“5.2 yards per carry, never missed a game, won the rushing title every year but
one; there was a lot of contenders but if you have to select one, you have to pick Jim
(Brown) as the greatest running back in history”- Bob Costas
Multi-media, press, and prevalent negative propaganda would leave one to
believe that Athletes are, besides accumulating points, only capable of drug abuse,
domestic violence and extortion. Being a collegiate student-athlete, at times I too have
fallen prey to such malicious stereotypes. However, what may not be read about in
daily periodicals nor seen on the nightly news, are the positive things that athletes do
outside of their respective sports. For example, the proceeds and efforts of African-
born professional basketball player, Dikembe Mutombo to his native village, are rarely
mentioned. One would be hard-pressed to find any information about Atlanta Falcons
running back Warrick Dunn’s “Single Mother’s Home Buyers Program”. Most
importantly, as successful as its curriculum has been, archives on Jim Brown’s “Amer-
I-Can Foundation” for advancement and self-esteem elevation, seemingly have been
esoteric.
Jim Brown is to running backs what Superman is to cartoons. Standing 6’2” and
packing a solid 230 pounds on a square-shouldered frame, he was an explosive
fullback. He played only nine seasons for he Cleveland Browns and led the NFL in
rushing eight times. Nevertheless, unlike most athletes, Brown retired when he was on
top. At age 30, he decided he’d rather star in movies than on the gridiron. When he
left the game before the 1966 season, no player had ever ran for as many yards as he
had (12,312) nor scored as many touchdowns. Yet and still football was not even his
best sport; he is the only athlete ever to be inducted into the halls of fame for
professional football, college football, and lacrosse.
Despite appearing in more than 32 movies and chartering the Negro Industrial
Economic Union to assist Black-owned businesses, he created the Amer-I-Can
program, in an effort to turn gang members from destructive to productive members of
the society. Through involvement in several in-prison and “aftercare” programs (i.e.
Vital Issues Project, Jobs Plus and Coors Golden Door), Brown an experienced
community-activist, recognized that in order to be successful in any type of retraining
or education, the attitude of the recipient was the key. Such programs addressed life
management skills, human development and self-esteem issues, which carried over to
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.
Ever since that day he has been a quarterback after his dad put him as one, and scored 4
The San Francisco 49ers drafted Jerry Rice in the first round. It was a really up and down season for Jerry but he slowly gained momentum throughout the year. In his second year he teamed up with a Football veteran Joe Montana. He caught 86 catches, with 15 touchdowns, and 1,570 receiving yards. Jerry Rice was really famous for his fitness level. Jerry Rice went on to play for 20
In 1972, he had a Passer Rating of 157.5 in a game. A rare perfect rating would be 158.3. In 1973, he had an amazing season where he brought the Broncos to their first ever winning season. That season he earned a First Team All-AFC, led the AFC in touchdown passes, and earned the Broncos offensive MVP. In 1974, he led the NFL in yards per pass attempt with 8.1 yards. In 1975, he played his final season and retired. He became the Broncos quarterback coach for the 1976 season, then retired from that right after. In 1977, the Broncos went to their first super bowl, the year after Charley Johnson retired. He ranks 7th in most touchdowns by a Broncos quarterback, and 9th in most yards. In 1986, Charley Johnson was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.
cornerback their ever was and it will be that way for awhile. That is why I picked Deion Sanders
Kenny started his career in sports at UCLA playing football and baseball (Bowen). In fact, he played baseball with Jackie Robinson at UCLA. However, when he graduated he decided to stick with football (Amaral). While he was at college, he made an outstanding record in rushing yards (Bowen). At the end of his college career, he had approximately 3,206 yards rushing (Amaral). Most running backs don’t average that many yards in their professional career! He also won an award for the best college
Brett Favre grew up idolizing a pair of Southern quarterbacks, the Saints' Archie Manning and the Cowboys' Staubach. He grew up in Kiln, Mississippi and went to high school in there. His high school, Hancock North Central, honored him this past May by re-naming the field, 'Brett Favre Field,' and unveiling a life-sized statue of the quarterback at the stadium's entrance. The school previously had retired his jersey, Number 10, in 1993. He stayed in the south to go to college where he went to Southern Miss. He became the starter at Southern Miss in his third game of his freshman season. Favre majored in special education. He led his Southern Mississippi team to 29 victories, including two bowl victories, during his four varsity seasons, 1987-90, and climaxed his collegiate career by earning a MVP award in the East-West Shrine game featuring the nation's best seniors. Favre set school records for passing yards (8,193), pass attempts (1,234), completions (656), completion percentage (53.2), touchdowns (55), and with only 35 interceptions. His production included five 300-yard passing games and five 3-TD performances, while his 7,695 regular-season passing yards ranked him among the top 30 of all-time NCAA passers. His 1.57 interception ratio in 1988 was the lowest among the 50 top-ranked passers in the nation, and his 2.9 interception rate for his four-year career also ranks as one of the best in NCAA history. Also he was the MVP of the All-American Bowl at the conclusion of his senior year. All those records and stats and that was only in college!!!
18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions after being traded to Green Bay, Coach Mike Holmgram had
...voted an All-American and served as co-captain in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.” (http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/huffsam.shtml) After attending West Virginia University for four years and being a key member on their football team, Huff’s talent took him further than the college level of football. His athletic ability made it possibly for him to have a shot in the National Football League. Huff was drafted in the third round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Huff continued his professional football career with the New York Giants until 1964 when the Washington Redskins offered him almost twice as much pay as the New York Giants did. Huff then retired in 1968.
Here are some of Barrys career achievements that he has done in the short time he has played the game. Which has made him such the over achiever that he is. 1988, won the Heisman Trophy Award for best player in the nation. 1989, lead the NFC in rushing and was Rookie of the Year. 1992, became the Lions' All-Time leading rusher. 1994, rushed for the fourth best NFL season record of 1,883 yards and included a 237 yards in week 11 vs. Tampa Bay. In 1996, became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in his first eight seasons, won the NFL rushing title, selected to the Pro Bowl for the eighth time and became the first player to rush for over 1,500 yards in three consecutive seasons.
In 1996 when he was playing for the Cowboys and Reds he felt miserable, he said, ”After scoring touchdowns and dancing in the end zone, after a stadium full of cheering fans had finally gone home, I was still empty inside.” Nothing was making him happy, he tried money, women, and just about everything.
That next junior year Michael made the varsity team and became the star player right away by putting up some outstanding numbers. But, in his...
According to the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS), there were over 40 million boys and girls participating in organized sports in 2008. With numbers like these, which continue to rise every year, it would certainly be of benefit to highlight the positives behind all this participation. This becomes especially important with the seemingly heavy media concentration on the opposing side of the fence where the negative tends to make a better news story. As a current physical educator and former coach, national champion, and parent of two Division I athletes, the positive aspects of athletic sports participation is a focus having deep meaning for me.
The moment we stepped foot into the hospital, I could hear my aunt telling my mother that “he is in a better place now”. At that moment, something had already told me that my dad was deceased; it was like I could feel it or something. I felt the chills that all of a sudden came on my arms. As my mother and grandmother were both holding my hand, they took me into this small room. The walls were white, and it had a table with four tissue boxes sitting on the top. My other grandmother was there, and so were my two aunts, my uncles, and
Tobacco has been used, enjoyed, and abused around the world for centuries. Originally tobacco was produced for pipe smoking and chewing (chewing tobacco). The first cigarette was made around the 1600’s, but didn’t become popular in America until the end of the Civil War. The invention of the Cigarette rolling machine in 1883 sparked a tremendous surge of production and sales of cigarettes around the world. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that health risks from long-term tobacco use became a real issue in the world. In 1966 the American Surgeon General demanded warning labels be put on cigarette cartons warning users the possible health risks associated with tobacco use. Tobacco use has been a growing epidemic in the United