The Oorang Indian football team was founded by LaRue native Walter Lingo (1890-1966), owner of the Oorang Airedale Dog Kennels. Comprised of Native American Indians, the team played in the National Football League in 1922-23. Its star player and coach was Jim Thorpe (1887-1953), a Sac and Fox Indian who gained international fame as a two-time gold medal winner in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics and was acclaimed as the "World's Greatest Athlete." The team gave LaRue the distinction of being the smallest community ever to have a National Football League franchise.