-
Fritz Pollard
A highly successful football and track athlete, Fritz Pollard became the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl when he played for Brown University in 1916 and the first African American to coach in the National Football League in 1922. He assembled and coached the all-black Chicago Black Hawks team which became popular in the early 1930's.
He was selected halfback position on the All-America team in 1916, becoming the first African American to play a backfield. -
Jesse Owens
On this particular date, Jesse Owens shocked the world with his performance at the 1936 Summer Olmypics at Berlin. Owens's become legend, both for his brilliant gold-medal efforts in the 100-meter run, the 200-meter run, and the long jump. Even for a time, Owens held alone or shared the world records for all sprint distances recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. -
Jackie Robinson
jackie robinsonJackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. He later become one of the main figures in sports for african amercians. His debut game on April 15, 1947, marked the first time an African-American athlete played in the major leagues. Jackie Robinson never let any of the discrimination in the older days get to him. He overcame many obstacles by paving the way for others that would come after him. -
Althea Gibson
Althea was the first black tennis player to win Wimbledon in 1957 and the U.S. Open in 1958. Althea is most remembered for breaking the color barrier in professional tennis. She won a total of five Grand Slam titles. Besides from tennis Gibson was a professional golfer and was the first black female to join the LPGA. Later on she was conducted into the Prestigous Tennis Hall of Fame. -
Muhammed Ali
A brashful kid from Kentucky, would become Muhammad Ali, one of the most controversial, famous, and ultimately one of the most beloved public figures in the world. Clay became Muhammed Ali after his fight on Febuary 25, 1969 with Sonny Liston, which he then became the heavyweight champion of the world and a proud black muslim. -
Arthur Ashe
After years of training things finally came together in 1968, when the still-amateur Ashe shocked the world by winning the U.S. Open title. Two years later, he took home the Australian title, and in 1975 registered another upset by beating Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon finals. He didn't relish his status as the sole black star in a game dominated by white players, but he didn't run away from it either. -
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In 1969 Kareem turned pro playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. Just to give you a little background, he stood 7feet and 2 inches tall, so he was hard to miss on the court. Through his career he scored 38387 points a record that may never be broken and 3189 blocks. He won 6 NBA Most Valuable Player awards and appeared in 19 All Star games. Amazing! -
Jackie Joyner
One of the greatest female athletes in history, she won a silver medal in the heptathlon in the 1984 Olympics and gold medals in the 1988 and 1992 Games. She also won a gold medal in the long jump in 1988 and a bronze at the 1992 Olympics. Joyner-Kersee is the heptathlon world record-holder and American record-holder in the long jump. -
Micheal Jordan
One of the most loved, feared and famous basketball player of all time is Micheal Jordan. This guy was amzing and unstoppable on the basket ball court. The year of 1984 was the first year Jordan pplayed in the NBA but left to complete is college degree. He became rookie of the year and also won many gold medals during the olympics after he returned to the NBA. Now he one of the greatest if not the greatest basketball player ever. -
Lisa Leslie
<a href='http://youtu.be/-xjMFRfX4MY' >Lisa Leslie - First women's dunkAfter college Lisa went on to play for Team USA vfor several years because theere were no women’s pro basketball in the United States, so her goal was to stay sharp for the 1996 Olympics and make a few bucks along the way. In 2001, Lisa Leslie was the first WNBA player to win the regular season MVP, the All-Star Game MVP and the playoff MVP in the same season. In 2002, she was the WNBA all-time leading scorer and was named MVP of the WNBA Championship. Leslie was a member of the gold-winning U.S
