Mother’s Day became a national day of celebration on the second Sunday in May as the result of a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. The importance of Mothers, as it translates to sports is often reflected by the athletes themselves who wave or say hello to Mom when on camera.

Another Mother’s Day has passed us by
To remember, many children they did try
With cards & flowers and phone calls aplenty
As for excuses, there shouldn’t be any

Now I’m assuming you did remember Mom on her day
But if you forgot I just want to say
If she is still with us, you owe a great debt
Show her your love so you’ll have no regrets.

As a tribute to all the sports Mom’s out there and perhaps share a few chuckles, here are a few quotes from famous sports figures talking about their Moms.

• “I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.” – golfer Greg Norman
• “I know their mother — she’d give them all my plays.” – Bobby Bowden, on why he refused to play against his sons who were both college coaches.
• “I’d run over Grimm’s mother too.” – Matt Millen, after Russ Grimm said that he would run over his own mother to win the Super Bowl.
• “Don’t forget — my mother was a hell of a hitter.” – Early Wynn, on stories that this Hall of Fame pitcher was so mean that he wouldn’t even give his mother a good pitch to hit.
• “When I played baseball, I got death threats all the time – from my mother.” – Bob Uecker
• “Good mothers are underrated, just like good defense.” – Andy Van Slyke, former MLB player
• “I wouldn’t want a dog to go through what I’ve gone through. I wouldn’t even want my mother-in-law to go through it.” – Larry Holmes, heavyweight champion, on all the bad publicity he received.
• “She showed me her gold medals when I was a little girl. I made a bet with her that someday I’d make an Olympic team and win.” – Kelly McCormick, silver & bronze medal winner in diving, on her gold medal-winning mother, Pat.
• “If I was playing third base and my mother rounded third with the winning run, I’d trip her up.” – Leo Durocher, Hall of Fame manager.
• “My love for her is greater than my love for the game that has made me independently wealthy and to whom I owe all I now possess. But it must be so.” – Benny Leonard, boxing great, who retired on his mother’s request.

Or perhaps this bit of advice from Erma Bombeck: “When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ It is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.”

In our family, my wife, Jean, daughter Denise, and daughter-in-law Angie, have all been active, supportive sports Moms. I hope that has also been true for you and the sports you enjoy.
Being a mother truly consists of daily on-the-job-training. For all the moms out there, especially those whose offspring will soon be graduating from high school – take solace in this quote from American novelist and poet Barbara Kingsolver: “Kids don’t stay with you if you do it right. It’s the one job where the better you are, the more surely you won’t be needed in the long run.”