All too often broadcasters, sports writers and pundits use the word “courage” to describe petty, everyday accomplishments such as stepping back in the box after a brush back or standing in the pocket knowing a blitz is coming.  True courage, when exhibited at a crucial moment, is transcendent.  It is impossible to escape its pull, even if at that very moment its significance is unclear.  In fact, sometimes it may not be appreciated until decades later.

Real courage enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain without fear.  The following 10 moments in sports history truly deserve to be called courageous.  In each instance, an athlete demonstrated the quality of character that stopped us in our tracks and made us take notice.  In some cases, the effects can still be felt today. 

10.  Super Mario overcomes Hodgkin’s to win the NHL scoring title:  During the 1992 season, Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux was on a streak like none other.  Through the season’s first 40 games, he recorded 104 points.  But in the middle of the frenzy, Lemieux was sidelined; not by an on-ice opponent, but by a much more menacing foe:  Hodgkin’s disease.  In January of 1993, doctors removed a malignant lump from Lemieux’s neck and recommended radiation to eradicate the threat.  Lemieux took two months off to undergo treatment before returning to the ice on the day of his final radiation session to score a goal and an assist.  He then led the Penguins on a 17-game win streak while racking up 160 points in only 60 games to win the scoring title.

9.  Texas Western wins the 1966 NCAA men's final:  It seemed a forgone conclusion:  four-time NCAA champion Kentucky would again win the title.  But in the Midwest Region, Texas Western was making a run for the title.  Led by five African-American starters, Don Haskins’ Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) team, which had faced not only taunts but threats throughout its 28-1 season, defeated Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky lineup 72-65.  It marked the first time an all-black team had played in the championship game and changed the complexion of NCAA basketball forever.  Soon after their win, other NCAA coaches began recruiting African-American players, leading to the integrated game we know today.

8.  Muhammad Ali lights the Olympic flame:  In 1996, the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee viciously guarded the identity of the individual who would light the official cauldron to declare the Atlanta games open. That night spectators gasped, then applauded wildly to see former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali atop the stadium bearing the Olympic torch.  Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 12 years earlier and quietly withdrew from the public spotlight.  The man who floated like a butterfly and was never without a witty quote could no longer control his finely tuned muscles and found it difficult to speak.  But for that one night, he stepped back into the spotlight to remind the world that, though debilitated by disease, he was still the greatest and the consummate Olympic champion.

7.  Joe Louis defeats the darling of #### Germany:  On June 22, 1938 as Europe stood on the precipice of war, it took American Joe Louis less than three minutes to knock out German heavyweight Max Schmeling in a fight that resonated far beyond the New York ring where it took place.  Schmeling, a favorite athlete of Adolf ####’s, had defeated the previously unbeaten Louis just two years earlier in a 12 round fight.  As a rematch loomed, the world paused and held its collective breath, waiting to see whether the German would again triumph as #### propaganda promised or the “Brown Bomber” would deal the ####s a literal and figurative blow.  They didn’t have to wait long; Louis delivered a knockout punch in two minutes and four seconds, striking another blow against ####’s social theories and, many believe, laying the ground work for the American Civil Rights Movement.  At a time when boxing was the preeminent sport in America, Louis became a hero to whites and blacks.

6.  USA men’s basketball team refuses silver medals:  It was a game for the ages.  The 1972 U.S. men’s basketball team, undefeated in Olympic play, had easily skated through the qualifying rounds and medal competition, setting up a showdown with a formidable USSR team in the championship game.  At the half the USSR was up 26-21.  Mid-way through the second half American Dwight Jones and Soviet forward Dvorni Edeshko were ejected from the game after a tussle over a loose ball. Without their top player, the U.S. team battled back, coming within one point with just 40 seconds remaining on the game clock.  After a steal, guard Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the U.S. up 51-49 with three seconds remaining.  The Soviets then failed to score and the U.S. team celebrated.  The Soviets argued that they had called a time out, and time was added to the clock.  They again failed to score.  However, an official ordered another three seconds placed on the clock.  This time, the Soviets managed a layup.  The U.S. team was stunned.  It immediately filed a protest but no relief was given.  The Americans composed themselves and took a vote.  They unanimously decided to refuse the silver medal in protest and did not participate in the medal ceremony.  To this day, their medals sit in a bank vault in Munich.

5.  Track stars give black power salute:  American television audiences gasped in shock in October 1968 to see two African-American athletes, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, raise their fists on the Olympic medal stand in a gesture of black power.  In addition, they wore no shoes to protest the poverty facing most African-Americans and beads to protest lynching.  Smith and Carlos were demonstrating their support for the Olympic Project for Human Rights, an organization founded the year before with three demands:  that the heavyweight boxing title stripped from Muhammad Ali for his refusal to enter the Vietnam draft be restored; that Avery Brundage, whom they believed to be racist, step down as the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee; and that South Africa and Rhodesia be uninvited from the games for their government’s apartheid policies.  Both men were stripped of their medals and dismissed from the games for their actions.  However, the image they crafted on the medal stand lives on today.

4.  Magic Johnson announces he's HIV-positive:  On Nov. 7, 1991 Magic Johnson made the announcement that stunned the world.  The LA Laker superstar publicly revealed that he is HIV-positive.  Although the AIDS epidemic had been walking among us for nearly a decade, it was still thought of as a #### man’s and drug addict’s disease, not something that could strike down a heterosexual professional athlete at the height of his career.  Johnson, who had been revered by sports fans and his fellow players alike for years, understood the stigma and fear attached to the disease but decided that going public was the responsible thing to do, not only for the safety of those he may have come into contact with ,but to raise overall public awareness.  Old teammates and foes rushed to be tested, and some attempted to block him from playing again out of fear that the disease could be spread from incidental contact.  Nearing the end of his career, Johnson eventually decided to retire rather than sustain further controversy.  By publicly revealing his HIV status, Johnson gave a new face and brought fresh attention to a disease that had already started making inroads in the African-American community.  HIV/AIDS could no longer be thought of as a ####, white man’s disease, but one that could affect anyone, anywhere, at any time.

3.  Jesse Owens wins gold in Berlin:  The year was 1936.  Adolf ####’s #### party had consolidated power in Germany.  Civil war had erupted in Spain.  Mussolini had entered Ethiopia, and Europe was beginning to fear the growing military power of Germany.  Believing fully in his Aryan “master race” theory, #### saw the 1936 Olympics as an opportunity to prove the superiority of white Europeans.  He viciously chastised the United States for letting Jesse Owens, an African-American, and “non-humans” represent it in the Track & Field competition and openly rooted for his downfall.  In a stadium festooned with swastikas, Owens, the son of sharecroppers and descendent of slaves, competed and disproved ####’s racial theories, winning gold medals in the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash, the long jump and the 4x100 relay and becoming a hero to the German public along the way.

2.  Pat Tillman foregoes a multimillion dollar contract and the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army:  Pat Tillman had what many American men can only dream of – good looks, an adoring wife, unbelievable athletic ability and a $3.6 million contract to play in the NFL.  But the Arizona Cardinals safety gave up his career to become an Army Ranger after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC.  Tillman, whose brother enlisted at the same time, refused all interviews about his decision, preferring to let his actions speak for themselves.  He was killed in Afghanistan, an apparent victim of friendly fire, on April 22, 2004.

1.  Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color line:  By putting on a uniform and stepping onto the field in 1947, Jackie Robinson struck a blow to segregationists across the United States.  Baseball, that most-American of pastimes, had until that moment existed with one foot in two separate worlds; whites had the Major League and blacks had the Negro League, just as whites had their restaurants and schools and blacks had theirs.  But in joining the Brooklyn Dodgers that year, Robinson made those worlds collide.  Americans could no longer pretend that the existence of two separate worlds was anything but a political construct, not the natural law as some would have them believe.  Robinson proved that African-Americans could not only play with whites, but compete with them.  Many other African-Americans had tried to break the color barrier and had suffered greatly for their efforts.  Robinson knew what awaited him – the hostility from fans, from opposing players and even his own teammates – but took up the burden anyway.  He wasn’t the best player in the Negro League but he had speed, and as his .311 lifetime batting average attests, a good and consistent swing.  More than that, he had the patience, drive and character to be the torchbearer for future generations of African-American athletes.