A History of Athlete Sons Who Could Never Get Out of Their Father's Shadows

It's a gift and curse to be an athlete's son.

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Complex Original

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Being the son of a famous athlete should be awesome, right? Imagine if your dad was Michael Jordan or John Elway or Jack Nicklaus. Just about everything you could ever want in life would be yours! That is, until it came time for you to start following in the their footsteps, because, right or wrong, with your bloodline comes the weight of expectations, and a public that will be eagerly watching to see if you fulfill them. What is it about athlete sons that make us so desperately want to see them succeed? Are we hoping that they'll be able to recreate all the magic moments that their fathers once provided us? Do we believe that they'll somehow be even better? Whatever the reason, it's often the case that these kids just can't live up to these unreasonable standards. As a result, we get A History of Athlete Sons Who Could Never Get Out of Their Father's Shadows. However, MJ's son, Jeffrey is living in his shadow, he turns 25 today and is set for life. At least he has that going for him.

RELATED: 15 Sons Who Outshined Their Athlete Dads

Gerry Abel

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Marty Howe

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Larry Mikan

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Kellen Winslow II

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Jarrett Payton

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Pete Rose Jr.

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Brian Griese

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Gary Nicklaus

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Luke, Chris, Nate, and Adam Walton

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Chris Simms and Matt Simms

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John Henry Williams

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Gary Matthews Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Ralph Sampson III

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Patrick Ewing Jr.

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Nick Montana and Nate Montana

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Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan

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Jack Elway

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