I've been a football fan my entire life. Love the pros. Love the college games. And I also love to say Piscataway.
So it's double exciting to me that Rutgers, seated smack in Piscataway, and little regarded for their football program, is so thrilling to watch this season. Undefeated. Pulling out an amazing victory against Louisville last night. Very underdog. Very satisfying in a year when the good guys are finally winning all over the place.
I'm still waiting, however, for one commentator, one sports-writer, one Rutgers alum, to mention that one of the college's greatest graduates is the two-time All-American, Paul Robeson. The great Paul Robeson. Rennaisance man personified.
Not only was Robeson, who,by the way was the son of a slave, a two-time football All-American, he was a twelve-letter man. He was an astonishing singer. If you've never heard him sing Waterboy, or Ole Man River, stop reading and find them immediately. He was a movie star. He was an activist. Could this oversight be because he went to his left in more ways than just on a basketball court?
There's a street named for Robeson in Princeton, N.J., where he was born. They offer a course about his life at the very Rutgers. He's on a U.S. POSTAGE STAMP for Pete's sake. How much more All-American does a guy have to be?