This February, Sports Illustrated is celebrating Black History Month by spotlighting a different iconic athlete every day. Today, SI looks back on the legacy of Paul Robeson.
Paul Robeson was a true Renaissance man. He was an effective political activist. He was a world-renowned singer and actor. He was an All-America football player who also played in the precursor to the NFL. He won a dozen varsity letters at Rutgers and was the school's valedictorian. He was a trained lawyer who graduated from Columbia. "Beginning with his football days at Rutgers," SI's Jerry Kirshenbaum wrote in 1972, "Paul Robeson established himself as one of the most variously gifted men of his time.