Flood reshaped the landscape of profession sports in a similar
way that Jackie Robinson did.By Jason LewisSentinel Sports
Editor Jackie Robinson is universally celebrated for reshaping
professional sports when he broke the color barrier in Major
League Baseball in 1947. He opened the door for blacks to play
in all of the professional sports leagues in the United States.
Another black baseball player reshaped the professional sports
landscape in a similar fashion, even though he is not
celebrated, and he is nearly forgotten. Without Curt Flood,
Shaquille O’Neal would have never come to the Lakers to win NBA
championships. Drew Brees would not have ended up with the New
Orleans Saints to lead them to a Super Bowl championship. The
New York Yankees would not have a good amount of their star
players.Flood was the athlete who stood up, and stood up by
himself, to force free agency. He felt that because he did not
have rights to control where he played baseball, and that the
system of reverse clauses was similar to