Can You Name the 1990s Sports/Pop Culture Icon?
A decade is a kind of generational guidepost. For people that grew up long before the passage of those 10 years, it’s another tick on the time. For those born just as it ended, or thereafter, it’s something abstract and outdated. But for anyone who spent a better part of their formative years living in that same era, a decade takes on a whole different meaning—you own that special "decade" edition of Trivial Pursuit and know when someone at a decade-themed party got the style all wrong.
Maybe your special decade was the '80s, or '70s. If you’re like me, the decade washed in feelings of nostalgia and memories that have become stories I still like to tell is the '90s. The '90s—to me—was the vacation between the schizophrenic Day-Glo of the '80s and the dark, brooding seriousness of the new millennium. I guess you could call it a transition period, though none of us understood that at the time.
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The sports industry in the '90s, like pop culture, was trying to take itself a little more seriously, but not too seriously. It was filled with eccentric heroes, as well as villains, but never quite duplicated the bombast of the preceding decade—not that there wasn’t lots of drama. There was no more Cold War but plenty of athlete and institutional shenanigans to occupy our attention. And certain sports figures owned the 90s—at least in terms of stature and number of headlines.
The question is: How well do you know the icons of '90s sports pop culture? I’ve scrambled and obscured pics of some of the most recognizable names in sports from 1990-1999. Can you name them all?
Hint 1: Florida State alum
Hint 2: Two-sport athlete
Hint 3: Most definitely ready for Primetime
Deion Sanders
Inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011, “Neon” Deion Sanders is the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and World Series to date. He was the standout superstar on a Cowboys team that defined the '90s.
Hint 1: Olympic figure skaters
Hint 2: Escandalo!
Hint 3: Why?!?!
Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi
Two years prior to the incident, Kristi Yamaguchi is blissfully unaware of the future level of scandal she’s standing directly adjacent to in this photo. She is pictured with Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan at the 1992 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, a month ahead of the Albertville Olympics.
Hint 1: Superman fanatic
Hint 2: Aristotle
Hint 3: Baryshnikov
Shaquille O’Neal
Throw “Big” in front of almost any word, and you’ve got yet another nickname for future Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O’Neal. Big Aristotle. Big Baryshnikov. Big Conductor. Big Cactus. Big Shaqtus. Big Shamrock.
Hint 1: Brooke Shields
Hint 2: Jorts
Hint 3: Hairpiece
Andre Agassi
Obviously epic feathered mullet to end all feathered mullets would be American tennis great Andre Agassi’s biggest identifier, but he’s so synonymous with his signature hairstyle that we couldn’t even use it as a hint—might as well just use his name.
Hint 1: Petulant pitcher
Hint 2: Birds beware
Hint 3: He’s a Big Unit
Randy Johnson
A 10-time All-Star and five-time Cy Young Award winner, pitcher Randy Johnson was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2015. Despite his notoriously prickly disposition, or perhaps in part because of it, Randy Johnson was one of the biggest sports stars of the decade.
Hint 1: Bulls
Hint 2: Three-peat x 2
Hint 3: Uh…you should really have it by now
Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen
Legendary coach Phil Jackson is pictured in an uncharacteristically goofy moment with Hall of Fame Bulls Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. While Jackson and Jordan look to be forcing themselves to have fun, Pippen has an ease about him that is positively Fresh Prince.
Hint 1: Florida State alum
Hint 2: MTV Sports
Hint 3: Beach volleyball
Gabrielle Reece
After a standout collegiate volleyball career at Florida State, Gabrielle Reece went on to become “the face of women’s beach volleyball.” Reece was one of the most popular athletes of the decade, with a thriving modeling career off the court that ultimately gave way to acting and hosting opportunities.
Hint 1: Athlete
Hint 2: Actor
Hint 3: Criminal
O.J. Simpson
“Athlete, Actor, Criminal, Football Player” is the comprehensive subheading on Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson’s official biography. Though his NFL career was long over, Simpson’s high-profile murder trial (and subsequent acquittal) was one of the singular defining stories of the entire decade.
Hint 1: Le Magnifique
Hint 2: Mario Jr.
Hint 3: Igloo
Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux
Two of the NHL’s all-time greats, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr played together in Pittsburgh throughout the '90s. Most of their success came early on—the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. And they should have won again the following season but didn’t.
Hint 1: Dresses
Hint 2: Hair dye
Hint 3: Carmen Electra
Dennis Rodman
Given what an exceptional career he had in the NBA, it’s actually quite amazing that basketball is one of the least helpful identifiers for Hall of Fame forward Dennis Rodman. He's a man known for his love of dresses. He's an American known for his love of North Korea. He is...Dennis Rodman.
Hint 1: Nonsense
Hint 2: Bus
Hint 3: Brett Favre
John Madden
A former NFL coach who led the Raiders “to seven AFC Western Division titles and a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI,” John Madden retired in 1979 and embarked on a broadcasting career that spanned just under 30 years.
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