What would the world of sports be
without African-American Athletes? Where would the sports world be without,
Jackie Robinson? Earl Lloyd? Nat Clifton? Chuck Cooper? Willie O’Ree? Marion
Motley? Not very far I can tell you. These men were the pioneers of the sports
that we watch today. They led the way for black athletes all across the country
to incorporate the African-American race into sports.
The first major sport to be officially
integrated was the NFL (National Football League). Prior to 1944 there were no
blacks in the NFL. In 1946 a man named Marion Motley became the first
African-American to play in an all white professional football team. Motley was
born in Leesberg, Georgia. Motley attended high school at McKinley High in
Canton, Ohio, where he was not given football pads or an football uniform.
Instead of giving up he decided to play without pads he would compete in
practices without wearing any football pads at all, and he would still run over
the boys he was playing against. After attending the University of Nevada,
Motley was signed by the Cleveland Browns in 1946. He had a long career in the
NFL, and in 1968 he was inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame,
and was included in 1994 on the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time
Team. A study was done in 1998, and has provided that 65% of all NFL players
now are African-American.
The second sport to be officially
integrated was the MLB (Major League Baseball). Before 1946 there was not a
single African-American in the “White MLB”. The first man to break this color
barrier in baseball was Jackie Robinson, who was born on January 31, 1919 in
Cairo, Georgia. Jackie Robinson was not only a baseball standout he also was
the first UCLA athlete in their history to letter in four different sports
(baseball, football, basketball, and track). Robinson was drafted into World
War II, and was soon promoted too Second Lieutenant. He was then soon given an
honorable discharge from the United States Army to play baseball. While
Robinson was with the Dodgers in Brooklyn they won 6 pennants in 10 years.
Jackie Robinson also had some awards for himself; he stole home plate 19 times,
he was the NL MVP in 1949, he was an All-Star from 1949 to 1954, and was
elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. It was not an easy opportunity
for African-American athletes to brake the color barrier in sports but like
Jackie Robinson says in this quote they are not fighting for something
extraordinary they just want their basic rights, “I don’t think that I or any
other Negro, as an American citizen, should have to ask for anything that is
rightfully his. We are demanding that we just be given the things that are
rightfully ours, and that we’re not looking for anything else.” In 1998 15% of
all MLB players were African American, a huge leap from 1946.
The first African-American to sign
a training camp contract with a team in the NBA (National Basketball
Association) was Harold Hunter, when he signed a contract with the Washington
Capitals but was soon cut from the team and never played in an official NBA
game. The first African-Americans to play in an NBA game were Earl Lloyd, Nat
Clifton, and Chuck Cooper in 1951. Like Jackie Robinson these men faced many
obstacles including racial slurs, threats, and even fans spitting on them. Earl
Lloyd’s story was compared to Jackie Robinson’s and he soon responded with, “I
don’t think my situation was anything like Jackie Robinson’s – a guy who played
in a very hostile environment, where even some of his own teammates didn’t want
him around. In basketball, folks were used to seeing integrated teams at the
college level. There was a different mentality. But of course, the team did
stay and eat in some places where I wasn’t welcome. I remember Fort Wayne,
Indiana, we stayed at a hotel where they let me sleep, but they wouldn’t let me
eat. They didn’t want anyone to see me. Heck, I figured if they let me sleep
there, I was at least halfway home. You have to remember, I grew up in
segregated Virginia, so I had seen this stuff before. Did it make me bitter?
No. If you let yourself become better, it will eat at you inside. If adversity
doesn’t kill you, it makes you a better person.” Now more than 77% of
professional basketball players are African-American.
The last major sport to be integrated with African-Americans was the NHL (National Hockey League). Even today the NHL has the least amount of African-American athletes of all major sports. But in 1950 a native of Canada named Willie O’Ree (Known as “The Jackie Robinson of Hockey”), made his first appearance in the NHL with the Boston Bruins in 1958. O’Ree only played one season in the NHL before playing in multiple Canadian minor leagues. One other interesting thing about O’Ree was that he competed all 21 years of his career in the NHL and Canadian minor leagues with 95% vision loss in his right eye. After O’Ree left the NHL there was not another African-American player in the NHL until 1974. Willie O’Ree was the recipient of many awards and honors including:
-New Brunswick Sports Hall Of Fame Inductee (1984)
-Breitbard Hall of Fame in San Diego Hall of Champions
(2008)
- Lester Patrick Award for Outstanding Service to Hockey in
the US (2003)
- Inaugural Recipient of Bill Walsh Champion of Change Award
(2007)
- Order of New Brunswick (2005)
- Fredericton, New Brunswick City Council named new hockey
arena after O’Ree (January 2008)
These
African-American athletes helped lead the way for many of these athletes but
not limited too; Magic Johnson, Tiger Woods, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordon, Kareem
Abdul-Jabar, Reggie Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, Barry Bonds, Kobe Bryant, Lebron
James, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Jesse Owens, Jerry Rice, Willie Mays, Mike
Tyson, Serena and Venus Williams, Wilma Rudolph, Bo Jackson, Carl Lewis, Wilt
Chamberlain, Condredge Holloway, and Cam Newton. These athletes have had a major impact on the world of sports.
Here is a list of a couple of African-American athletes to
win:
-The Kentucky Derby – Oliver Lewis (1875)
-World Cycling Championship – Marshall Taylor (1899)
-Summer Olympics Gold Medal – John Taylor (1908)
- World Heavyweight Boxing Championship – Jack Johnson
(1908)
- First Starting QB in the NFL – Willie Thrower (1953)
- Wimbledon Tennis Champion – Althea Gibson (1957)
- Professional Bowling Association Championship – George
Branham III (1985)
- Major Golf Champion – Tiger Woods (1997)
- Chess Grandmaster – Maurice Ashley (1999)
- Winter Olympics Gold Medalist – Shani Davis (2006)
Bibliography:
Rutgers
Baseball Hall of Fame
Ferris State University
NHL Community
Trinity College
Smith.edu
Black Past
Bibliography:
Rutgers
Baseball Hall of Fame
Ferris State University
NHL Community
Trinity College
Smith.edu
Black Past