It’ll Never Be The Same Again
Recently, NFL legend Jim Brown caused a stir for some comments he made in an interview with Bryant Gumbel on HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ about the lack of social activism from arguably the world’s two most well-known athletes: Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
Woods responded by pointing to his involvement in the Tiger Woods Foundation, a youth-empowerment organization which, according to its 2008 report, has reached an estimated 10 million youths since its inception in 1996 and has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships through the Earl D. Woods Scholarship program.
Regardless of whether or not one feels Brown has the right to publicly bash the involvement, or lack thereof, of today’s athletes in social causes, there can never be any debate over Brown’s status as one of the most vocal social activists the sports world has ever seen. During a time when the issue of equality for minorities in all facets of life was the most important issue facing America, athletes such as Brown, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and Lew Alcindor (see above) were not only vocal in their stances, but made it a point to show solidarity at every turn regardless of the backlash they may have received.
One such instance occurred in 1967 when Ali refused enlistment into the U.S. military based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the war in Vietnam. Russell told his side of the story to Sports Illustrated at the time, and even today, it gives a glimpse into the minds of a group of true revolutionary thinkers.
