Major League Baseball’s Howard Cosell: Vox clamantis in deserto

Major League Baseball, like most large institutions, tends to change slowly. That was indeed true in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. But it did change, and for the better; one reason is the moral outrage of Howard Cosell.

Major League Baseball and sports commentator Howard Cosell was one of the most polarizing non-world leaders to live in the long-ago twentieth century. And even that is too mild of a statement about the man.

Most viewers of MLB games he called loved to hate him. But those who knew what he had fought for at least respected him.

And that is because Howard did what most of us hope we will do in this situation: See clearly that there are injustices and then use our power and influence to change them. Even at significant personal and professional risk.

Howard Cosell did that. And not just once, but every time —  almost never was that help directed at people who shared his skin color or religion. He didn’t even have to like the person. But injustice is blind, and so was Howard Cosell to anything other than common cause.

The Chains that Bind

Of course most people today link Howard with Muhammad Ali, with good reason. Here is a brief synopsis of that struggle. First from Chris Ross at ABC Sports online:

In 1967, Ali declared himself a conscientious objector and refused to step forward to be drafted by any branch of the United States Armed Services. As a result, he was stripped of his World Heavyweight title, ridiculed by the press and prosecuted by the government.

And this from the excellent Chad Finn of the Boston Globe:

It was Cosell’s support of Ali during the tumultuous ’60s that was the sturdy backbone of their relationship. In serious matters, Cosell had Ali’s back, even when it was an unpopular stance. At a time when the likes of legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin was referring to Ali as “a Muslim and a bedbug,’’ Cosell was unsuccessfully petitioning vice president Spiro Agnew to reconsider Ali’s ban from the ring.

Here is what Cosell said, as later repeated by the Washington Post: 

“What the government did to this man was inhuman and illegal under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments,” Cosell said at the time. “Nobody says a damned word about the professional football players who dodged the draft. But Muhammad was different; he was black and he was boastful.”

The Champ Is Here

And finally two quotes from Ali himself, the first via Finn:

Wrote Ali in his 1975 autobiography, “The Greatest: My Own Story”: “Cosell, whom I have known since my first victory over Liston, is described by many of my friends as my ‘announcer opponent.’ But when I was barred from the ring, Cosell was one my most persistent defenders. He had a commercial with a tag line that went, ‘If you don’t believe Muhammad Ali is the champ, get in the ring with him.’ ”

And now back to the W. Post:

“Howard Cosell was a good man and he lived a good life,” Ali told the Associated Press after hearing of Cosell’s death. “I have been interviewed by many people, but I enjoyed interviews with Howard the best. I hope to meet him one day in the hereafter.’ “ You can probably see that the one-time lawyer Cosell was as much offended at the twisting of the law as the way it is being twisted here. Howard was the first broadcaster to call Muhammad by his chosen name. That and his long-standing defense of Ali certified his credentials for many as a man who would fight in the just cause. And Cosell carried his conscience wherever he went. That was evident in the 1968 Olympic Games, held in Mexico. Next: South of the Border Running for Their Lives Under normal circumstances, the XIX Olympiad would be remembered for debuts and records. The Fosbury Flop, or perhaps the bounding Bob Beamon, should still resonate, for instance. But not that of 1968. Then, two American runners—John Carlos and Tommie Smith—decided to make a simple, yet powerful show of protest about the racial inequalities rife in the United States at the time. They knew one of them was likely to win the 200-meter race. And indeed Smith finished first with Carlos third. As they stood in their respective places on the winner’s podium and the Star Spangled Banner played, each man bowed his head and raised his black-glove covered fist. It was a statement of pride and defiance. And it was a signal of solidarity with every oppressed and/or like-minded person in their global audience. Smith and Carlos stood on the stand with no shoes, their feet only in black socks. As the national anthem began, both bowed their heads and raised their fists, covered with the black gloves, in the air. Tommie Smith had a black scarf around his neck and John Carlos wore beads. The entire world saw this cry for freedom. Friends and foes certainly took it as such. Entering a Larger World Whether they knew it or not, the two became bigger spokespersons for causes they were not really fighting. They also became more prominent villains to a system they didn’t hate as much as people projected on to them. But some part of them had to have expected at least this effect: The International Olympic Committee board met the very next morning. They threatened to disqualify the whole track team for the remainder of the games. The decision was made to send Smith and Carlos home and ban them from the Olympic games for life. But it is what they did when they left that podium that concerns us here. Next: The Heart of the Matter 22nd October 1968: Olympic medal-winning, Afro-American athletes for the 400 meters (from left to right) Lee Evans (gold), Larry James (silver), and Ron Freeman (bronze). The three wear black berets in sympathy for their suspended compatriots Tommie Smith Real Unity These two men, both black and proud and signaling it loud, walked off the stage and past an entire world’s worth of reporters, some of whom were not white, and directly to Howard Cosell. He was the only one in the media they spoke with that day, and seemingly for the next day or so. Immediately afterwards, in an interview with Howard Cosell, Smith explained the symbolism in their protest: “My raised right hand stood for the power in black America. Carlos’s left hand stood for the unity of black America. Together, they formed an arch of unity and power. The black scarf around my neck stood for black pride…black socks with no shoes stood for black poverty in racist America. The totality of our effort was the regaining of black dignity.” Smith and Carlos have been asked about that many times, why they chose Cosell exclusively. I have heard them myself on an old Cosell documentary that might be out of circulation. In it, Smith explains that they did not think Howard had the right answers. No, it was that they could trust him to ask the right questions. Here is Smith some years later:  “In terms of fairness, he was number one because he let the athlete tell it like it was,” Smith said. “That was his character. Telling it like it was for them. There was even his famous close, ‘And that’s the way it is. I am Howard Cosell.” There is only one person who can be categorized in his division. It is Howard Cosell.” Next: On to Oberlin Tough but Fair Cosell’s interview style was provocative and aggressive, but it wasn’t meant to intimidate the interviewee. Nor did he ask loaded questions or those aimed at creating more controversy. No, he asked the most direct and penetrating questions about the issue in a direct and piercing way. And that gave the athlete a chance to answer the whole world. For instance, if you have time, watch this video. This was at a time when Cosell was the most prominent sports broadcaster in the world. And how did he use his fame and power? By continuing to highlight positive social change and bring attention to change that still needs to come. Here he has decided to shine his light on Oberlin College. They had just hired an African-American head coach for their predominately white college and football team. This was at a time when no major college that was not traditionally and primarily for African-Americans, such as Grambling, would hire a black head coach. What is also of interest was the process. The president of the college allowed the student-athletes to participate in the decision making. And this mostly-white group in the early 70’s, at their mostly-white college, makes it clear that the only concern they have is finding the best coach. Of course, they must have known their choice meant more than that, but again, they didn’t care. Justice, like charity, begins in the home. Next: Back to Baseball This is Howard Cosell But if you don’t have time for the entire piece, please at least watch the opening and closing monologues, because that will bring us back to baseball. Most people don’t associate Howard Cosell with Major League Baseball; more’s the pity, because he brought the same sense of outrage at injustice to his coverage and commentaries of this sport as he did to any of the others. For instance, if you listened to his closing diatribe from the video, you heard him say this, in part: “26 years, for instance, since Jackie Robinson came into the big league and still no major league black manager…It’s enough to make one wonder.” These are all, “Questions that I think we as citizens have to wrestle with if we believe in what we say our country is.” Yet, some of these comments are not related to the topic at hand. The piece was about the hiring of an African-American head coach. Those distinctions did not matter to Cosell, though, as the most important thread of his life was not sports but social justice. Biographer John Bloom put it this way:  “(Cosell) understood that society and history and culture were not distractions from sports but were the very things that made sports, and entertainment in general, meaningful.” And he once again put his money where his mouth was in Curt Flood. Next: Indentured Servitude (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) Flood as Noah Curt Flood is one of the most important figures in modern baseball history, and one of the least remembered. When he started playing ball full-time at the MLB level in 1968, there was no such thing as free agency. Owners had complete control of players’ careers and could pay them or not, play them or not, according to their selfish desires. Under this system, great players like Joe DiMaggio could hold out for more money while the very good at least got local benefits, such as commercials, appearance fees, and the nightly bar benefit of being a baseball hero. The average to below kept their heads down and their yessah boss attitude at all times. Brer Rabbit That was not good enough for CF Curt Flood, and so he challenged MLB’s system. Again a quick overview should suffice. In 1969, Flood was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. At the time, all Major League Baseball players were subject to the reserve clause, which essentially bound a player to work in perpetuity for his original team, unless traded for another player or sold for cash, in which case he worked under the same reserve conditions for the next team. Flood refused the trade on a matter of principle, arguing that Major League Baseball had violated both U.S. antitrust laws and the 13th Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude. In a defiant letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn asking for his contractual release, Flood infamously wrote, “after twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.” Most significantly, Flood appeared on national television with Howard Cosell and described himself as a “well-paid slave.” Explosive controversy ensued. Faced with this, Flood fought for what he thought was right; would that we all did the same. Pyrrhic Victory He went on to lose the battle but help win the war, at least the war for the rest of the players. While he lost his lawsuit, the reserve clause he fought against was finally abandoned in 1975. This from Flood’s lawyer at the time, Marvin Miller; the Snyder referenced is lawyer Brad Snyder: “The question is, without the lawsuit, how much longer would it have taken to get impartial arbitration of grievances,” Miller told me. “Once we had that, it was only a question of a year or two before we were able to get rid of the reserve clause.” Snyder believes Flood’s case was critical in turning public opinion, and even the opinions of some of the game’s stars at that time, about the rights of athletes to be free agents. “You can’t connect the dots, and point to how the legal fight led to free agency,” said Snyder. “But he changed the temperature of the public opinion.” Free agency brought millions to players. Free agency was implemented, without which the Yankees do not win a World Series in the 70’s. But for Flood, the lawsuit ended his career. Unwanted for the 1970 season, his skills were too eroded and his desire also diminished by hate to be useful again. He played 13 games the next season for the Washington Senators and manager Ted Williams and retired immediately after. Next: A Brother from Another Mother Flood’s Corner Man For his sacrifice and courage, Flood is apparently the hero of this story. But he found an ally in Howard Cosell, and that a powerful one. This was at a time when Cosell was only tangentially associated with the great game, although he had started his career with a tape recorder at Mets’ Spring Training roughly a decade earlier. However, that did nothing to reduce his ardor in this cause. Most sportswriters at the time attacked his assertion that the reserve clause made him feel like a slave. When Howard Cosell asked him how someone earning $90,000 a year, one of the top salaries in the game at the time, could feel like a slave, he responded, “A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.” A Course Correction In fairness, I must push back against the slavery characterization. While the difference for the life of the player with and without free agency is tangentially related, the statement is not. I understand that he is engaging in the verbiage of his opponents and of the time, but there is too vital of a difference: Slaves don’t have choices. Flood chose to bring the lawsuit and had career opportunities inside and out of baseball. He married who he would and lived wherever he could afford. I won’t belabor the point, but it is essential to make. And that is because there were then and there are still now real slaves. Most of them are female and brown, and they don’t have choices. I cannot and will not demean these people and their terrible plight with facile comparisons by any person, no matter the righteousness of the cause. Say it Loud Still, Flood’s overall point is incredibly valid, which was evident to Cosell. Flood’s cause became his cause, even to the point of testifying against baseball at the trial. How much did Cosell influence the eventual removal of the reserve clause? I don’t know. Perhaps he moved the needle a bit. But it was the more intimate help that resonates the most. When you fight for a cause, you can feel so alone. And anyone who supports you brings comfort to the bosom of your love and manna for the soul…and some additional strength to keep finding the courage of your convictions. This is what Judy Pace Flood, Curt’s widow, said just last year:  “It was a devastating situation for Curt, but he knew in his heart that he had to do go through with it,” she said. “It was the principle. He used to say, ‘This is worth more than $100,000 a year’ – which was about the amount of salary he was forfeiting.” “[Curt] was in a state of absolute nerves and jitters. He would say, ‘the anxiety is worse than being in the World Series because at least you know what you’re up against in the World Series.” Pace also recalled Flood being buoyed by the support he’d received during the trial from teammates Lou Brock, Dal Maxvill and Bob Gibson, and from other players, like Richie Allen, from around baseball. She said he was comforted by the full-throated support of legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell throughout the proceedings, as well. Next: The Mouth That Roared (Photo by Reg Burkett/Express/Getty Images) It takes a Village And that is perhaps the best and most enduring legacy of Howard Cosell. He was not the hero; men such as Ali and Flood and Tommie Smith were the heroes of their own stories, as Dickens encouraged us all to be. Nor did his help prevent John Carlos from being banned, or get Ali reinstated before his court date. And it certainly did not stop baseball from blackballing Flood. The most we can say is that when these brave men stood up, putting their careers and sometimes lives in jeopardy, Cosell stood with them, and for them. And while he did not face the kind of banishment they did, he was still taking risks. His bosses could not have been happy at all the anti-establishment rhetoric. And even if they were, some fans were not; once again back to the Post: He also came under frequent attack from viewers, perhaps never more so than when he defended Ali after the New York State Boxing Commission stripped Ali of his title in 1967, when the boxer claimed conscientious objector status for the draft. ABC was deluged with hate mail and telephone calls, including several threats on his life. Cosell once described some of the letters as making the request to the network to “get that nigger-loving Jew bastard off the air.” One is the Loneliest Number Cosell was often alone in these fights among his peers and network employers. And they could have flushed his career down the toilet. I sense that he knew as much but felt it worth the risk as others were risking so much more. And maybe his help buoyed the spirits of these other combatants. Just the fact that one important voice, and white establishment face, was keeping these powerful messages of truth alive must have helped some. In Flood’s case, we know that it did. But I will wrap this up with a look at one of the most famous comments ever made by Howard Cosell as it stands as an assault on his legacy. Next: What Does Equality Sound Like Conclusion Jumping is Not an Olympic Sport In 1983 he made the following remark as he watched Redskins running back Alvin Garret, who is an African-American:  “[head coach] Joe Gibbs wanted that kid, and that little monkey gets loose doesn’t he.” Does that seem racist to you? Do you want to condemn the man as publicly pretending to be a hero while secretly being a villain? It’s what many people did then, and would do even faster in our modern world of Twitter. But what some suspected but could not prove in the first few days after the nationally televised remark was that Howard probably used the expression with other players and perhaps beloved family members. Eventually, researchers were able to produce many instances, the below but two of them: In 1972 Howard Cosell said, “That little monkey — you know, the theorem was that he was too small for pro football” referring to white Kansas City Chiefs running back Mike Adamle… In 1982, Cosell called white Atlanta Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard a “little monkey” while praising his fielding skills, saying “That little monkey can really pick it.” Later, once interviewed, his family including his now-grown grandkids were able to confirm what Howard always said, that he used that term as one of affection with them on a regular basis. However, that is not the reason for including this episode. Next: We Will All Hang Together, or We Will All Hang Separately Come Together, Right Now, Over Me While the whole world was ready to condemn Howard Cosell to the ash heap of social justice history for an off-hand remark, prominent African-Americans immediately and spontaneously offered support to their biggest supporter. The first is a quote from Mr. Bloom’s book, There You Have It: The Life, Legacy, and Legend of Howard Cosell, from years after the incident, while the latter quotes are from a contemporaneous Washington Post article: Indeed, in the days following the incident, Cosell received support from a wide array of prominent African American leaders in both civil rights and sports, including Arthur Ashe, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, John Thompson and Harry Edwards. Stick to Water, OJ can Kill You The first quote here is from O.J. Simpson, Cosell’s sometimes booth mate. “But any black person who knows Howard and his stand on John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Curt Flood, Muhammad Ali, knows that Howard is a good man. You should never doubt his feelings racially. “It was an unfortunate choice of words because of the sensitivity of the black man in this country. I’ve called white guys ‘the big moose’ or ‘the big hoss’ on the air. “But blacks in America can’t, and shouldn’t, question where Howard Cosell stands racially. His deeds in the past tell you that. He doesn’t have to apologize for anything.” Arthur Ashe also came to Cosell’s defense yesterday. “He called me, literally woke me up at 6:30 this morning,” Ashe said. “I haven’t seen him this concerned about something in ages. He is very concerned about the reaction. I agree with O.J. I do not want the black community to think that Howard is like that. He is not. He is the first one to defend somebody he thinks his right. There was nothing racial in what he said.” Next: You Don't Know Me but I'm Your Brother (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) No One Should Have Expected Less These men were not about to let a man who brought real thought and courage to the toughest social questions of his day be destroyed by the same group who wanted to thoughtlessly and cowardly leap to conclusions about them, as well. As you reap, so shall you sow. But that is all part and parcel of the legacy of Howard Cosell. He is the father of shows such as 30 for 30 and Outside the Lines. He championed causes in his famous nasal voice because they were right, not because they affected people in his line of work, or who shared his skin color. And as he is a footnote in Curt Flood’s fight, all baseball players today including the Yankees should smile just a little at the mention of his name. That might have all been lost if those African-American athletes and leaders had not shown up when Cosell needed them. In today’s world, I doubt it would have mattered. Quick judgments and group-think decisions happen at the speed of the send button, and hardened opinions rarely change. Especially in an era when entire supposed news articles are just compendiums of tweets. I cannot help but think of Justine Sacco, among others. Next: Cosell is Gone but the Fight for Social Justice Goes On COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 30: Former Negro League player John ‘Buck’ O’Neil speaks at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 30, 2006 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) A Flight to Nowhere She sent an ill-advised tweet in 2013 just before boarding a plane that read: “Going to South Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white.” By the time her plane landed, the life she knew was over. It cost the 30-year-old from New York her job and her reputation after it was re-tweeted by tech blogger Sam Biddle to his 15,000 followers. Tens of thousands of people responded in outrage accusing Justine of being ignorant and racist and calling for her to be sacked from her role as the senior director of corporate communications at IAC. More from Call to the Pen Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals Only Justine was flying home to visit her family in South Africa and was trying to make a wry, ironic comment. ‘Only an insane person would think that white people don’t get AIDS,’ she told best-selling British writer Jon Ronson as she features in his latest book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. ‘I thought there was no way that anyone could possibly think it was literal.’ She added that she bitterly regrets posting the comment: ‘Unfortunately, I am not a character on ‘South Park’ or a comedian, so I had no business commenting on the epidemic in such a politically incorrect manner on a public platform. To put it simply, I wasn’t trying to raise awareness of AIDS or p*** off the world or ruin my life. Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble when it comes to what is going on in the third world. I was making fun of that bubble.’ Some of you might think her a liar. That’s fine, but if you find reasonable doubt, then you must not convict. No Justice, No Peace Because that’s no way to judge a person. That requires thought and research, and a real desire for the truth. And to be just. Cosell brought all those qualities to sports and society at a time when his voice and his opinions put him squarely in the minority. And with the minorities. Next: The Pitch Clock is not the only Change Coming in 2018; Preview Them All Right Here For instance, he was calling for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame for the great Negro League Players when no one in the halls of baseball power wanted to hear it, giving a voice to such men as Buck O’Neil. Or that he said this in defense of the baseball strike in 1972, fought over pensions for players: “This strike was not for the Hank Aarons or the Willie Mays‘. It was for the four-year players who pass up college, spend three to five years to make the majors, and have a career ruined by a dead arm or leg.” Now that is a legacy any man could be proud of. Especially the social justice warrior, Howard Cosell: A voice crying out in the wilderness.“Howard Cosell was a good man and he lived a good life,” Ali told the Associated Press after hearing of Cosell’s death. “I have been interviewed by many people, but I enjoyed interviews with Howard the best. I hope to meet him one day in the hereafter.’ “ Smith and Carlos stood on the stand with no shoes, their feet only in black socks. As the national anthem began, both bowed their heads and raised their fists, covered with the black gloves, in the air. Tommie Smith had a black scarf around his neck and John Carlos wore beads. The entire world saw this cry for freedom. The International Olympic Committee board met the very next morning. They threatened to disqualify the whole track team for the remainder of the games. The decision was made to send Smith and Carlos home and ban them from the Olympic games for life. Immediately afterwards, in an interview with Howard Cosell, Smith explained the symbolism in their protest: “My raised right hand stood for the power in black America. Carlos’s left hand stood for the unity of black America. Together, they formed an arch of unity and power. The black scarf around my neck stood for black pride…black socks with no shoes stood for black poverty in racist America. The totality of our effort was the regaining of black dignity.”  “In terms of fairness, he was number one because he let the athlete tell it like it was,” Smith said. “That was his character. Telling it like it was for them. There was even his famous close, ‘And that’s the way it is. I am Howard Cosell.” There is only one person who can be categorized in his division. It is Howard Cosell.”  “(Cosell) understood that society and history and culture were not distractions from sports but were the very things that made sports, and entertainment in general, meaningful.” In 1969, Flood was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. At the time, all Major League Baseball players were subject to the reserve clause, which essentially bound a player to work in perpetuity for his original team, unless traded for another player or sold for cash, in which case he worked under the same reserve conditions for the next team. Flood refused the trade on a matter of principle, arguing that Major League Baseball had violated both U.S. antitrust laws and the 13th Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude. In a defiant letter to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn asking for his contractual release, Flood infamously wrote, “after twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes.” Most significantly, Flood appeared on national television with Howard Cosell and described himself as a “well-paid slave.” Explosive controversy ensued.“The question is, without the lawsuit, how much longer would it have taken to get impartial arbitration of grievances,” Miller told me. “Once we had that, it was only a question of a year or two before we were able to get rid of the reserve clause.” Snyder believes Flood’s case was critical in turning public opinion, and even the opinions of some of the game’s stars at that time, about the rights of athletes to be free agents. “You can’t connect the dots, and point to how the legal fight led to free agency,” said Snyder. “But he changed the temperature of the public opinion.” Free agency brought millions to players.Most sportswriters at the time attacked his assertion that the reserve clause made him feel like a slave. When Howard Cosell asked him how someone earning $90,000 a year, one of the top salaries in the game at the time, could feel like a slave, he responded, “A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.”  “It was a devastating situation for Curt, but he knew in his heart that he had to do go through with it,” she said. “It was the principle. He used to say, ‘This is worth more than $100,000 a year’ – which was about the amount of salary he was forfeiting.” “[Curt] was in a state of absolute nerves and jitters. He would say, ‘the anxiety is worse than being in the World Series because at least you know what you’re up against in the World Series.” Pace also recalled Flood being buoyed by the support he’d received during the trial from teammates Lou Brock, Dal Maxvill and Bob Gibson, and from other players, like Richie Allen, from around baseball. She said he was comforted by the full-throated support of legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell throughout the proceedings, as well. He also came under frequent attack from viewers, perhaps never more so than when he defended Ali after the New York State Boxing Commission stripped Ali of his title in 1967, when the boxer claimed conscientious objector status for the draft. ABC was deluged with hate mail and telephone calls, including several threats on his life. Cosell once described some of the letters as making the request to the network to “get that nigger-loving Jew bastard off the air.” One is the Loneliest Number Cosell was often alone in these fights among his peers and network employers. And they could have flushed his career down the toilet. I sense that he knew as much but felt it worth the risk as others were risking so much more. And maybe his help buoyed the spirits of these other combatants. Just the fact that one important voice, and white establishment face, was keeping these powerful messages of truth alive must have helped some. In Flood’s case, we know that it did. But I will wrap this up with a look at one of the most famous comments ever made by Howard Cosell as it stands as an assault on his legacy. Next: What Does Equality Sound Like Conclusion Jumping is Not an Olympic Sport In 1983 he made the following remark as he watched Redskins running back Alvin Garret, who is an African-American:  “[head coach] Joe Gibbs wanted that kid, and that little monkey gets loose doesn’t he.” Does that seem racist to you? Do you want to condemn the man as publicly pretending to be a hero while secretly being a villain? It’s what many people did then, and would do even faster in our modern world of Twitter. But what some suspected but could not prove in the first few days after the nationally televised remark was that Howard probably used the expression with other players and perhaps beloved family members. Eventually, researchers were able to produce many instances, the below but two of them: In 1972 Howard Cosell said, “That little monkey — you know, the theorem was that he was too small for pro football” referring to white Kansas City Chiefs running back Mike Adamle… In 1982, Cosell called white Atlanta Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard a “little monkey” while praising his fielding skills, saying “That little monkey can really pick it.” Later, once interviewed, his family including his now-grown grandkids were able to confirm what Howard always said, that he used that term as one of affection with them on a regular basis. However, that is not the reason for including this episode. Next: We Will All Hang Together, or We Will All Hang Separately Come Together, Right Now, Over Me While the whole world was ready to condemn Howard Cosell to the ash heap of social justice history for an off-hand remark, prominent African-Americans immediately and spontaneously offered support to their biggest supporter. The first is a quote from Mr. Bloom’s book, There You Have It: The Life, Legacy, and Legend of Howard Cosell, from years after the incident, while the latter quotes are from a contemporaneous Washington Post article: Indeed, in the days following the incident, Cosell received support from a wide array of prominent African American leaders in both civil rights and sports, including Arthur Ashe, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, John Thompson and Harry Edwards. Stick to Water, OJ can Kill You The first quote here is from O.J. Simpson, Cosell’s sometimes booth mate. “But any black person who knows Howard and his stand on John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Curt Flood, Muhammad Ali, knows that Howard is a good man. You should never doubt his feelings racially. “It was an unfortunate choice of words because of the sensitivity of the black man in this country. I’ve called white guys ‘the big moose’ or ‘the big hoss’ on the air. “But blacks in America can’t, and shouldn’t, question where Howard Cosell stands racially. His deeds in the past tell you that. He doesn’t have to apologize for anything.” Arthur Ashe also came to Cosell’s defense yesterday. “He called me, literally woke me up at 6:30 this morning,” Ashe said. “I haven’t seen him this concerned about something in ages. He is very concerned about the reaction. I agree with O.J. I do not want the black community to think that Howard is like that. He is not. He is the first one to defend somebody he thinks his right. There was nothing racial in what he said.” Next: You Don't Know Me but I'm Your Brother (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) No One Should Have Expected Less These men were not about to let a man who brought real thought and courage to the toughest social questions of his day be destroyed by the same group who wanted to thoughtlessly and cowardly leap to conclusions about them, as well. As you reap, so shall you sow. But that is all part and parcel of the legacy of Howard Cosell. He is the father of shows such as 30 for 30 and Outside the Lines. He championed causes in his famous nasal voice because they were right, not because they affected people in his line of work, or who shared his skin color. And as he is a footnote in Curt Flood’s fight, all baseball players today including the Yankees should smile just a little at the mention of his name. That might have all been lost if those African-American athletes and leaders had not shown up when Cosell needed them. In today’s world, I doubt it would have mattered. Quick judgments and group-think decisions happen at the speed of the send button, and hardened opinions rarely change. Especially in an era when entire supposed news articles are just compendiums of tweets. I cannot help but think of Justine Sacco, among others. Next: Cosell is Gone but the Fight for Social Justice Goes On COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 30: Former Negro League player John ‘Buck’ O’Neil speaks at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 30, 2006 in Cooperstown, New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) A Flight to Nowhere She sent an ill-advised tweet in 2013 just before boarding a plane that read: “Going to South Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white.” By the time her plane landed, the life she knew was over. It cost the 30-year-old from New York her job and her reputation after it was re-tweeted by tech blogger Sam Biddle to his 15,000 followers. Tens of thousands of people responded in outrage accusing Justine of being ignorant and racist and calling for her to be sacked from her role as the senior director of corporate communications at IAC. More from Call to the Pen Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals Only Justine was flying home to visit her family in South Africa and was trying to make a wry, ironic comment. ‘Only an insane person would think that white people don’t get AIDS,’ she told best-selling British writer Jon Ronson as she features in his latest book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. ‘I thought there was no way that anyone could possibly think it was literal.’ She added that she bitterly regrets posting the comment: ‘Unfortunately, I am not a character on ‘South Park’ or a comedian, so I had no business commenting on the epidemic in such a politically incorrect manner on a public platform. To put it simply, I wasn’t trying to raise awareness of AIDS or p*** off the world or ruin my life. Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble when it comes to what is going on in the third world. I was making fun of that bubble.’ Some of you might think her a liar. That’s fine, but if you find reasonable doubt, then you must not convict. No Justice, No Peace Because that’s no way to judge a person. That requires thought and research, and a real desire for the truth. And to be just. Cosell brought all those qualities to sports and society at a time when his voice and his opinions put him squarely in the minority. And with the minorities. Next: The Pitch Clock is not the only Change Coming in 2018; Preview Them All Right Here For instance, he was calling for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame for the great Negro League Players when no one in the halls of baseball power wanted to hear it, giving a voice to such men as Buck O’Neil. Or that he said this in defense of the baseball strike in 1972, fought over pensions for players: “This strike was not for the Hank Aarons or the Willie Mays‘. It was for the four-year players who pass up college, spend three to five years to make the majors, and have a career ruined by a dead arm or leg.” Now that is a legacy any man could be proud of. Especially the social justice warrior, Howard Cosell: A voice crying out in the wilderness.He also came under frequent attack from viewers, perhaps never more so than when he defended Ali after the New York State Boxing Commission stripped Ali of his title in 1967, when the boxer claimed conscientious objector status for the draft. ABC was deluged with hate mail and telephone calls, including several threats on his life. Cosell once described some of the letters as making the request to the network to “get that nigger-loving Jew bastard off the air.”  “[head coach] Joe Gibbs wanted that kid, and that little monkey gets loose doesn’t he.” In 1972 Howard Cosell said, “That little monkey — you know, the theorem was that he was too small for pro football” referring to white Kansas City Chiefs running back Mike Adamle… In 1982, Cosell called white Atlanta Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard a “little monkey” while praising his fielding skills, saying “That little monkey can really pick it.” Indeed, in the days following the incident, Cosell received support from a wide array of prominent African American leaders in both civil rights and sports, including Arthur Ashe, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, John Thompson and Harry Edwards. “But any black person who knows Howard and his stand on John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Curt Flood, Muhammad Ali, knows that Howard is a good man. You should never doubt his feelings racially. “It was an unfortunate choice of words because of the sensitivity of the black man in this country. I’ve called white guys ‘the big moose’ or ‘the big hoss’ on the air. “But blacks in America can’t, and shouldn’t, question where Howard Cosell stands racially. His deeds in the past tell you that. He doesn’t have to apologize for anything.”Arthur Ashe also came to Cosell’s defense yesterday. “He called me, literally woke me up at 6:30 this morning,” Ashe said. “I haven’t seen him this concerned about something in ages. He is very concerned about the reaction. I agree with O.J. I do not want the black community to think that Howard is like that. He is not. He is the first one to defend somebody he thinks his right. There was nothing racial in what he said.” “Going to South Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white.” It cost the 30-year-old from New York her job and her reputation after it was re-tweeted by tech blogger Sam Biddle to his 15,000 followers. Tens of thousands of people responded in outrage accusing Justine of being ignorant and racist and calling for her to be sacked from her role as the senior director of corporate communications at IAC. ‘Only an insane person would think that white people don’t get AIDS,’ she told best-selling British writer Jon Ronson as she features in his latest book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. ‘I thought there was no way that anyone could possibly think it was literal.’ She added that she bitterly regrets posting the comment: ‘Unfortunately, I am not a character on ‘South Park’ or a comedian, so I had no business commenting on the epidemic in such a politically incorrect manner on a public platform. To put it simply, I wasn’t trying to raise awareness of AIDS or p*** off the world or ruin my life. Living in America puts us in a bit of a bubble when it comes to what is going on in the third world. I was making fun of that bubble.’ “This strike was not for the Hank Aarons or the Willie Mays‘. It was for the four-year players who pass up college, spend three to five years to make the majors, and have a career ruined by a dead arm or leg.”