On the first full football Saturday of the year, here’s the first issue of Sports Illustrated to feature a college football player on the cover, Iowa’s Calvin Jones.

Inside, an article about Notre Dame features color photos of their 26-year-old (!) head coach Terry Brennan.

Five months before Sports Illustrated made LeBron James a household name, the 16-year-old high school junior graced the cover of Basketball America: The National Basketball Monthly, a recruiting-focused publication with (presumably) a minuscule circulation.

This issue is newsprint and oversized, so it won’t get pressed or slabbed, but I’m happy to have this little piece of LBJ history as he nears an apparently golf-filled retirement.

Swipe for a reminder of just how long Windy has been covering LeBron. ➡

Tiger Woods on the cover of Sports Illustrated 26 years ago today.

I always felt this was a bland cover for what was a really memorable showdown between 24-year-old Tiger and 19-year-old Sergio Garcia at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. As Tiger stumbled down the stretch, Sergio was a jolt of energy, swinging blindly near tree trunks, bounding down fairways, even shooting Tiger a look after draining a long birdie putt on the 13th. No one watching that day would have predicted a near-two decade wait for Sergio to capture his first major.

Count me among those who wish the PGA never moved from its late August spot on the schedule!

Happy Fourth of July

Drenched in sweat (or, more likely, sprayed with a water bottle for dramatic effect), a prime Mike Tyson glared at potential pay-per-view customers from safely behind the red border of this Time magazine in June 1988.

The night this issue hit newsstands, Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds, capturing all four heavyweight title belts three days before turning 22 years old.

These days, boxing's mainstream crossover moments usually involve professional internet troll Jake Paul, who (sadly) happens to be Tyson's most recent opponent in the ring. Headlines would have you believe these spectacles represent the sport's dying breaths: "Boxing's biggest name isn't even a real boxer." But pro boxing has been perceived to be in crisis for as long as it has existed. It is always dead and always alive, depending on who you ask. And while there may never be another lightning bolt that streaks across the sports world like Iron Mike in the late 80's, simple, fist-based prizefighting will be around for as long as we are.