Jackie Robinson's Football Career

Robinson would go on to attend UCLA, where he was the first athlete to receive a varsity letter for four sports. An article describing his accomplishments states this by saying, “In 1941, Jackie Robinson became the first athlete in the history of UCLA to letter in four sports (Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Track) in the same year” (“Hall of Famers”). Jackie was one of four black players on UCLA’s football team in 1939, which was abnormal, considering this was a time when very few black athletes played college football. Robinson won the 1940 NCAA Championship in the long jump. Surprisingly, baseball was the worst sport for him during his tenure at UCLA, hitting only .097 in his only season. UCLA is also where he would meet Rachel Isum, his future wife. However, Robinson would leave UCLA just before his graduation.
Jackie left UCLA in 1940, and one year later he began playing semi-professional football with the Honolulu Bears. However, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would end his football

birthed Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., better known as Muhammad Ali on January 17, 1942. Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and was also raised there. Being from the South, Ali faced racism as a young child, and all the way through his adolescence. Biography.com shows his toughness by saying, “At an early age, Muhammad Ali showed that he wasn't afraid of any bout — inside or outside of the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, he experienced racial prejudice and discrimination firsthand”. When Muhammad was young, a thief took a very important item from him. Author Sean Gregory describes the event by saying, “Clay discovered that his red-and-white Schwinn had been stolen. A white police officer named Joe Martin was downstairs, in a boxing gym, and a crying Clay reported the theft to him. Clay swore that we would beat up whoever took it” (Gregory). However, little did he know, this would lead to the beginning of a boxing