By Reginald Williams, Special to the AFRO Lamar Jackson has silenced the chatter of naysayers who suggested that he was out of his league as a negotiator with the signing of a $260 million, five-year extension of his contract with the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson’s historic new contract makes the Pompano Beach, Fla. native the highest-paid […]
Category: Sports
Posted inWord In Black
Only three percent of golfers in the U.S. are Black, this program gives kids a shot at the sport
By Aziah Siid, Word in Black Golf, like many sports, is riddled with a long history of systemic racism, which has contributed to a significant lack of representation of Black players. The numbers speak for themselves: of the roughly 24 million recreational golfers in the United States, only 3 percent are Black, and a mere […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Tony Dungy delivers keynote address for Baltimore City Fellowship of Christian Athletes Fundraiser
By DaQuan Lawrence, Special to the AFRO The Baltimore City Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Baltimore City FCA) and the Park Heights Saints Football club recently hosted the Annual Victory Celebration and Fundraiser banquet at Martin’s West in Baltimore. The event took place May 1 and honored Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and his wife, […]
Posted inSports
US sprinter, Olympic medalist Tori Bowie dies at 32
By PAT GRAHAM, Associated Press Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died. She was 32. Bowie’s death was announced Wednesday by her management company and USA Track and Field. No cause of death was given. “USATF is deeply saddened by the passing of Tori Bowie, a […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Black athletes gather at Bowie State University for straight talk about racial and social justice in sports
By Deborah Bailey, Contributing Editor Bowie State University recently held the fifth annual UMPC Social Justice Alliance Symposium in honor of Second Lt. Richard Collins III, a University of Maryland, College Park student killed in a 2017 hate crime. Collins was posthumously elevated to the rank of first lieutenant. The event took place on April […]
Posted inSports
Andy Warhol portrait of OJ Simpson goes on auction block
By Jocelyn Noveck, AP National Writer It was 1977, and Andy Warhol was at work on his “Athletes” series, portraits of top sports personalities who, he felt, were gaining cultural prominence just like “the movie stars of yesterday.” One of them was then the star running back of the Buffalo Bills: O.J. Simpson. Simpson, then […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimoreans react to Gervonta Davis’ 29th win
By Aria Brent, AFRO Staff Writer On the evening of April 22 fans tuned in to see two of boxing’s most prominent athletes go toe-to-toe at theT-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gervonta Davis faced off against Ryan Garcia. Davis emerged victorious with the 29th win of his career. Garcia went down after being floored in […]
Posted inSports
Simone Biles says ‘I Do’
By The Defender News Service Simone Biles is married. The Olympic gymnast married NFL player Jonathan Owens. The 26-year-old announced the exciting news on social media on Saturday. The pair was first romantically linked in 2020 after meeting on a dating app. More than one year after announcing their engagement, the Olympian, 26, and football […]
Posted inNational Sports
Oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist, Herb Douglas, has died at 101
By Erv DyerSenior EditorNew Pittsburgh Courier Herbert P. Douglas Jr., the oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist—and a University of Pittsburgh alumnus who served on its Board of Trustees and was later named an emeritus trustee—died Saturday, April 22, 2023. He was 101. “In every role that he filled, as an aspiring athlete from Hazelwood, as […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
How the Washington Wizards franchise got its start in Charm City
By Timothy Cox, Special to the AFRO On April 4 close to 20,000 people filled the seats at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C. to near capacity, as the Milwaukee Bucks soundly defeated the hometown Washington Wizards by a score of 140 to 128. While a significant number of the fans inside the […]
Posted inSports
Keeping the history alive: how one local museum honors members of the Negro Leagues
By Darius Brockett, Special to the AFRO The Hubert V. Simmons Museum of Negro Leagues Baseball in Baltimore tells a unique story in an eccentric way. Located inside of the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) in Owings Mills, Md., the museum spreads throughout multiple floors within the building. In 2008 Hubert V. “Bert” Simmons, alongside […]
Posted inNational Sports
Salary for top NBA mascot allegedly more than double that of leading WNBA player
By Seyoum Mensuphu-Bey, Special to the AFRO These days, the hard truth is that being an NBA mascot could earn you three times as much money as a high-profiled WNBA player. Rocky the Mountain Lion, mascot of the Denver Nuggets, earns $625K annually, according to pay information released by The Boardroom. Some fans were outwardly […]