"There was never a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker than Jackie Robinson."
-Branch Rickey, ex-GM of Brooklyn Dodgers |
"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're just wasting your life."
-Jackie Robinson |
Did you know that Jackie Robinson became the first athlete in the history of UCLA to letter in four sports? As you can see, Jackie was a lot more than just the man who broke baseball's color barrier. In the past century, there has been no other athlete more influential on other lives than him. He is and forever will be one of the most influential people in our history. He did much more than defy the odds, hate, and doubt that were against him. He served in the military, and showed us all that all men are, in fact, created equal.
It is pretty safe to say that Jackie Robinson was very influential in not only the people of his time, but in all of us. He was able to influence many people that blacks could, in fact, play in a white man's game. He also was able to influence many people around him that blacks really should deserve as much as the white men. Jackie was probably one of the most influential people in our history.