Clay Travis argues at FoxNews.com that three of today’s sports heroes — Novak Djokovic, Aaron Rodgers, and Kyrie Irving — are echoing the actions of an even more consequential sports icon.
For generations we’ve been talking about who the next Muhammad Ali of sports would be. Ali, you’ll recall, famously refused to fight in Vietnam, giving up his heavyweight title and going to prison over his refusal. Today Ali’s bravery in standing up to the government and its media allies is widely acclaimed, but in the 1960s that wasn’t so. Ali was a revolutionary, an outspoken advocate for peace in a time of war, a man who was willing to give up his fame and fortune to stand on the principles for which he believed. …
… There’s obsessive talk in America today about being on the right and wrong side of history. I’ve been thinking about this a great deal as the COVID era continues and we prepare for another election in 2022 and 2024. All day long we are lectured on social media about the right and wrong side of history, frequently by people who have no actual knowledge of history. …
… And as I thought about all three of these men, and their willingness to stand up to the full power of the attempted COVID mandates in the United States government, I couldn’t help but think about Ali and the Vietnam draft mandates. These three athletes are doing what Ali did, they are speaking truth to power, standing on principle over money and praise, directly defying the United States government because they believe that in a democracy some things are more important than universal acclaim. They’re doing exactly what the woke sports media claims we want all athletes to do, using their platforms to speak inconvenient truth to power.
And they’re being crushed for it.
