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Chadwick Boseman’s Legacy On Sports Cinema

This past Friday, August 28, the entertainment world received shocking, devastating news about the passing of Chadwick Boseman, one of the most memorable actors of this decade. He died at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer. While he may be best remembered for his phenomenal performances as T’Challa, the king of Wakanda in “Black Panther” and “The Avengers” films, he also played memorable, storied roles in several sports movies.

In 2008, he played a minor role in the movie “The Express” portraying young, future hall of fame running back Floyd Little. He starred again as a football player in the 2014 sports drama “Draft Day.” His real breakthrough sports role came in the 2013 movie “42,” where he played one of sports most heroic figures: Jackie Robinson.

Boseman knew he had to deliver an accurate portrayal of Robinson’s groundbreaking 1947 season, where he broke baseball’s color barrier as the first African American Major League Baseball player. While getting the role was exciting, Boseman had to keep his mind on the fact that he had to deliver for both the younger and older audiences. In an interview with MLB Network’s Bob Costas in 2013, Boseman recalls that one of the movies’ producers, Thomas Tull, was hosting an event with kids, along with baseball hall of famer Ken Griffey Jr., when the name Jackie Robinson was brought up,

“They didn’t know who he was and Ken Griffey Jr. turns to him and says, ‘we have to do something about that,’” recalls Boseman.

“And so that set in for me now that now I’m responsible for being the face of that and portraying all of the characteristics, qualities and principles that the man lived under.”

Conversely, Boseman also had to live up to the expectations of those who did know Jackie Robinson, especially his wife Rachel Robinson and the rest of Robinson’s family.

“I had a responsibility to them because they were carrying on his legacy and I knew Rachel Robinson had been carrying the torch for this film for a long time,” Boseman said.  

From Robinson’s innate athleticism to his ability to control his high temper despite countless death threats, racist chants, and players trying to hurt him, Boseman brought Robinson’s full dignity to life.

Boseman’s portrayal earned him praise from Rachel Robinson. According to a Sports Illustrated interview shortly after the film’s release in 2013, Rachel Robinson said she liked Boseman’s portrayal, especially how he “captures the quiet dignity that Jack had even when he was under attack.”  

Boseman’s performance in “42” gives younger audiences realistic, vivid exposure to the timeless legacy of Jackie Robinson, forever changing not only the landscape of sports, but eventually inspiring civil rights movements that would follow in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Like Jackie Robinson, Friday, August 28, 2020, will go down as a historic day in both sports and civil rights. Not only was it the day the NBA, WNBA, MLS, NHL, and some of the MLB canceled games in protest of the Jacob Blake police shooting, but MLB teams chose this as their makeup Jackie Robinson Day, a day that usually happens on April 15. This is the day all players wear Robinson’s retired number 42.

In a year like no other, Boseman’s tragic death could not have happened in a more scripted fashion, happening on the same day that a hero he famously portrayed was being celebrated.

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