List of athletes on Wheaties boxes

In 1934, the breakfast cereal Wheaties began the practice of including pictures of athletes on its packaging to coincide with its slogan, "The Breakfast of Champions." In its original form, athletes were depicted on the sides or back of the cereal box, though in 1958 Wheaties began placing the pictures on the front of the box. The tradition has included hundreds of athletes from many different sports, and also team depictions.[citation needed]

Some Wheaties boxes with athletes or teams on the packaging, from the late 1990s.

This article lists the athletes or teams depicted on Wheaties boxes, along with the year(s) of depiction and sport played. This list is not all-inclusive, and athletes may have been shown together with teams and groups, or on the sides, back, or front of the box. Most athletes appeared on the standard Wheaties box, while others appeared on the Honey Frosted Wheaties (HFW), Crispy Wheaties 'n' Raisins (CWR), Wheaties Energy Crunch (WEC), or Wheaties Fuel (WF) boxes.

Around 1990, General Mills did a promotion called "Picture Yourself on a Wheaties Box," in which, for a fee, they would make a custom Wheaties box from one's own photograph that was sealed in clear acrylic. Kristi Yamaguchi, among other athletes, was featured in advertising this campaign.[citation needed]

Individual athletes

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Year Athlete Sport Notes Ref
1934, 1992, 1999 Lou Gehrig Baseball First athlete depicted [1]
1934 Jimmie Foxx Baseball
1934 Ellsworth Vines Tennis
1934 Elinor Smith Aviator First female depicted
1934 Martin and Osa Johnson Aviators First married couple depicted
1935 Dizzy Dean Baseball
1935 Babe Didrikson Zaharias Golf First female athlete depicted
1935 Jane Fauntz Olympic diving
1935 Benny Friedman Football Michigan New York Giants HOF
1936 Robert Kessler Basketball
1936 Jesse Owens Track and Field First African American athlete depicted[2]
1936 Kit Klein Speedskating
1936 Wilbur Shaw Auto racing
1937 Earl Averill Baseball
1937 Buck Jordan Baseball
1937 Lefty Gomez Baseball
1937 Mel Ott Baseball
1937 Cecil Travis Baseball
1937 Harold "Hal" Trosky Baseball
1938 Bob Feller Baseball
1938 Lou Fette Baseball
1938 Charlie Gehringer Baseball
1938 Lefty Grove Baseball
1938 Billy Herman Baseball
1938 Carl Hubbell Baseball
1939 Leo Durocher Baseball
1939 Johnny Mize Baseball
1939 Jack Manders Football Pro football's first kicking specialist
1930s Marty Barry Ice hockey
1947 Hank Greenberg Baseball
1951 Tom Fears Football
1951 Otto Graham Football
1951 George Kell Baseball
1951 Ralph Kiner Baseball
1951 Bob Lemon Baseball
1951 Johnny Lujack Football
1952 Roy Campanella Baseball
1952 Glenn Davis Football
1952 George Mikan Basketball Minneapolis Lakers
1952 Elwin "Preacher" Roe Baseball
1952 Bob Waterfield Football
1956 Bob Cousy Basketball
1956 Bobby Layne Football
1956 Duke Snider Baseball
1958 Bob Richards Track and field (pole vault) First athlete depicted on front of box
1959 Esther Williams Swimming
1964 Bart Starr Football
1964 Tom Tresh Baseball
1967 Raymond Berry Football
1967 Joe Horlen Baseball
1967 Tim McCarver Baseball
1967 Billy Mills Running track
1967 Bobby Richardson Baseball
1968 Tom Matte Football
1976, 2012 Bruce Jenner Decathlon
1983 Steve Veltman Bicycle Motocross Racing
1984 Leslie Deniz Discus
1984, 1999, 2012 Mary Lou Retton Gymnastics First gymnast (and female Gymnast) depicted
1985 Pete Rose Baseball
1986, 2000 Walter Payton Football First African-American on front of package
1987 Chris Evert Tennis
1987 Jim Kelly Football
1988 Sammy Chagolla Wrestling
1988 A.C. Green Basketball
1988 Michael Jordan Basketball Most depictions on box (18 total)
1988 Steve Largent Football
1989 Johnny Bench Baseball
1989 Detroit Pistons Basketball
1989 Joe Dumars Basketball
1989 Jim Palmer Baseball
1990 Eric Davis Baseball
1990 Boomer Esiason Football
1991 Tom Barrasso Ice hockey
1991 Phil Bourque Ice hockey
1991 Paul Coffey Ice hockey
1991 Bob Errey Ice hockey
1991 Randy Gilhen Ice hockey
1991, 1992 Jaromír Jágr Ice hockey
1991, 1992 Mario Lemieux Ice hockey
1991 Troy Loney Ice hockey
1991 Frank Pietrangelo Ice hockey
1991 Kevin Stevens Ice hockey
1991 Peter Taglianetti Ice hockey
1991, 1992, 1993 Horace Grant Basketball
1992, 1999 Barry Sanders Football
1992 Babe Ruth Baseball
1993 Larry Bird Basketball
1993 Jack Del Rio Football
1993 Chris Doleman Football
1993 Clyde Drexler Basketball
1993 John Elway Football
1995, 2001 Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball
1995 Josh Gibson Baseball
1995 Dan Marino Football
1996 Amanda Borden Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Amy Chow Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Dominique Dawes Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Tom Dolan Swimming
1996 Michael Johnson track and field
1996 Shannon Miller Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Dominique Moceanu Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Dan O'Brien Track and field (decathlon)
1996 Jaycie Phelps Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Jackie Robinson Baseball
1996 Roger Staubach football
1996 Kerri Strug Gymnastics U.S. Olympic gymnastics team box
1996 Amy Van Dyken Swimming
1996 Steve Young Football (CWR)
1996, 1999 Troy Aikman Football
1996, 2010 Dale Earnhardt NASCAR
1996–2000 Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball
1997 Arthur Ashe Tennis
1997 Terry Glenn Football
1997 "Mean" Joe Greene Football (CWR)
1997 Franco Harris Football
1997, 2007 Tony Gwynn Baseball
1998 Terrell Davis Football
1998 Tricia Dunn Ice hockey
1998 Brett Favre Football
1998 Cammi Granato Ice hockey
1998 Mark McGwire Baseball
1998 Richard Petty NASCAR
1999 Stone Cold Steve Austin Professional wrestling
1999 Lance Armstrong Cycling
1999 Brandi Chastain Soccer
1999 Arnold Palmer Golf
1999 Mia Hamm Soccer
1999 Joe Torre Baseball
1999, 2012 Muhammad Ali Boxing
1999, 2000, 2001 Bill Elliott NASCAR (CWR Reg.) (HFW)
2000 Stacy Dragila Pole Vault
2000 Pete Sampras Tennis
2001 Barry Bonds Baseball
2001 Tony Dorsett Football
2001 Althea Gibson Tennis
2001 Kirby Puckett Baseball
2001 Jim Thorpe Track & Field, Football, Baseball [3][4]
2001 Dave Winfield Baseball
2002 Hank Aaron Baseball
2002 A. J. Foyt INDYCAR
2002 Sarah Hughes Figure skating
2002 Cael Sanderson Wrestling
2002 Emmitt Smith Football
2002 Ozzie Smith Baseball
2003 Kevin Garnett Basketball
2003 Wayne Gretzky Ice hockey
2003 Rafael Palmeiro Baseball
2003 Joe Paterno College Football Coach (Penn State)
2003 Darrell Waltrip NASCAR
2004 Andre Agassi Tennis
2004 Carl Lewis Track & Field
2004 Justin Gatlin Track
2004 Peyton Manning Football
2004 Pedro Martínez Baseball
2004 David Ortiz Baseball
2004 Carly Patterson Gymnastics
2004 David Robinson Basketball
2004 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Track & Field
2004, 2012, 2016 Michael Phelps Swimming
2004 Michael Vick Football
2005 Roberto Clemente Baseball
2005 Tim Duncan Basketball
2005 Kirk Gibson Baseball
2005 Shaquille O'Neal Basketball
2005 Albert Pujols Baseball
2006 Chris Carpenter Baseball
2006 Julius Erving Basketball
2006 Doug Flutie Football
2006 Apolo Anton Ohno Short track speed skating
2006 Alex Rodriguez Baseball
2006 Joey Cheek Long Track Speedskating
2007 Bill Russell Basketball
2008 Jarrod Shoemaker Triathlon
2008 Hunter Kemper Triathlon
2008 Bryan Clay Decathlon
2008 Nastia Liukin Gymnastics
2009 Willis Reed Basketball
2010 Lindsey Vonn Alpine skiing
2010 Shaun White Snowboarding
2010 Seth Wescott Snowboard cross
2011 Chris McCormack Triathlon (WF)
2011, 2012 Aaron Rodgers Football
2012 Clay Matthews III Football (WF)
2012 Misty May-Treanor Beach Volleyball
2012 Samantha "Sam" Gordon Football First female Football player
2013 Adrian Peterson Football
2014 Sage Kotsenburg Snowboarding
2014 Mikaela Shiffrin Alpine skiing
2014 Anthony Pettis Mixed Martial Arts
2015 Stephen Curry Basketball
2016 Ryan Dungey Motocross
2017 Jordan Spieth Golf
2018 Kyrie Irving Basketball
2018 Russell Wilson Football [5]
2019 Serena Williams Tennis
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Basketball
Michelle Akers Soccer
Ethan Allen Baseball
Johnny Allen Baseball
Marcus Allen Football
Sandy Alomar Jr. Baseball
Leonel Álvarez Soccer
Ignacio Ambriz Soccer
Ottis Anderson Football
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson Baseball
Luke Appling Baseball
B. J. Armstrong Basketball
Morrie Arnovich Baseball
Steve Atwater Football
Arnold "Red" Auerbach Basketball
Jeff Bagwell Baseball
Max Baer Boxing
Chris Bailey Tennis
George Barclay Baseball
Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry Basketball
Marie Bartoletti Marathon (WEC)
Marlene Bauer Golf
Sammy Baugh Football
Mark Bavaro Football
Josh Beckett Baseball
Myriam Bédard Biathlon
Beau Bell Baseball
James "Cool Papa" Bell Baseball
Andy Benes Baseball
Brooke Bennett Swimming
Cornelius Bennett Football
Edgar Bennett Football
Patty Berg Golf
Wally Berger Baseball
Yogi Berra Baseball
Bernie Bierman Football
Craig Biggio Baseball
Simone Biles Gymnastics
Drew Bledsoe Football
Ken Block Racing
Zeke Bonura Baseball
Lou Boudreau Baseball
Claudio Branco Soccer
Tommy Bridges Baseball
Johnny Mack Brown Football
Tim Brown Football
Terry Bradshaw Football
Isaac Bruce Football
Don Budge Tennis
Mark Buehrle Baseball
Jay Buhner Baseball
Nick Buoniconti Football
Ellis Burks Baseball
Dick Butkus Football
Wally Butts Football
Karyn Bye Ice hockey
Earnest Byner Football
Kyle Busch NASCAR
Ken Caminiti Baseball
Harry Caray Baseball broadcaster
Cris Carter Football
Bill Cartwright Basketball
Ron Cey Baseball
Wilt Chamberlain Basketball
Mark Chmura Football
Earl "Dutch" Clark Football
Gary Clark Football
Roger Clemens Baseball
Harlond Clift Baseball
Ben Coates Football
Mickey Cochrane Baseball
David Cone Baseball
Michael Cooper Basketball
Joey Cora Baseball
Roger Craig Football
Joe Cronin Baseball
Jim Crowley Football
Kiki Cuyler Baseball
Harry Danning Baseball
Bob Davies Basketball
Curt Davis Baseball
Darryl Dawkins Basketball
Paul Dean Baseball
Frank Demaree Baseball
Jack Dempsey Boxing
Paul Derringer Baseball
Donna DeVarona Swimming
Bill Dickey Baseball
Joe DiMaggio Baseball
Abner Doubleday Baseball
Marshall Faulk Football
Lew Fonseca Baseball
Barry Foster Football
Gretchen Fraser Alpine skiing
Frankie Frisch Baseball
Walt Frazier Basketball
Andrés Galarraga Baseball
Juan González Baseball
Joe "Flash" Gordon Baseball
Goose Goslin Baseball
Red Grange Football
Kevin Greene Football
Ralph Guldahl Golf
Stanley Hack Baseball
Odell Hale Baseball
Gabby Hartnett Baseball
John Havlicek Basketball
Eric Heiden (CWR) Speed skating
James "Chico" Hernandez (WEC) Sombo wrestling
Merril Hoge Football
Ben Hogan Golf
Nat Holman Basketball
Mike Holmgren Football
Desmond Howard Football
Dixie Howell Baseball
Kent Hrbek Baseball
Don Hutson Football
Doug Heir Paralympics
Peter Jacobsen Golf
Joe Jacoby Football
Ned Jarrett NASCAR
Ab Jenkins Auto racing
Lynn Jennings Long-distance running
Derek Jeter Baseball
Magic Johnson Basketball
Pepper Johnson Football
Randy Johnson Baseball
Vinnie Johnson Basketball
Brent Jones Football
Howard Jones Football
K. C. Jones Basketball
Tom Jones Football
Jim Kelly Football
Steve Kerr Basketball
Katie King Ice hockey
Harry Kipke Football
Chuck Klein Baseball
Bernie Kosar Football
Jack Kramer Tennis
Jim Lachey Football
Bill Laimbeer Basketball
Sean Landeta Football
Carnell Lake Football
Barry Larkin Baseball
Ty Law Football
Bill Lee Baseball
Darrell Lester Football
Lawson Little Golf
Greg Lloyd Football
Kenny Lofton Baseball
Vince Lombardi Football
Ernie Lombardi Baseball
Luc Longley Basketball
Ronnie Lott Football (HFW)
Jon Lugbill Whitewater canoeing
Todd Lyght Football
George Maddox Football
Greg Maddux Baseball
Phil Mahre Alpine skiing
Steve Mahre Alpine skiing
Rick Mahorn Basketball
Gus Mancuso Baseball
Tony Manero Golf
Lloyd Mangrum Golf
Charles Mann Football
Edgar "Eggs" Manske Football
Mickey Mantle Baseball
Heinie Manush Baseball
Alice Marble Tennis
Marty Marion Baseball
Johnny "Pepper" Martin Baseball
Edgar Martínez Baseball
Tino Martinez Baseball
Willie Mays Baseball
Tim McCoy
Michael McCrary Football
Dave MacMillan Basketball
Bo McMillin Football
Mary T. Meagher Swimming
Joe Medwick Baseball
José Mesa Baseball
Art Monk Football
Joe Montana Football
Warren Moon Football
Johnny Moore Baseball
Byron "Bam" Morris Football
Hal Morris Baseball
Wally Moses Baseball
Van Lingle Mungo Baseball
George Murray Wheelchair Roadracer
Stan Musial Baseball
Mike Mussina Baseball
Randy Myers Baseball
Joe Namath Football
Steve Nash Basketball
Byron Nelson Golf
Cindy Nelson Alpine skiing
Ernie Nevers Football
Hal Newhouser Baseball
Bobo Newsom Baseball
Jack Nicklaus Golf
Hideo Nomo Baseball
Ken Norton Boxing
Jay Novacek Football
Bart Oates Football
Davey O'Brien Football
Neil O'Donnell Football
Jonathan Ogden Football
Tom Osborne Football
Orlando Pace Football
LeRoy "Satchel" Paige Baseball
Brad Park Ice hockey
Benny Parsons NASCAR
Lynn Patrick Ice hockey
John Paxson Basketball
David Pearson NASCAR
Drew Pearson Football
Lee Petty NASCAR
Mike Piazza Baseball
Andy Pilney Football
Scottie Pippen Basketball
Jim Pollard Basketball
Raymond Radcliff Baseball
Andre Reed Football
Harold "Pee Wee" Reese Baseball
Jerry Rice Football
Mark Richt College Football Coach (University of Georgia)
Freddy Rincón Soccer
José Rijo Baseball
Phil Rizzuto Baseball
Brooks Robinson Baseball
Bill Rodgers Track and field (marathon)
Dennis Rodman Basketball
Al Rosen Baseball
Norman Ross Swimming
Charles "Red" Ruffing Baseball
Nolan Ryan Baseball (CWR)
Mark Rypien Football
Chris Sabo Baseball
Joan Benoit Samuelson Marathon
Deion Sanders Football (HFW)
Ricky Sanders Football
Jerry Sandusky Football
Gene Sarazen Golf
Wes Schulmerich Baseball
Barbara Ann Scott Figure skating
Byron Scott Basketball
Todd Scott Football
Briana Scurry Soccer
Shannon Sharpe Football
Don Shula Football
Al Simmons Baseball
Phil Simms Football
Bruce Smith Football
Lee Smith Baseball
Neil Smith Football
John Smoltz Baseball
Sam Snead Golf
Paul Sorrento Baseball
Warren Spahn Baseball
Chris Spielman Football
Eddie Stanky Baseball
Dave Stockton Golf
Elvis Stojko Figure skating
Harry Stuhldreher Football
Pat Summitt Basketball coach
Joe Theismann Football
Yancey Thigpen Football
Frank Thomas Baseball (CWR)
Isiah Thomas Basketball
Thurman Thomas Football
Reyna Thompson Football
Lee Trevino Golf
Johnny Unitas Football
Carlos Valderrama Soccer
Arky Vaughan Baseball
Zoilo Versalles Baseball
Maribel Vinson Figure skater
Joe Vosmik Baseball
Dwyane Wade Basketball
Wallace Wade Football
Lynn Waldorf Football
Pedro Depacas Boomerang
Doak Walker Football
Gerald "Gee" Walker Baseball
Wallenda Troupe High wire performers
Bucky Walters Baseball
Paul Waner Baseball
Cotton Warburton Football
Lon Warneke Baseball
Glenn S. "Pop" Warner Football
Ricky Watters Football
Tom Weiskopf Golf
Johnny Weissmuller Swimming
David Wells Baseball
Billy Welu Bowling
Jerry West Basketball
Jo Jo White Basketball
Reggie White Football
Pinky Whitney Baseball
Laura Wilkinson Diving
Bernie Williams Baseball
Ted Williams Baseball
Dan Wilson Baseball
Hack Wilson Baseball
Tiger Woods Golf
Rod Woodson Football
James Worthy Basketball
Kristi Yamaguchi Figure skating (HFW)
Cale Yarborough NASCAR
Rudy York Baseball

Teams

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Year Team Sport Notes Ref
1987 Minnesota Twins Baseball World Series Champions (first team depicted on box) [6]
1988 Washington Redskins Football Super Bowl XXII
1992 Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey Stanley Cup Champions
1993 Dallas Cowboys Football Super Bowl XXVII Champions
1994 Dallas Cowboys Football Super Bowl XXVIII Champions
1995 Northwestern Wildcats Football Big Ten Champions
1995 Atlanta Braves Baseball World Series Champions
1995 Cleveland Indians Baseball American League Champions
1996 Dallas Cowboys Football Super Bowl XXX Champions
1996 U.S. Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team Gymnastics Olympic gold medalists
1997 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team Hockey (men) Olympic gold medalists (1980)
1998 Target Chip Ganassi Racing CART team CART CART FedEx Championship Series champions
1998 Denver Broncos Football Super Bowl XXXII Champions
1998 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team Hockey (women) Olympic gold medalists
Five members were unable to be included due to NCAA regulations regarding endorsements
1998 Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball inaugural season
1998 De La Salle High School Football High School football
1998 DeMatha High School Football High School football
2000 St. Louis Rams Football Super Bowl XXXIV Champions
2001 Dallas Cowboys Football "35 Years of Championship Performance"
2001 Baltimore Ravens Football Super Bowl XXXV Champions
2002 New England Patriots Football Super Bowl XXXVI Champions
2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football Super Bowl XXXVII Champions
2004 Boston Red Sox Baseball World Series Champions
2005 Texas Longhorns Football National Champions
2005 Texas Western College Basketball NCAA Champions (1966)
2005 Chicago White Sox Baseball World Series Champions
2006 Miami Heat Basketball NBA Champions
2006 Detroit Shock Basketball WNBA Champions
2006 Georgia Bulldogs Football [7]
2006 Michigan Wolverines Football
2006 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football
2006 Texas Longhorns Football 2 boxes in 2006
2006 Texas A&M Aggies Football
2006 St. Louis Cardinals Baseball World Series Champions
2007 Boston Red Sox Baseball World Series Champions
2007 Florida Gators Basketball (men)
2007 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball (men)
2007 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball (men)
2007 Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball (women) [8]
2008 Boston Celtics Basketball NBA Champions
2009 Los Angeles Lakers Basketball NBA Champions
2010 Los Angeles Lakers Basketball NBA Champions
2010 Seattle Storm Basketball WNBA Champions

Sources

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References

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  1. ^ Menand, Louis (2020-05-25). "How Baseball Players Became Celebrities". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  2. ^ "Wheaties – Brands – Food we make - General Mills". www.generalmills.com. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  3. ^ "Cengage Learning". www.cengage.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Photo of Jim Thorpe Wheaties box". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Video: Russell Wilson becomes the next athlete on Wheaties cereal box". ABC News. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Sports Then and Now – The Wheaties Box: A Champion's Cardboard Trophy". 27 September 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Team meals: Michigan, Irish, Georgia on Wheaties box". ESPN.com. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  8. ^ "WHEATIES HONORS UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE LADY VOLS BASKETBALL TRADITION - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics". Archived from the original on 2014-02-26.
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