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Swimming Icon Michael Phelps Earned an Honor Which Put Him in an Elite Category With MLB Legend Derek Jeter

Published 10/26/2022, 2:00 PM EDT

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Derek Jeter is among the most famous baseball legends on counts of social outreach to date. His popularity has helped him establish ties with champion athletes from other sports. Recently, he recreated a link of association with swimming legend, Michael Phelps. Albeit, this time it was rather co-incidentally through a football team. 

Speaking of accomplishments for both Jeter and Phelps is not an easy task to do. A mere mention of their statistical records does no justice to explain their performing skills. Jeter is one of those unique baseball players who spent his 20-year-long MLB career with a single team. Jeter played on as the loyal New York Yankees shortstop, becoming a 14-time All-Star with five World Series championships.  

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Whereas, Phelps is a swimming legend with one of the most honorable Olympic records of all time. He holds the highest number of Olympic medals won by any athlete, with 28 medals in total. That tally consists of 23 gold medals. He has had a trailblazing career as a swimmer setting records one after another. Thus, Phelps is a genuine role-model sports person for any aspirant. 

Derek Jeter and Michael Phelps’ football connection 

Derek Jeter and Michael Phelps have remained friends for a while. Phelps once attended Jeter’s Players Tribune Night Out event. But there is also another tie that binds them together and it happens to be a football team from Michigan, in particular. That team is the Michigan Wolverines, which has appointed both Jeter and Phelps as honorary captains, respectively. 

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Jeter was born in New Jersey, but he grew up in Michigan for most of his childhood. Jeter also played little league baseball in Michigan. Whereas, Phelps took swimming lessons at Michigan University with his former coach. The Michigan Wolverines football coach, Jim Harbaugh, has brought in honorary captains from among influential figures of various professions. 

Read MoreDerek Jeter’s Ex-Teammate Joins Millions in Mourning Swimming Legend Michael Phelps’ Saddening Loss

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Harbaugh once famously honored Jeter with a jersey at a Wolverines’ game. While earlier this month, Harbaugh named Phelps as the honorary captain. Phelps got made the honorary captain prior to the Wolverines vs Penn State game. Phelps talked to the Wolverines players at a meeting and spoke about his perspective on recovery as an athlete. 

The memorable words from Phelps 

The Wolverines’ offensive lineman, Zak Zinter, later reportedly described Phelps’ message saying, “It was really cool to see what kind of athlete he is, for him to come and talk to us and give us insight about how he recovered his body, all the training he does and how he didn’t take any days off.” 

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Watch This StoryFrom Babe Ruth To Derek Jeter: New York Yankees Icons Whose Jersey Number Has Been Retired 

So, how would you feel getting a motivational boost from someone like Michael Phelps?

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Written by:

Madhurjya Bhuyan

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Madhurjya Bhuyan is an MLB author at EssentiallySports. He has a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in English Literature from Gauhati University and IGNOU, respectively, and also possesses prior professional experience as a content developer. Being a performance artist since childhood, Madhurjya has always aimed to contribute towards creativity in any possible manner, and writing only boosts that desire.
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Edited by:

Vibhanshu Kumar