It is nothing new for the Hall of Fame to hold these last rites of passage and omitt black athletes who speak out about the racism and politics that govern these institutions. There are Black Hall of Fames that follow their lead.
The NBA shunned the great basketball Coach Johnny McLendon before they finally inducted him in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a “CONTRIBUTOR” which he and many others including Dean Smith felt was a slap in the face. For example; Adolph Rupp of Kentucky was voted in as a “COACH”. Dean Smith who followed Johnny Mack was voted in as a “COACH” what made their contributions any significant than his? The “4 Corners Offense” was the brainchild of Coach McLendon, not Dean Smith.
Earl Lloyd was the first black to play in the NBA. He helped the Syracuse Nationals win a NBA championship and was the first black assistant coach and could have been the first black head coach, but the Detroit Pistons were not ready to lead the way. Red Auerbach stepped to the front of the line and named Bill Russell. The NBA ignored Earl’s contributions until I convinced Red Auerbach to join me in a campaign to get him elected in 2003. He went in the backdoor as a “CONTRIBUTOR”? Al Attles played in the NBA for 11 years and won an NBA Championship when he swept the Baltimore Bullets in 4 games in 1975. He was recently inducted as a “CONTRIBUTOR”??? Black coaches and players are made to feel like second class citizens when they are finally recognized! The Hall made super-star and pioneer Spencer Haywood who literally knocked down the doors alone forcing the merger of the NBA and ABA completely changing the salary structure. He had to wait close to 35 years for his induction because of his drug use. NBA Commissioner David Stern made him do “Community Service” that satisfied him before he could be inducted. Spencer was Community Service long before dozens of NBA players. The reason he was kept waiting was because of his drug use–hypocrites! The NBA Hall of Fame is overrun with drug abusers. The hall would be almost empty if that was the cretia for induction.
NFL greats, Roy Jefferson NFL Hall of Fame worthy, NFL Hall of Fame inductee Willie Wood (1989) and pioneer Johnny Sample is in the same waiting line as Buck, Curt and Maury.
Johnny Sample was an All-American RB at Maryland State Eastern Shore. He was the first player ever selected from a HBCU to play in the college All-Star Game against the NFL Champions. In his rookie season, he won an NFL championship ring with the Colts in their victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL Championship Game. A game now known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played”. In between, Sample won another championship in the 1959 NFL Championship Game, scoring a touchdown on a 42-yard interception return in the Colts 31-16 victory over the Giants.
He was the co-captain of the AFL New York Jets with QB Joe Namath when they pulled off the biggest upset in pro football history. The Jets were 18 point underdogs when they beat the Baltimore Colts 17-6 in Super Bowl III in 1969. Johnny is the only player in pro football history to win World Championships in two different leagues. After his playing career ended in 1970 he released a very outspoken autobiography, Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer. In 1977, he was inducted into the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawk Hall of Fame.
Noteworthy: The problem that Buck, Curt, and Johnny all face, there is no one in sports media with the balls to stand up and call these plantation type organizations out for the racist cowards that they are. They hide behind anonymity. Have we forgotten that is how the KKK hide behind their mask for decades riding in the dark of night burning homes and lynching Black Americans? If there are any Blacks associated with this group of cowards, they need to be tarred and feathered. How can a brother whose only vehicle was AM Radio, the weakness signal on the radio dial, campaign successfully for two pro athletes to be inducted into their hall of fames (Willie Wood & Earl Lloyd)? I will never forget when Willie Wood died I called several media personalities to see if they were going to write anything on the death of my friend. I was able to get only two of the five I called on the phone–the Atlantic’s Dave Aldridge (Dave wrote a story and attended the funeral) and USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. I have been knowing Jarrett since he first took the job as a writer for the paper. First, I asked if he was aware that Willie had died and his response was “Yes I am aware”. Remember this is a brother that I watched go from a writer to the title ‘NFL Editor for USA Today’. My next question, “Are you writing anything on his passing”? He said, ‘Man I am getting ready to go on vacation, I don’t have the time’! I could not believe my ears to what I was hearing what this brother was saying to me. People of color get very little credit for living in America and too many times there is no mention that they passed this way. If you know where Willie came from and how he got to where he arrived, you know this was not music to my ears. Jarrett Bell is not a rare bird in sports media he has become the NEW normal. Check me out FACE BOOK LIVE on Friday at 9 pm to continue this discussion.
BUCK O’NEIL WITH MR. CUB ERNIE BANKS
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THE GREAT CURT FLOOD AND THE EQUALLY GREAT TED WILLIAMS
CURT, HATTIE T AND AL ATTLES HANGING OUT TOGETHER IN SAN FRANCISCO
DC’S MAURY WILLS REVOLUCTIONIZE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WITH THE STOLEN BASE
MAURY WILLS FOUL OUT AS MANAGER OF THE SEATTLE MARINERS
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