The nearly $2.8 billion settlement that has been approved by the NCAA and the nation’s five largest conferences is a historic step toward a more professional model for college sports

MATTER OF FACT. AS THE POLITICAL FUELED ROLLBACK OF DEI DIVERSE CITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS CONTINUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SOME STATES ARE CODIFYING THAT ROLLBACK INTO LAW. THAT INCLUDES FLORIDA, WHERE DEI INITIATIVES ARE NOW BANNED AT PUBLIC COLLEGES. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED IT WOULD ELIMINATE ITS PROGRAM TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW. THAT MOVE TRIGGERED PUSHBACK FROM THE NAACP. IT PUT OUT A LETTER URGING BLACK ATHLETES TO AVOID ATTENDING ANY PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN FLORIDA. THIS IS FAR FROM THE FIRST TIME COLLEGE STUDENTS HAVE FOUND THEMSELVES AT THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN ATHLETE AND ACTIVIST. OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JOEY CHEN TRAVELED TO GEORGIA, WHERE SUPER BOWL CHAMPION TONY MCGEE SHARES HOW HIS ACTIVISM AS A STUDENT ALMOST COST HIM HIS CAREER. MIAMI, 27, AIR FORCE 18. AND WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A STANDOUT SEASON FOR THE WYOMING COWBOYS IS. IT WAS A CALL OFF THE FIELD THAT COST A YOUNG TONY MCGEE AND 13 OF HIS TEAMMATES EVERYTHING. SO THAT DESTROYED PEOPLE’S ACADEMIC CAREERS, LIVES, THEIR FOOTBALL CAREERS AND THEIR FUTURES. EXACTLY. IN THE FALL OF 1969, NUMBER 12, WYOMING DOMINANT DEFENSE INCLUDED TONY MCGEE, THIRD YEAR TACKLE OUT OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN. WERE YOU PRETTY PROUD TO GET THAT? YEAH. YES. AND YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH I THOUGHT OF OTHER SCHOOLS, I KNEW THE TRADITION. BUT DAYS BEFORE A GAME AGAINST BRIGHAM YOUNG, WYOMING’S BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE URGED THE TEAM’S AFRICAN-AMERICAN PLAYERS TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST RACIST POLICIES OF THE MORMON CHURCH. MCGEE AND SOME OTHERS WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT ONFIELD MISTREATMENT. THEY PLANNED TO ASK THEIR COACH PERMISSION TO WEAR BLACK ARMBANDS, BUT THEY NEVER GOT A CHANCE. HE CAME OUT AND BEFORE WE SAID ANYTHING, HE SAID, UH, TELL YOU AS IT NOW, YOU NO LONGER A MEMBER OF THE WYOMING FOOTBALL TEAM. HE KICKED YOU OFF? YES. NO EXPLANATION, NO DISCUSSION, NOTHING. THE PROTESTS THAT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED COST ALL OF THE BLACK 14 PLAYERS THEIR SCHOLARSHIPS. NONE OF THEM GOT OFFERS TO PLAY FOR OTHER HIGHLY RANKED SCHOOLS. THE NFL SNUBBED MOST OF THEM. MCGEE WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO WHO MADE IT TO THE PROS, AS SPORTS COLUMNIST KEVIN BLACKISTONE SAYS, THE FATE OF THE BLACK 14 IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE IN A HISTORY OF SACRIFICE THAT WAS A PRICE THAT THEY HAD TO PAY FOR, FOR TRYING TO BRING CHANGE ABOUT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING IN TERMS OF BEING SENSITIVE TO BLACK STUDENTS, ISN’T THAT AN AWFULLY HIGH PRICE? IT IS. BUT LIKE FRED HAMPTON WITH THE BLACK PANTHERS SAID, YOU KNOW, PEACE IF YOU’RE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT. AND UNFORTUNATELY, IN THIS COUNTRY, MARGINAL PEOPLE, PEOPLE OF COLOR HAVE HAD TO PUT THEIR NECKS ON THE LINE IN ORDER TO MAKE GAINS. AND BLACKISTONE HIGHLIGHTS OTHERS LIKE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL COACH WILLIE RAY SMITH, ORDERED HIS PLAYERS, INCLUDING HIS SON, THE GREAT BUBBA SMITH, TO STEER CLEAR OF SOUTHERN FOOTBALL POWERHOUSES AS THE SYRACUSE EIGHT PLAYERS WON CONCESSIONS FOR THEIR PROGRAM AFTER THEIR BOYCOTT AND MORE RECENTLY, A MISSOURI PLAYERS BOYCOTT FORCED THE UNIVERSITY’S PRESIDENT TO RESIGN. THAT’S TO NAME JUST A FEW PROOF. BLACKISTONE SAYS THAT BLACK ATHLETES HAVE THE POWER TO TACKLE THE ASSAULT ON DEI. WHEN THOSE ATHLETES UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE ON CAMPUS, THEIR ROLE IN TERMS OF GENERATING TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE, AND I THINK THAT THEY THEY ARE IN A GREAT PLACE TO WIELD POWER. I MEAN, IS IT FAIR FOR THEM TO HAVE TO CARRY THAT BURDEN? IT MAY BE A BURDEN, BUT WHEN THEY CAN WIELD THEIR POWER AND UNDERSTAND THEIR AGENCY, IT’S IT’S QUITE A THING TO WITNESS. GIVEN HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THE BLACK 14, MCGEE’S ADVICE TO YOUNG ATHLETES IS MORE NUANCED. YOU GOT TO DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU FIRST. IF YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, YOU DO THAT. BUT NUMBER TWO, LET’S BE REALISTIC. DO NOT DO SOMETHING, WHEREAS YOU DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU’RE GIVING UP THAT EDUCATION OPTION. YOU HAVE TO REALLY LOOK BETWEEN THE TWO THINGS AND WHICH ONE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU. AND THIS IS MY ARMBAND, THE ONLY ONE STILL HERE FROM THE BLACK 14 AT THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME IN ATLANTA. THE 14 ARE FINALLY BEING RECOGNIZED. A LOT OF PLAYERS HAD TO GIVE UP, A LOT, AND A NEW GENERATION, INCLUDING MCGEE’S OWN GRANDSON, CHRISTIAN, ARE LEARNING ABOUT THEIR SACRIFICE. WILL YOU DO IT AGAIN? WHY? AFTER ALL I’VE DONE WHAT? I DO IT AGAIN. YES. YOU KNOW WHY? WHY? BECAUSE I FELT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING. IT WAS SOMETHING THAT HAS CHANGED THE COURSE OF FOOTBALL, NOT JUST FOR MY COLLEGE, BUT THE NEXT YEAR, BYU GOT THEIR FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PLAYER. SO RIGHT THERE, I KNEW WE WERE DOING THE RIGHT THING. A PLAY THAT LED TO VICTORY ON THE SIDELINES AND BEYOND. IN ATLANTA. I’M JOEY CHE