Using Dave Zirin's "Pre-Game" as a source, you will write a 6-page argument that explores how American athletes political ideologies were either accepted or rejected by the general public. Ask yourself if the athletes' political views were popular at the time and in your opinion should they have used their platforms to speak out on social issues or kept quiet. What were the results? Did Americans eventually adopt the athletes' cause(s)? Briefly mention the political climate in America at the time of the controversy.

      Should athletes speak out on social/political issues is the basis of your argument? Does the public gain or the athlete lose credibility and lucrative endorsements for speaking out?

     This is not the space to share the biography of the athlete. Do not waste time writing about where the athlete was born and raised. 

    You will select four athletes from this list to explore what sports critics/sports columnists/ political leaders, team owners said about the athletes who decided to enter politics or who fought for a specific political stance. You will add a fifth American athlete of your own choice and include at least six outside sources from newspapers, magazines.

Select any four from this list:

Caitlyn Jenner (aka Bruce Jenner)

Muhammad Ali 

Colin Kapernick

Billie Jean King

Herschel Walker

John Carlos (1968 Mexico Olympics)

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jesse Ventura

Jackie Robinson

Bill Bradley

You will need a thesis statement

Proper use of MLA in-text citation

At least two direct quotes from each athlete from previously published interviews.

Six additional outside sources – from sports columnists, team owners, politicians who supported or opposed the athletes' cause.

Concise topic sentences.

Proper use of the quotation formula discussed in class

Proper MLA  format

Works Cited Reference