Profiles In Courage

I suppose I will always love sports, but my interest wanes every year. Among the biggest names in sports these days are stories of dogfighting for dollars and recordbreaking through chemistry. And many of the athletes seem to have no joy in their professions, but a simple desire for attention and money.

There was a time that at least some athletes would make personal sacrifices on principle. Now a university that once seemed principled is asking for unprecedented benefit for fringe athletes who hired strippers, didn't like them and hurled racist taunts at them that were overheard by neighbors. Yeah, sports have become an embarrassing mess where the lessons of teamwork and dedication are completely overshadowed by selfishness and greed.

The enablers say that athletes can't make sacrifices because it might cost them enormous sums of money. Truth is, they can't do it because they are unable to do something selfless and that doesn't come with a large check. So before parents spend a dime on Michael Vick, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds or Lebron James jerseys, take a stroll down memory lane, when courage and sacrifice existed. Find a way to honor a real hero.

JRR42's Top 10 Most Courageous Big-Time Athletes:

10. Fritz Pollard
The first black player and coach in the NFL, the undersized Pollard endured outrageous treatment because of his race. Following the Depression, the NFL did not allow a black player for 13 years, yet all the while Pollard fought for reintegration. In 2005, long after Pollard's passing, he was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

9. Roberto Clemente
The first great Latin player of note in Major League Baseball, Clemente was an All-Star and hit .312 for the Pirates in 1972. He finished the season with his milestone 3,000th hit. But on the following New Years Eve, he died in a plane crash at sea while trying to ensure relief aid was delivered to earthquake survivors in Nicaragua.

8. Tommie Smith
One of the world's greatest all-around sprinters, Smith won the 200-meter dash gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and responded with a Black Power salute with bronze-medalist John Carlos during the medal ceremony. Smith was also barefoot at the time, which was meant to bring attention to poverty. White America lost its mind in reaction.

7. Curt Flood
After being traded to the Phillies 12 years into his career, Flood refused the deal for reasons that included his perception of the Philadelphia fans as racist. He sent a letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn demanding to be named a free agent as he "did not feel [he was] a piece of property." He would sue Major League Baseball, challenging its reserve clause. He lost the suit and his career.

6. Pat Tillman
Leaving a lucrative career with the Phoenix Cardinals in 2002, Tillman joined the United States Army in response to the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001. Tillman and his brother Kevin were deployed to Afghanistan, where Pat was killed by friendly fire in 2004, becoming the first pro football player to be killed in combat since Bob Kalsu died in Vietnam in 1970.

5. Joe Delaney
A Pro Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1982, Delaney responded to cries of young boys in Monroe, La., in 1983. Despite being unable to swim, he jumped into a pond to save three boys from drowning. Delaney managed to save a six-year-old, but perished with the two older boys. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizen's Medal and the NCAA Award of Valor.

4. Arthur Ashe
Unable to play against white players as a child, Ashe became the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event, but made more of an impression with his courageous efforts as a civil rights supporter. Ashe, who died of AIDS in 1993, once said, "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever the cost."

3. Billie Jean King
Unsatisfied with the meager payouts to women's professional players, King led the effort to found the first women's tennis tour in 1970. One of the sport's greatest players, she became the first female to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. She famously beat Bobby Riggs in a nationally televised 'Battle of the Sexes' and graciously endured being 'outed' as a lesbian by a former lover.

2. Muhammad Ali
The 'Sportsman of the Century' by both Sports Illustrated and the British Broadcasting Corporation, Ali lost three-and-a-half years of his career as a conscientious objector. An outspoken Muslim, whether he'd ever be licensed to fight again was certainly in question. Of course, he did, defeating the likes of Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way. Ali may be the most famous athlete on the planet.

1. Jackie Robinson
It wasn't his way to take undeserved hatred quietly, but Robinson had the courage to do just that to benefit every African-American baseball player who would follow him into the major leagues. He was certainly the most fierce of competitors and his performance led him to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but Robinson's greatest gift was his silent sacrifice to bring about social justice.

Look for JRR42's Most Inspirational Athletes Committed To Service in the near future. If you think I got this list wrong or you want to suggest inspirational athletes, email me.

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