Meet the Biggest Sports Stars in Colorado

Sports fans around the world cling to their chosen teams for a multitude of reasons. The city your team is from can represent who you are as a person. Some are flashy and powerful. Others have been built from the ground up and represent hard work. Who fans choose to align themselves with can show who they are deep down in their core. On the field, the athletes on each team represent the fans.

People might not think of Colorado as a state where talented athletes are born. This take is actually incredibly wrong. In fact, it’s being proven wrong every single day sports take place. Click here to read more about the most popular sports teams in Colorado.

For this article, 247 Tempo consulted different sports-centered sources to gain insight into the biggest sports stars born in Colorado. These include NFL.com, NBA.com, and MLB.com.

It’s one thing to win a championship against the famed Los Angeles Lakers during one of their prime years. It’s a whole different to be named Finals MVP of that series. That’s just what Chauncey Billups and the Detroit Pistons did in 2004. The previous year, the Pistons went toe to toe with the San Antonio Spurs and came up just short, losing in seven games.

Billups was originally born and raised in Denver. After attending George Washington High School, Billups played college basketball at the University of Colorado. He had an impressive 17 year career that was highlighted by his championship season. These days, Billups can be found as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The NFL will always be the top sports league in the United States, and there’s no better running back playing than Christian McCaffrey. For the first couple of years of his career, McCaffrey was playing in Charlotte for the Carolina Panthers. They were a good team, but these days he’s playing for the San Francisco 49ers, one of the best teams in the NFL.

McCaffrey leads the league in rushing yards as of Week 15 in the season and is making a case for MVP of the whole league. Before his NFL stardom, McCaffrey was born in Highlands Ranch to Ed and Lisa McCaffrey. Ed is a three time Super Bowl champion and put down his roots in Denver following the birth of his kids. Christian is also known for being engaged to super model Olivia Culpo.

Imagine growing up and rooting for a team with all your heart. Now, imagine being one of the best and most important players on that team as an adult. This is exactly what happened for Kyle Freeland. Back in 2014, the Colorado Rockies selected the kid from Denver with the eighth overall pick.

There’s a wonderful video on YouTube where you can see Freeland bawling his eyes out with excitement. Ever since this, he’s been one of the best pitchers for the Rockies. Even though they’ve had their struggles as a team, Freeland is living the dream of every baseball player from Colorado.

There’s a lot to be said for sticking with the process and not giving up. That’s exactly what Kevin Gausman did, and he’s gotten the benefits from it. The former number four overall pick was touted as being one of the best pitching prospects in a while. He had a five year run with the Baltimore Orioles that was decent, then bounced around before starting a career year with the San Francisco Giants in 2021.

He took this momentum and ran with it to the Toronto Blue Jays and has been their ace ever since joining the staff. The pitcher was born in Aurora and graduated from Grandview High School in that city. He has made his state proud with how well he’s performed when things could have gone another way.

He was the first fighter to headline a million dollar match, which is insane money considering he fought 100 years ago. Dempsey is widely considered to be one of the most important boxers in history, as he laid a lot of the groundwork for the money fighters make.

The international superstar was born in Manassa, a small town of about 900 people in southern Colorado. He’s a true inspiration for those who might not be from the biggest towns in the world. Always chase your dreams and never give up.

Amy Van Dyken is one of the greatest swimmers to ever get in the pool. The swimmer from Englewood, Colorado dominated during her reign of the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. She won six gold medals during the two events and cemented herself as one of the greatest swimmers of all time.

The fact that she did all of this while having to also battle asthma makes her accomplishments that much more impressive. She has gone around to speaking events and has dabbled in sports media ever since retiring from swimming. You can’t tell the story of United States swimming without including Amy Van Dyken.

Even after his illustrious career, Gossage returned to his hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado to enjoy retirement. Sadly, Gossage and the Yankees haven’t had the best relationship since his departure. Hopefully things can be remedied between the two sides.

Women’s soccer has exploded in popularity in the United States. One reason in particular is because of how successful the U.S. Women’s National Team has been, especially in the World Cup. Mallory Swanson (whose maiden name is Pugh) is one of the most important players on the roster and a big reason for the success of the team. She was born in Littleton, Colorado.

She made her first appearance for the team at 17, making her one of the youngest to appear in history. She has 32 career goals in international competition and is currently leading the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL. Aside from that, she married Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson, making them one of the best athletic power couples around.