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Before icons, there had to be those who paved the way. They are the ones we should thank for the stars of today and yesteryear. These men faced extreme racism and adversity so that people of today would know such athletes as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Jim brown. Jackie Robinson broke major league baseball's color barrier over 50 years ago, but he wasn't the first black to play in the majors.

In 1884, the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association had two black players: Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday. Although Welday appeared in just five games, Moses shared catching duties, playing in 42 games and batting. 263. Both players were gone the next year and no black appeared in organized baseball again until 1946, when Robinson first played for the Brooklyn Dodgers' Montreal farm team. A year later, he moved into the majors with the Dodgers. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was the first player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier.

Born in Cairo, Georgia, to a family of sharecroppers, he grew up in Pasadena California. His mother, M allie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bonds to each other. In 1945, there were few career opportunities open to a black man, even to those who had attended college. Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League, traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1947, when Jackie Robinson first donned a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, he pioneered the integration of professional athletics in America.

By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation's number one sport, he courageously challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South. At the end of Robinson's rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he had become National League Rookie of the Year with 12 homers, a league-leading 29 steals, and a. 297 average. In 1949, he was selected as the N.L. Most Valuable player of the Year and also won the batting title with a.

342 average that same year. In 1997, the world celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier. In doing so, we honored the man who stood defiantly against those who would work against racial equality and acknowledged the profound influence of one man's life on the American culture. To some, Jackie Robinson's life and legacy will be remembered as one of the most important in American history.

Charles Follis played professional football in 1904 for a pro team known as the Shelby Blues and Fritz Pollard played in 1920 for the Akron Pros. In the modern era, well-known pro teams didn't have black players until 1946. That year, two of Jackie Robinson's former teammates at UCLA, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, broke the barrier for the Los Angeles Rams, while Marion Motley and Bill Willis played for the Cleveland Browns later in 1946. Follis and Pollard paved the way for Hall of Fame fullback Jim Brown.

Considered by many the greatest running back in history, Brown was also an exceptional all-around athlete. As a teen-ager, he turned down an offer to play baseball in the New York Yankee organization and, after graduating from Syracuse University, he turned down $150,000 to become a professional fighter. While in high school, he once jogged over from a pre-game lacrosse to win the high jump in a track meet. In his senior year in high school in Manhasset, Long Island, he averaged 38 points a game in basketball and 14.9 yards per carry as a football player. He was an All-American in both lacrosse and football and he also started at center in basketball for three years at Syracuse. In his last regular season football game, he scored 43 points against Colgate, and he had 21 in Syracuse's 28-27 loss to Texas Christian in the 1957 Cotton Bowl.

Brown joined the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 1957 and was named rookie of the year after gaining 942 yards on 202 carries. He set a single-game record of 237 yards against the Los Angeles Rams, scoring 4 touchdowns, that season. During the next eight seasons, Brown rushed for more than 1,000 yards seven times, falling short by only 4 yards in 1962. He led the league in rushing every season he played except 1962, when he was edged out by Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers. Brown also led in rushing touchdowns from 1957 through 1959, in 1963, and in 1965. An all-pro from 1957 through 1961 and from 1963 through 1965, Brown was named the UPI player of the year in 1958, 1963, and 1965.

While making a movie during the summer of 1966, Brown made the surprising announcement that he was retiring from football to concentrate on acting. He was just thirty years old. In his 8 seasons, he rushed 2,359 times for 12,312 yards, a 5.2 average, and rushed for 106 touchdowns. He also caught 262 passes for 2,499 yards and 20 touchdowns and returned 29 kickoffs for 648 yards, a 22.3 average. The first black player drafted by an NBA team was Chuck Cooper, picked in the second round of the 1950 draft by the Boston Celtics. In the eighth round of the draft, Washington chose Earl Lloyd of West Virginia State.

At about the same time, the New York Knicks signed Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters. Lloyd made his debut on Oct. 31, 1950, becoming the first black to play in an NBA game. Cooper made his debut a day later. Clifton, the first to sign a contract, played his first game on Nov. 4, 1950. Michael Jordan, the best known athlete in the world, is a leading scorer in the National Basketball Association, who led the Chicago Bulls to many recent NBA championships. He is, by far, and will be for a time to come, the best basketball player in the history of the game.

Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina and as a freshman scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against Georgetown. Jordan was selected college player of the year for the 1983-1984 season, and in 1984 he led the United States basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Jordan left college in 1984 to play with the Bulls.

He finished his first season as one of the top scorers in the league, with an average of 28.2 points per game. He was also named rookie of the year and made the first of his nine All-Star game appearances. Jordan finished the 1986-1987 season as the second player, after Wilt Chamberlain, to score more than 3000 points in a single season. He led the NBA in scoring from 1987-1993, tying Chamberlain's record, and averaged more than 30 points per game in each season.

He also became the Bulls' all-time leading scorer and set numerous scoring records, including most points in a playoff game and highest scoring average for an NBA championship series. He led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship title in 1991; with Jordan, the Bulls won again in 1992 and 1993. In addition to his three league Most Valuable Player awards, Jordan has won the All-Star game MVP award twice and a record three-consecutive NBA championship series MVP awards. Jordan was also a member of the United States Olympic basketball team, known as the Dream Team, which captured the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Stating that he had lost his desire to play professional basketball, Jordan announced his retirement prior to the 1993-1994 season. Initially noted for his scoring, his tenacious defensive play had made him one of the greatest all-around basketball players in NBA history.

He had also become a worldwide celebrity due to his success in the NBA and the Olympics, and his numerous commercial endorsements. Jordan ended his retirement from professional basketball by rejoining the Bulls near the end of the 1994-1995 NBA regular season. In the 1995-1996 season he enjoyed another great year, leading the NBA in scoring with 30.4 points per game and being named league MVP. The Bulls also became the first NBA team to win 70 games in a season, finishing with 72 victories, and they went on to win the NBA championship title. Jordan was named MVP of the NBA finals, becoming the first player to earn the honor four times. Before Tiger Woods, John Shippen played in the second U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in 1896 and was in the Open six times, ending in 1913.

No African American played in the Open again until Ted Rhodes in 1948. Although the USGA did not bar blacks, it had difficulty finding courses for qualifying tournaments that allowed them. The Professional Golf Association lifted its 'Caucasian clause' in 1961 and Charlie Sif ford was the first black to receive tour playing privileges. On April 13, 1997, two days short of the 50th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major league debut, Tiger Woods became the first African American to win the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga. Born on December 30, 1975, Woods grew up in Cypress, California, 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles. He was not out of the crib before he took an interest in golf, at age 6 months, watching as his father hit golf balls into a net and imitating his swing.

He appeared on the Mike Douglas Show at age 2, putting with Bob Hope. He shot 48 for nine holes at age 3 and was featured in Golf Digest at age 5. He won the Optimist International Junior tournament six times at ages 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Tiger played in his first professional tournament in 1992, at age 16, the Nissan Los Angeles Open and in three more PGA TOUR events in 1993. He made the 36-hole cut and tied for 34th place in the 1994 Johnnie Walker Asian Classic in Thailand, and had three additional PGA TOUR appearances. He entered Stanford University in 1994 and in two years he won 10 collegiate events, concluding with the NCAA title.

His other amateur victories included the 1994 Western Amateur. He represented the United States in the 1994 World Amateur Team Championships in France and the 1995 Walker Cup Match in Wales. He played his first major championships in 1995, making the 36-hole cuts in the Masters and the British Open, but had to withdraw from the U.S. Open because of an injured wrist. He played in three more major championships in 1996, making the cuts in two. After missing the cut in the Masters, he led the U.S. Open after 13 holes of the first round before finishing tied for 82nd place.

Tiger posted a 281 total to tie the record for an amateur in the British Open, and his 66 in the second round equaled the lowest ever by an amateur. He tied for 22nd place. Amongst the honors received as an amateur, Woods was Golf Digest Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992, Golf World Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993, Golf week National Amateur of the Year in 1992, Golf World Man of the Year in 1994, and he was chosen for the Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus College Player of the Year awards in 1996. The week after winning his third U.S. Amateur title, Woods played his first tournament as a professional in the Greater Milwaukee Open.

It was one of only seven events left in 1996 for him to finish among the top 125 money winners and earn a player's card for the PGA TOUR. He went on to win two tournaments and place among the top 30 money winners qualifying for the Tour Championship. He finished 25th with $790,594 and won $940,420 for the year worldwide in 11 tournaments. He was the first rookie since 1990 to win twice and the first player since 1982 to have five consecutive top-five finishes. Woods won four PGA TOUR events in 1997, plus one overseas, and was the leading money winner with a then-record $2,066,833. He won $2,440,831 worldwide in 25 events.

He achieved number one on the Official World Golf Ranking for the most rapid progression ever to that position. In his 42nd week as a professional, Woods became the youngest-ever number one golfer at age 21 years, 24 weeks. The previous youngest was Bernhard Langer, age 29 years, 31 weeks in 1986. In 1998 Woods won one event on the PGA TOUR, and three times overall.

He was fourth on the money list with $1,841,117 and earned $2,927,006 worldwide in 26 events. In 1999, Woods won eight times on the PGA TOUR, including the PGA Championship, and earned $6,616,585. He had a margin of $2,974,679 over runner-up David Duval, a figure greater than the previous single-year PGA TOUR record. Woods won 52 percent of all the prize money he could have won and won 82 percent more than the runner-up.

This was the highest margin since Byron Nelson in 1945 and Hogan in 1946. He was the first to have as many as eight PGA TOUR victories in one year since Johnny Miller won eight in 1974. Tiger won four consecutive PGA TOUR events to end 1999 and started 2000 with two more victories for a total of six in succession. He had to come from behind for the fifth and sixth victories. He played the last three holes in four under par at the Mercedes Championships, then defeated Els in a playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt. He trailed Matt Go gel by seven strokes with seven holes left in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, then played the last four holes in four under par to win by two strokes.

There has been only one longer winning streak, Nelson's 11 consecutive wins in 1945. Woods won five times on the PGA TOUR in 2001 and eight times worldwide. He won five times on the PGA TOUR again in 2002 and seven times worldwide, and was the PGA Tour's leading money winner for the fourth consecutive year with $6,912,625. Sports Illustrated selected Woods as the 1996 and 2000 Sportsman of the Year. He was the first to win that award more than once.

The Associated Press chose Woods as the Male Athlete of the Year for 1997, 1999 and 2000. He and Michael Jordan are the only athletes to win that award three times. The founding members of the World Sports Academy, in voting for the Laure us Sports Awards, also selected Tiger as 1999 and 2000 World Sportsman of the Year. Woods was selected as 1997, 1999 and 2000, and 2001 Player of the Year by the PGA TOUR, the PGA of America, and the Golf Writers Association of America. His adjusted scoring average in 2000 of 67.79 strokes was the lowest ever - breaking his record of 68.43 in 1999 and earned the Byron Nelson Award on the PGA TOUR and the Var don Trophy from the PGA of America. He also had an actual scoring average in 2000 of 68.17 strokes, breaking Nelson's record of 68.33 strokes in 1945.

In a time and country where racism and prejudice ran rampant, few men still had the courage to fight on. The paved the way for todays top athletes whether they be minority or not. They would be proud to see the progress that the country has made.