Playing On The Hill

TOM OSBORNE (R)
Iconic Nebraska football coach (25 years, three national titles) did not use Cornhuskers Red references in campaign materials in winning his congressional bid.

JIM RYUN (R)
Run with Ryun is the reelection slogan for the three-time Olympic track star and former mile and 1,500-meter world-record holder turned Kansas congressman.

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL (R)
Party-switching Colorado senator (once a Democrat) needed his martial arts skills—he captained the 1964 Olympic judo team—in 1991 to fend off a mugger in D.C.

JACK KEMP(R)
Longtime Buffalo Bills QB, a former congressman and secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is codirector of nonprofit Empower America.

JIM BUNNING (R)
During his Hall of Fame pitching career, the Kentucky senator was part of the player group that hired Marvin Miller to head the baseball players' association.

BILL BRADLEY(D)
Michael Jordan's endorsement couldn't help the three-term U.S. senator ( N.J.) and ex- Knicks star win the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination.

STEVE LARGENT(R)
Hall of Fame receiver nearly ran against ex-NFL wideout Howard Twilley in '94 Oklahoma race. (Twilley dropped out.) Now runs wireless-industry lobbying group.