The means to a difference
"In the run-up to the election of a new president, rarely do we talk about something that kills 600,000 people a year"
When American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the world took notice.
When boxer Muhammad Ali publicly opposed the Vietnam War, refused induction into the Army in 1967, and was stripped of his heavyweight title and sentenced to five years in prison, Americans' jaws dropped.
The days of professional athletes and sports figures taking such critical political stands have become less frequent.
'With the amount of money that they are making now, there is something of a risk to take a political stand that may make them controversial and unpopular with one segment of the sports audience,' said Howard Wasserman, a law professor at Florida International University, who has studied the evolution of professional athletes as activists and is planning to write a book on the subject. Read more