It's not often enough in my opinion that athletes become true heroes, but to many, Tommie Smith represents a rare exception.
As some of the older readers may know, on October 16, 1968 Mr. Smith broke his own world record to become the 200 meter Olympic Champion. It wasn't so much the actual race that was important to history, but what was to transpire after. As Tommie and his teammate/Bronze medalist John Carlos took to the podiums, as the Star Spangled Banner began to play, they raised their fists while wearing black gloves to show their great support of the civil rights movement, and African American pride. This was surely a gesture heard around the world.
Soon after, Smith was banned by both the USOC, and IOC for life, so this would go on to be his only gold medal at the Olympic games, but the legacy he left behind was much more important than any award.
Since those games took place, Smith has played in the AFL for the Cincinnati Bengals, earned a doctorate in Sociology, coached track, and traveled our country to talk about human rights.
Tonight, he was at Uconn for a lecture at Laurel Hall. I got to the hall about 50 minutes to 5:00, which was the scheduled time for the event, and waited in the lobby for Mr. Smith to come in. It was almost 5:45 and there was still no sign of him, but I suddenly heard a door to the auditorium open, and out walked Tommie.
"Mr. Smith, could you please sign your autobiography?"
"Certainly! Of course I will!"
He was truly such a nice guy, and I also got him to sign a poster, which he inscribed multiple lines, without me even asking!
This was really one of my favorite 'graphing experiences, and even more importantly, I learned an awful lot during his lecture which I stayed for.
Book:
24x36 Poster, which he signed BEAUTIFULLY(This may be my new favorite piece):
Total Autographs for 2013:122
Top Autographs for 2013:
1)Tommie Smith 2)Rudy Giuliani 3)Sonia Sotomayor 4)Jim Rice 5)Jeff Bridges
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