Omitting Henry Bolger Milligan ’81 from this list is a travesty. I can’t imagine many (if any) of those recognized earned 10 varsity letters (four wrestling, three football, three baseball) during their four years at Princeton. He was awarded the William Winston Roper Trophy in 1981, along multi-sport star Mark Lockenmeyer. He graduated with a BSE at Princeton and went on to get his MBA at NYU.
Henry just didn’t participate in three sports, he excelled at all of them. As a defensive back in football, he tied the Princeton record for interceptions. In wrestling he qualified for the National Championships both his junior and senior year and achieved All-American status as a senior. He was also a standout third baseman and pitcher on the baseball team.
Post-graduation Henry took up boxing and was National Amateur Heavyweight Champion in 1983 while defeating future Olympic gold-medalist Henry Tillman in pursuit of the title. He very well could have won his own Olympic medal had he not had the misfortune of running into an up and coming powerhouse named Mike Tyson during the trials. He was featured in several national magazine articles including People and Sports Illustrated. In his spare time he appeared in a movie with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange (Night and the City) as well as multiple commercials. Henry Milligan is not one of Princeton’s 25 greatest athletes, he’s one of our top five!
Omitting Henry Bolger Milligan ’81 from this list is a travesty. I can’t imagine many (if any) of those recognized earned 10 varsity letters (four wrestling, three football, three baseball) during their four years at Princeton. He was awarded the William Winston Roper Trophy in 1981, along multi-sport star Mark Lockenmeyer. He graduated with a BSE at Princeton and went on to get his MBA at NYU.
Henry just didn’t participate in three sports, he excelled at all of them. As a defensive back in football, he tied the Princeton record for interceptions. In wrestling he qualified for the National Championships both his junior and senior year and achieved All-American status as a senior. He was also a standout third baseman and pitcher on the baseball team.
Post-graduation Henry took up boxing and was National Amateur Heavyweight Champion in 1983 while defeating future Olympic gold-medalist Henry Tillman in pursuit of the title. He very well could have won his own Olympic medal had he not had the misfortune of running into an up and coming powerhouse named Mike Tyson during the trials. He was featured in several national magazine articles including People and Sports Illustrated. In his spare time he appeared in a movie with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange (Night and the City) as well as multiple commercials. Henry Milligan is not one of Princeton’s 25 greatest athletes, he’s one of our top five!