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Minorities in sports essay
Minorities in sports essay
Sports and racial integration
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Jerry Rice is one of the best NFL wide-receivers in history. Throughout his football career he broke many NFL records. He was always working out and said that he was never a couch potato. Jerry Rice’s life was influenced by his early life. His major accomplishments/contributions to American society including breaking almost all the NFL records helped him earn his place in history as an important African American. First, Jerry Rice faced hard times in his younger years. He was born on October 13, 1962, in Starkville, Mississippi (Jerry Rice Bio). Jerry Rice was one of the eight children born to Joe Nathan Rice and Eddie Rice (Encyclopedia.com). At an early age he worked with his father and made bricks. Working every day with bricks and running across yards with bricks, he developed strong hands and quick feet (Encyclopedia.com). At high school, he was caught skipping class by the vice principal and was punished by being …show more content…
He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1985 (Jerry Rice Biography). Though he started the season on a slow note, he soon gained momentum and finished the season with a record of 49 catches for 927 yards, averaging 18.9 yards per catch (Jerry Rice Biography). The following season brought forth a legacy that lasted for the next six seasons. He caught 86 passes for a league-leading 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns, achieving the breakthrough that he deserved (Jerry Rice Biography). He led the 49ers to three Super Bowl rings and an AFC Championship with the Oakland Raiders (Jerry Rice). He went to 13 Pro Bowls in his lifetime (Jerry Rice). "I don't think I’m such a natural, I think what I'm doing is very hard work,” (Jerry Rice). In 2006, to honor his valuable contribution to the San Francisco 49ers, he signed a one day contract with the team to officially retire as a 49er (Jerry Rice Biography). Jerry retired as one of the greatest wide receivers of all
He did very well in all of these sports and won many trophies. He went on to play football for the Honolulu
In 1992, Lewis, armed with a full scholarship, enrolled at the University of Miami, at the time home to one of the country's best football programs. He quickly became a vital piece in a vaunted Hurricanes' defense. Overall, he ranks fifth all time in school history in tackles, and at the end of his junior year was runner-up for the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker.
He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He was won 59 games in his Career and lost 57 games, while having 8 ties. He has thrown for 24,410 yards. That ranks 73rd for the most passing yards ever. That’s ahead of Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach. He has also thrown for 170 passing touchdowns. That ranks 61st for the most touchdowns ever thrown. That is ahead of Hall of Famers, Sid Luckman, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Troy Aikman. He now lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He became the NMSU Chemical Engineering professor, but retired in 2012.
Earl Lloyd was probably the most courageous player of all time. Some people know him as “The Big Cat” others know him as the first African-American to play in an NBA basketball game with the whites; he changed the way people think and look at basketball and black players and coaches. Earl Lloyd loved basketball from a very young age. Earl had two brothers older than him which was Earnest and Theodore. Earl was very dedicated from a very young age. With his high school team he took them to a state championship and won. After high school Earl went off and took his talents to West Virginia State College. While Earl was there his sophomore year they went 33-0 which is a perfect season. Earl’s team won back to back CIAA conference championships and tournament championships.
Lewis, who was born in a time of rejection, shows that you can achieve your dreams if you want to. Even though he faced many road blocks to his career as a runner, he was still highly successful. He tried everything he could to make it happen, and in the end he did. He also showed how wrong people were of thinking that he was incapable because of his background. He completely changed racial barriers for the better in the sport’s world. Sadly, this wonderful person passed away on November 15, 2003, but that doesn’t mean his legacy doesn’t live on. Ray Lewis is an inspiring person who had a huge impact in the world just because of a simple dream, and that shows that everyone is capable of having an impact, if only you follow your dream.
Jackie Robinson, a famous black baseball player, proved to the world that just because you have a different skin color does not mean that you aren’t as good as someone with a different color skin. Jackie was the first black man to ever sign with and play for a team that was a part of the all-white major league baseball organization. He along with Branch Rickey, the manager of the dodgers who signed Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball and led the way for other talented Negro ball players to get into the majors.
Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908 in Texas; he was the oldest child of five other siblings. His father a farmer, Sam Ealy Johnson Jr, also represented the USA as a legislator was married to his mother, Rebekah Baines Johnson. Lyndon graduated from Southwest State Teachers College in 1930, today the school is known as Texas State University – San Marcus. To assist in paying for his education he took jobs teaching underprivileged Mexican-American students, it was during this time while talking and teaching he was exposed to discrimination and poverty, which made a deep
Jackie Robinson changed the way baseball is looked at by Americans. Also, he broke a huge barrier in American History. Robinson helped get rid of segregation. He also, is down as one on of the most respected men in baseball history. Not only a wonderful ball player, but also a wonderful man who went through so much and helped create a path for current and future African American baseball players.
Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.
Jackie Robinson’s ability to successfully integrate his sport set the stage for many others to advocate for an end to segregation in their respective environments. His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception of the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues, he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively, his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate.
Tupac Shakur was a Rapper and Actor. People known him for mostly rapping. He was a hip-hop legend with controversial and explicit lyrics. He was never afraid to speak the truth or what was on was his mind. He has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. This made him one of the best-selling music artist in the world.
One of NBA’s all time All Star favorites, Michael Jordan, was not just about basketball all his life. Experiences in his childhood and early teens brought him to that life. His actions as an adult got him to where he is now...a millionaire. Michael Jordan was one of the best basketball players who had some bumps in his life, but overcame them to become a successful man.
Rice was an incredibly driven man. He excelled in sports and became the starting line backer for the University of North Carolina until an injury damaged his career. While he was recovering from his injury his dad passed away; he was the man who gave him his competitive nature and knowledge on the importance of a positive attitude. To help him deal with his troubles, a friend introduced him to the guitar, jump-starting a passion for music that he did not know he had. Rice moved with his life and became a mascara pit crew member for Ryan Newman. This opened up an opportunity for him to use his talents singing during some of the pre-race ceremonies. After being a pit crew member, Rice became a star on the show Survivor: Nicaragua. Being the last person to be voted off, Rice learned a lot. He used Survivor as an opportunity to put his life in...
The question for my report is, What impact has Eddie George had on sports. Eddie George played a big role in the world of football. He and Steve McNair led the Tennessee Titans to the Superbowl, but they lost. Eddie George was 8, just another young kid on the neighborhood playground who fantasized about winning the Heisman Trophy, when his mother, Donna, began to get his life in the order she wants him to grow up in. "Eddie would never stop," said Donna's mother, Jean McCarthy, whose yard in suburban Abington Township, served as one of her grandson's playgrounds. "His friends would be saying, come on, Eddie, we gotta rest, we gotta rest, but Eddie would say, no, no, we gotta play, we gotta play. "He was always running," Jean McCarthy said. "No surprise to me he turned out to be a running back."(7)