in the 71’ draft and made 2 Pro Bowls in his career.
Cooper, his first son, was once was an All-State High School wide receiver, and was considered the “best” of the Manning sons. At age 18, after extensive testing, he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, ending his football career. Peyton and Eli contrastingly, went on to have Hall of Fame careers. Peyton was drafted 1st overall by the Colts in 98’ went on to win two Super Bowls (XLI, 50), 5x MVP, 7x NFL 1st Team, 14x Pro Bowls, has the most passing yards (5477) and TD’s (55) in a season. Eli also had a great career; 2x Super Bowl champ (XLII, XLVI), 2x Super Bowl MVP, 4x Pro Bowler and is in the Top 10 for every QB stat in the book.
Arch Manning, Cooper’s Son, as a 15-year-old freshman, led his HS to a 9–2 record, completing 64.5% of his throws for 34 TD’s with just 6 INTs – also surpassing 200 yards in all but three games. He is already one of the most coveted prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. Get ready for the next great Manning in the NFL.