Here are some of the people in the sports world celebrating birthdays on August 23:

Sonny Jurgensen

Age: 78

Profession: Retired NFL Player

Best Known For: A five-time All-Pro quarterback, Sonny Jurgensen played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins from 1957 to 1974. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. In the years after he retired, Jurgensen served as a broadcast analyst on football games.

Julio Franco

Age: 54

Profession: Retired MLB Player

Best Known For: A three-time All-Star, Julio Franco played for eight major league teams from 1982 to 2007. While with the Atlanta Braves in 2004, Franco, 46, became the oldest regular position player in Major League Baseball history. Franco won five Silver Slugger Awards as the best offensive player at his position and captured the American League batting crown in 1991.

Rik Smits

Age: 46

Profession: Retired NBA Player

Best Known For: An All-Star center, Rik Smits was a key member of the Indiana Pacers from 1988 to 2000. Smits was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1988 and teamed with Reggie Miller to make the Pacers a consistent playoff team throughout his career.

Jeremy Schaap

Age: 43

Profession: Sports Reporter

Best Known For: A six-time Emmy Award winner, Jeremy Schaap delivers investigative sports reporting on ESPN’s ‘E:60,’ ‘SportsCenter’ and ‘Outside the Lines.’ Schaap has written several books and has been published in ‘Sports Illustrated,’ ‘Time,’ ‘The Wall Street Journal’ and ‘The New York Times.’ Jeremy is the son of late sports reporter Dick Schaap.

Nicole Bobeck

Age: 35

Profession: Retired Figure Skater

Best Known For: Winner of the 1995 US figure skating championship, Nicole Bobek earned a bronze medal at the World Championships. Bobek has had several legal issues both during her career and since her retirement from skating. In 2009, Bobek was charged as part of a methamphetamine drug ring. She was sentenced to five years probation in 2010.

Kobe Bryant

Age: 34

Profession: NBA Player

Best Known For: Kobe Bryant is a 14-time NBA All-Star shooting guard who has won five NBA Championships while playing with the Los Angeles Lakers since 1996. Bryant was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008, the NBA Finals MVP in both 2009 and 2010, and he has won four NBA All-Star Game MVPs. Bryant was a member of the US Olympic men’s basketball teams that won gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Rex Grossman

Age: 32

Profession: NFL Player

Best Known For: Rex Grossman is a quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Since being selected by Chicago in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, Grossman has played for the Bears, the Houston Texans and the Redskins. He was the starting quarterback for the Bears’ team that appeared in Super Bowl XLI. In college, Grossman was a consensus first-team All-American at the University of Florida.

More From Praise 93.3