Who was the first athlete to have an animated cartoon series?

The first TV Saturday Morning cartoon based on a single real-life athlete, "I Am The Greatest" focused on flamboyant heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali who is one of the greatest influential characters ever in the history of sports, not to mention one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.

At the time this cartoon premiered in 1977, Ali was on top of the world and still held the title of heavyweight champion of the world. Also had a major motion picture based on his autobiography called "The Greatest", that came out in mid-1977 and there was song dedicated to the champ too ("The Greatest Love Of All" sung originally by George Benson).

He was known around the world and was a great positive role model for kids of all ages, since he really connected with youths who basically made a difference in their lives. So, when NBC premiered this cartoon which was produced by Fred Calvert's production company Farmhouse Films and produced 13 episodes for the network that ran from September 10,1977-September 2,1978. The show was mostly seen on Saturday Mornings during NBC's schedule for the 1977-1978 season. Although Muhammad Ali did his own voicework, replete with his weighty statements, and not to mention the fighter's real-life public relations agent Frank Bannister (who also did his own voicework for this series).