Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1919 to a sharecropping family. He moved to Pasadena, California, with his mother Mallie in 1920, Became very talented in five sports at Muir High School, and played baseball, basketball, and football at UCLA. While at UCLA he met Rachel Isum, his future wife, but had to leave college for business reasons in 1941. Robinson joined the Army in 1942, had an argument with authorities over discrimination, and was honorably discharged in 1944. Sixty years ago, Jackie Robinson became the first black player to play in a Major League baseball game.
At the high school national championships Jesse tied a world record in the 100 yard dash. He then went on to go the Ohio State University, where he began to dominate the sport. During his time at Ohio State Owens won eight individual NCAA Championships. Although he was extremely dominant at Ohio State he was still treated unfairly and experienced acts of racism. He was not allowed to eat with the team he could only attend “black only” restaurants.
After moving first to Westfield, the family finally settled in Somerville, New Jersey, in 1909, where William Robeson was appointed pastor of St. Thomas AME Zion Church. Robeson experienced both fame and racism during his college years. In trying out for the varsity football team, where blacks were not wanted he encountered physical brutality. In spite of this resistance Robeson not only earned a place on the team but was named first on the roster for the All-American college team. He graduated with 15 letters in sports.
When he had made the team in his junior year, he had won many awards. For example as a senior he was a McDonald’s All-American (Rupp 77-95). After his outstanding high-school career, he had enrolled into University of North California (Rupp 7). When he was a freshman, the first game he played, he started. During the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament Jordan made the game winning shot to win the championship in 1982.
Many children did not attend school as the older ones were made to work to bring food to the family table. My mother was born in 1938 and was the third youngest but her two younger sisters, Estelle and Rosa, died very young due to malnutrition and preventable childhood diseases. My mother was able to go to elementary school while her brothers and sister worked in whatever they could to sustain the family. My grandfather died in 1946 leaving behind two families of his own making. In 1948, my grandmother’s sister, Maria Torres, who had immigrated to the United States in 1929, paid a visit to Puerto Rico to see my grandmother and told her wondrous
In 1991, the Fab Five of Michigan University men’s basketball team impacted America’s traditions and morals. These five young, outspoken, rash African Americans not only stormed the court, but the media too. Making Americans question all that they knew, the Fab Five’s “us against the world” attitude and controversial decisions revolutionized basketball, for better or for worse, all while leaving behind a legacy of family and love. Coming off a championship season in 1989, the Michigan Wolverines acquired what is coined to be the best recruiting class in college history. In 1991, Michigan signed five of the nation’s top fifty high school recruits, and thus began the Fab Five era.
He rushed for a total of 2,628 yards in one season and crossed the line of the end zone 39 times(Nightingale, Dave). With 37 rushing touchdowns and two receiving. Before he became a start at Oklahoma State University he was a little well known punt and kick returner. After his stellar junior year in 1988 he was awarded the Heisman Trophy. Sanders was very humble when receiving the great award(Nightingale, Dave).
Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York, June 30, 1966. His father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, abondoned his family when Tyson was only 2, leaving his mother, Lorna Smith Tyson, to care for him along with Rodney, his older brother, and Denise, his younger sister. The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. Six years later, Tyson’s mother died. Tyson has been quoted saying; “I never say my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something.
Heisman Memorial Trophy The most prestigious award in college football The Heisman Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding college football player in the United States by the Heisman Trophy Trust of New York City. The name is in memory of an undersized player turned legendary coach of the early 1900’s, John Heisman. Heisman was an outsized 5’8’’ 158lb varsity football player at the University of Pennsylvania. After nearly losing his eyesight with a close call from lightening, he took his final exams orally and graduated with his law degree in the spring of 1892. Ready to continue with the game he loved, Heisman immediately got his first coaching job at Oberlin College and lead them to an undefeated 7-0 record in only the second year of the football program.
John “Jack” Kennedy was born the second of nine children on May 29th, 1917. At the time, the Kennedys lived on 83rd Beaks Street of Brookline Massachusetts. But the Kennedys would move several times before buying the house in Cape Cod Massachusetts that they would call home. As a boy, Jack was often sick, he was nearly killed by Scarlett Fever at the age of 4. Growing up in his older brother’s shadow, Jack would compete with his brother in sports, but not so much in education.