Athletes and Sports Stars Born on December 20

1867 Pudge Heffelfinger, American College Football Hall of Fame guard (3 x All American, Yale; first professional player 1892) and coach (Cal, Lehigh, Minnesota), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1954)

Branch Rickey (1881-1965)

American Baseball HOF catcher (St. Louis Browns), manager (St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals), and executive (GM St. Louis Cardinals - 4X World Series champions, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates), noted for bfreaking MLB color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson, born in Stockdale, Ohio

1886 Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1909-11, 19), born in Healdsburg, California (d. 1974)
1888 Fred Merkle, American baseball figure, born in Watertown, Wisconsin (d. 1958)
1900 Gabby Hartnett, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (MLB All Star 1933–38; NL MVP 1935; Chicago Cubs) and manager (Chicago Cubs), born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island (d. 1972)
1905 Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer, slow-medium leg-spin bowler (144 test wickets at 22.59) and newspaper columnist, born in White Cliffs, Australia (d. 1992)
1925 Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer, born in Buggiano, Italy (d. 2007)
1927 Jim Simpson, American sportscaster, (NBC, ESPN), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2016)
1928 Jack Christiansen, American NFL football player. 1951-58 (Detroit Lions - 3 x Champion, 5 X Pro Bowl), NFL and college coach (San Francisco 49ers, Stanford University), born in Sublette, Kansas (d. 1986)
1929 Carlo Fassi, Italian figure skating coach (Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins, Jill Trenary) and skater (World C'ship bronze men's singles 1953), born in Milan, Italy (d. 1997)
1932 Neil Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey linesman (1,744 NHL games; Hockey Hall of Fame), born in Plympton, Ontario (d. 2020)
1933 Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist (world champion, 1961), born in Grobbendonk, Belgium
1935 Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla, Pakistani cricket batsman (4 Tests; 1 x 100; Warwickshire, Otago) and broadcaster (TVNZ), born in Lahore, Pakistan
1942 Bob Hayes, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m relay 1964) and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver (3 x Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2002)
1949 Cecil Cooper, American baseball player, born in Brenham, Texas
1960 Piet Keur, Dutch soccer player and trainer (SC Heerenveen, AZ), born in Zandvoort, Netherlands
1961 Gale Gilbert, NFL quarterback (San Diego Chargers), born in Red Bluff, California
1961 Nate Newton, NFL guard (Dallas Cowboys), born in Orlando, Florida
1962 Thomas Newberry, NFL guard (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Onalaska, Wisconsin
1963 Pam Casale, American tennis player (Marco Island finals 1985), born in Camden, New Jersey
1966 Matt Neal, British motor racing driver, born in Stourbridge, United Kingdom
1966 Tim Hauck, NFL safety and coach (Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks), born in Butte, Montana
1967 Duncan Kennedy, American luger (Olympics 1994), born in Burlington, California
1969 Bobby Phills, NBA guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets), born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1970 Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer, born in Harare, Zimbabwe
1970 Tony Semple, NFL guard (Detroit Lions), born in Springfield, Illinois
1970 Travis Green, Canadian NHL center (NY Islanders; Toronto Maple Leafs; World C'ship gold 1997) and coach (Vancouver Canucks), born in Castlegar, Canada
1971 Jerry Ellison, American NFL running back, 1994-99 (Tampa Bay Bucs), born in Augusta, Georgia
1972 Jan Caloun, Czech hockey forward (Team Czech Olympic gold 1998), born in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
1972 Jonathan Wyatt, New Zealand runner (6 x World Mountain Running Trophy; 8 x world mountain running GP Series champion), born in Wellington, New Zealand
1973 Cory Stillman, Canadian NHL center (Calgary Flames), born in Peterborough, Canada
1973 Jenny Boucek, WNBA guard (Cleveland Rockers), born in Nashville, Tennessee
1973 Muadianvita Kazadi, American football linebacker (St Louis Rams), born in Zaire
1974 Augie Ojeda, American baseball infielder (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Los Angeles, California
1975 Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer, born in Poznań, Poland
1976 Aubrey Huff, American baseball player, born in Marion, Ohio
1978 Andrei Markov, Russian ice hockey player, born in Voskresensk, Moscow Oblast, Russia
1978 Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer, born in Bafoussam, Cameroon
1979 David DeJesus, American baseball player, born in Brooklyn, New York
1979 Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist, born in Barham, Australia
1980 Ashley Cole, English soccer defender (107 caps; Arsenal 156 games, Chelsea 229 games, LA Galaxy), born in London, England
1980 Fitz Hall, English footballer, born in Leytonstone, London
1980 Tony [Anthony da Silva], French-born Portuguese footballer, born in Le Creusot, France
1981 James Shields, American baseball player, born in Santa Clarita, California
1981 Roy Williams, American football player (Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys), born in Odessa, Texas
1982 David Wright, American baseball player (New York Mets), born in Norfolk, Virginia
1982 Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer, born in Denmark
1982 Mohammed Asif, Pakistani cricket player, born in Sheikhupura, Pakistan
1983 Darren Sammy, St. Lucian West Indies cricketer, born in Micoud Quarter, Saint Lucia
1987 Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka, born in Tbilisi, Georgia
1996 Hannah Green, Australian golfer (Women's PGA C'ship 2019), born in Perth, Western Australia