Athletes Join Mass In March Teams Cancel, Alter Practices So Their Players Can Get Involved

University of Maryland senior point guard Duane Simpkins was born in 1974, 11 years after the historic civil rights March on Washington. He had heard about that event, but never before had he experienced anything like it. Until Monday.

Simpkins, along with teammates Mario Lucas and Johnny Rhodes, was among the massive crowd gathered on the Mall for the Million Man March, a gathering of black men in a show of atonement and reconciliation. They listened to speakers such as the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

“It was like no other,” said Simpkins, 21. “I’ve heard about the civil rights march, and I’m sure this is just as great. It was a tremendous show of people.”

Simpkins’ impressions were echoed by other local athletes and coaches who attended the march. It was a day in which sports, so often in the limelight, took a back seat to political, social and economic issues. A number of local teams - such as the George Washington, Howard and Georgetown men’s basketball teams - cancelled practices, while others - including the Redskins, Bullets and Maryland men’s basketball team - adjusted their practice schedules to allow players to participate in the march.

Bullets players Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Rasheed Wallace went to the march together and missed Monday’s practice. Another group of Bullets - including assistant coach Derek Smith, Calbert Cheaney, Doug Overton and Mitchell Butler - attended the march and did return for practice.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Cheaney said. “It was a tremendous honor to be out there. People from all over the country were trying to take something back.”

For the athletes, it was a day to reflect on their roles as highly paid, generally respected, greatly cheered black men in a society that often ignores the opinions and concerns of other blacks. Farrakhan, the creator of the march, addressed that issue in his 2-hour-plus speech.

“You spot them in the hood and say, ‘That boy can jump,”’ Farrakhan said, addressing white people. “You give them a scholarship. But when the blacks in college play basketball for you, play football for you, run track for you, you disallow them to get involved with black students who are suffering on campus. You hide them away. Then you take them to the NFL or the NBA and they become megastars and once that happens, they assimilate and are no longer black. … You don’t want them to speak out on issues either political or social.”

Simpkins, who plays basketball at the predominantly white University of Maryland, said he arrived home from the march and turned on his television just as Farrakhan was speaking those words.

“It’s true in a way,” he said. “But it all depends on the individual, if you allow yourself to get caught up in it. I’m sure it does exist, but not in my case because I try to keep myself as aware as possible.”

Howard’s Mike McLeese, who coaches at a predominantly black school, attended the march. Of Farrakhan’s statement, McLeese said: “What we all need to understand when we recruit a student-athlete is that he is a student-athlete. He has the skills that allow him to come to a university for which he might not have the money to afford. The student-athlete has to understand the long-range goal of getting his degree and turning it into a productive career.”