As everyone remembers Jackie Robinson’s legacy today, don’t forget that if it wasn’t for racism, a hurt ankle and a world war, he may very well have done something that is even more mindblowing.

A thread.

First of all, don’t forget that Jackie Robinson was NOT the first Black Major League Baseball player.

William White played a single game but he “passed” for white.

And then there was the Walker Brothers.

William & Weldy Walker were smart AF. Their father was one of the first Black doctors in Ohio. William “Fleet” Walker got into Oberlin college and started playing for the intramural team. He was so good, that the school STARTED AN INTERCOLLEGIATE BASEBALL TEAM

So, William called his brother to come play at Oberlin. Fleet & his brother were playing semi-pro and eventually made the major leagues.

When they played the Chicago team, the owner/coach Cap Anson had played against Fleet and refused to let his team play .

A few years later, when the AL & NL decided to play this little thing called the “World Series,” Anson agreed, as long as he both leagues agreed have to NEVER allow Black players.

One white man’s spire had drawn the color line.

So when Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, he was not the first, but…

There’s a part of Robinson’s life we never talk about. See, if you had told most people who knew him that he’d be a pro Baseball player, they would have laughed their asses off.

He just wasn’t that good.

Don’t get me wrong, he was better than 99.9 percent of the people who ever played the sport but he was WAAAAY better at other sports.

For instance, he was one of the best tennis players in the country. He was a track star (To be fair, his older brother won Olympic Silver…

After finishing second to some dude named Jesse Owens)

He won the 1940 NCAA championship in the long jump.

He started on the UCLA Basketball team

He led the UCLA football team to an undefeated record.

Baseball was his WORST sport (again, he was better than most)

For instance, when he played on a regional all-star team, the papers said he was probably the best player on the team, which was a compliment, considering his teammates included Ted Williams, generally considered the best hitter in MLB history.

Now here is where we have to diverge for a second. Remember how the MLB was integrated and THEN it segregated before reintegrating?

Well, the NFL did the same thing. Black players played in the 1920s & 30s but in 1933, something happened.

NFL teams could sign any college player, which was unfair to teams in racist Southern cities.

Especially since one owner wanted to become the first franchise in the “South.”

So in 1933, the NFL came up with a solution.

They banned Black players.

With no Black prospects to give northern teams an advantage, the owner of the Boston Braves moved his team, making it the NFL’s Southernmost team. He also gave it the most racist name possible to make it (I’m not kidding) the official team of segregation:

The Washington Redskins

Anyway, Jackie wasn’t too concerned. He was playing in the Negro Leagues, which was kind of a side hustle for Robinson, because, many people considered him to be one of the best football players in the country.

While playing in the Negro leagues, He was also playing semi-pro but his games had more fans than some NFL games. Remember, the NFL was all white

You can argue all day about the MLB vs the Negro Leagues but NOBODY would argue that an all-white NFL was any good

Y’all, if you read the description of Robinson’s semi pro football games, the only thing you could conclude is that he is the greatest player you’ve never seen or somebody’s lying.

In one game, he ran an interception back for a TD, ran for a TD and threw a touchdown!

Then something called Pearl Harbor happened. When he returned to the gridiron, he SHOWED OUT. Look at these stats.

Remember, he left the game after a quarter…

Also, did I mention he had been TO WAR?

But in that game, he hurt his ankle, which was really disappointing because the NEXT game was the one everyone wanted to see. He was playing against 1 of the few players who was on Robinson’s level.

Remember when Robinson played for UCLA?

Well that team played in the Rose Bowl against USC and was one of the most integrated teams in college football. One of Robinson’s backfield teammates led the NATION in total offense and started on defense. In college, Robinson was considered the better football player

Robinson’s teammate wasn’t even gonna play college football . He was supposedly offered a contract to play baseball but turned it down because he didn’t want to play in Puerto Rico with the minor league affiliate of…

The Brooklyn Dodgers

By that time, the Cleveland Rams had moved to LA & was scheduled to play in LA Coliseum. But Sportswriter & ex negro league player Halley Harding was like:

“Y’all ain’t puttin no segregated team in a stadium built with my tax dollars”

So on March 21, 1946 Kenny Washington, Jackie Robinson’s college teammate, reintegrated the NFL after turning down the Dodgers

And here is the CRAZY part.

Some people say that Jackie Robinson would have broken the color barrier in football@if he hadn’t hurt his knee

Others say he wouldn’t have broke it for one reason:

See, in college Jackie was kind of a hothead… until he got into it with a racist cops and received a suspended sentence

Washington, however was laid back and could take the racist abuse

I just think it’s interesting that, if not for Hitler, racism & a bad attitude, Robinson might have broken the NFL’s color barrier.

And, if not for an ankle, Hitler & his attitude, Kenny Washington may have broken BASEBALL’s color barrier.

In any case, there’s an argument to be made that Jackie Robinson wasn’t just the most important athlete in American Sports, if he was allowed to play, he might have been the greatest ATHLETE in history.

PS: Just in case you thought I was kidding about the Washington team being the official franchise of racism, I forgot to add this:

PS: it’s Moses Fleetwood Walker