Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) once said that “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” And he did, over and over, in his boxing career and also in his personal life. He died this weekend at the age of 74, after accomplishing many things beside being a great boxer.
He was one of the three people I have called my heroes, along with Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and Billie Jean King. Ali once said “ Impossible is a big word thrown around by small men.” All three of these people stood for something along with being great athletes.
In 1967, he made a decision to not allow himself to be drafted by the US Army, saying: “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Kong.” Earlier in that year, a summit meeting was called in Cleveland by Jim Brown. Also included were Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor (and others). The purpose of that meeting was to try to talk the young Cassius Clay into not going up against the US Government on the draft issue and destroying his career. During that meeting, Clay talked the others into agreeing with him. Because of this decision, he lost three years at the height of his career, until 1970, when the Supreme Court allowed him to fight once again. He later regained his heavyweight championship two more times.
In 1967, I was in high school, knowing that if I didn’t go to college, I would get drafted and probably sent to Viet Nam. Cassius Clay made me believe that I could stand up for a principal, and I prepared to go to jail rather than be drafted. College became the option that I chose, and I wasted 2 ½ years of my life going to an overcrowded school and learning nothing. I always though jail would have been better, but I didn’t have the guts to do it.
I heard a quote this week, saying “ He made people brave for standing up for something.”
Even the people who photographed Ali inspired me. Neil Leifer was one of two photographers asked to shoot the Ali-Liston fight in 1965. He saw a lot of photographers on one side of the ring, so he went to the other side. Because of that decision, he got possibly the most iconic sports photograph of all time, Ali standing over the fallen Liston. All the other photographers can be seen behind the two men. Since I read about that night I always gravitate away from the “Pack” to find a different angle. It has worked many times.