Heroism Essay, Research Paper

Heroism

What is a hero? A hero is a person who shows great courage and nobility. A hero may be a parent, an athlete, a politician, a war veteran, or maybe even a teacher. The term hero is probably overused, but the person the term describes probably appreciates it. I m sure people don t think about it often, but if they did they would definitely want to be a hero to someone. My personal heroes are involved in sports; they are Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Jackie Robinson. My heroes are not typical heroes, but we could say that about anyone else s.

Bill Russell played basketball for the Celtics in the 50 s and 60 s,he has a lot of courage and he also was a very successful person in what he did. He played in a city that was mostly Irish; being African American, Bill did not fit in. The city of Boston was very racist at this time and Bill felt as if he didn t belong. When the Celtics first drafted him, the city was not happy that a black man was going to be their best player. He received many death threats during his playing days, and as a result, he refused to be friendly with the media. He persevered and became one of the greatest basketball players to ever live. During his 13 years playing in the NBA he won 11 championships. Bill Russell is exactly what a hero should be.

Larry Bird was a child when his father committed suicide. Larry s family values were excellent and he made up for the loss of his father by making enough money to support himself and his mom for life. Larry was devastated because of the loss of his dad, at that moment he vowed to be the best he could be at everything. He turned to what he was best at; he played basketball for hours on end. He played in his blue jeans in the sweltering heat in the summer. Every major college in the Midwest recruited Larry, he chose Indiana. When arrived on campus almost instantly he became home sick. The size of the University of Indiana was the main cause. He went back home and transferred to Indiana State. At Indiana State he became the best college basketball player in the country and won every player of the year award. When college was finished he was drafted into the NBA where he played for the Celtics; he led them to three championships. More importantly he made enough money to support his mom back home in Indiana.

My last hero and maybe the most important person in sports history is Jackie Robinson. He is the baseball player who is responsible for African Americans playing in the major leagues. He was a Negro league baseball player in the 40 s before he received a call from the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers a contract offer. Jackie almost said no because he knew that the racism that he would hear would be so awful that it almost wouldn t be worth it. Some people would not even come to games because the other team had a black person on their team. Death threats almost an everyday occurrence for Jackie. After all was said and was done it was worth it, Jackie did break the color barrier. He is probably the most important athlete ever, paving the way for every athlete who is not white to have an opportunity to play professional sports. The reason he is heroic is that when he came up into the big leagues he could have very easily quit. But since he didn t we now have African Americans playing professional sports.

These athletes are examples of heroes that others wouldn’t call heroes, but they are my heroes. These three men displayed courage in what they did in life. The three of them are my heroes because I love sports, if I didn t like sports I wouldn t care who they were or what they stood for or what they did. Other people may like artists as heroes because they are into art. So I believe a hero is all relative to who you are as a person and what you stand for.