Pieces on the Field
Did you know that Arab Americans rank as some of American’s best athletes, not to mention the hottiest hotties on the field?
San Diego Chargers quarterback Doug Flutie, who threw the “miracle touchdown” pass for Boston College, won the Heisman Trophy in 1984. There’s also NFL player Jeff George, who quarterbacked several NFL teams, and former NFL coach Rich Kotite. Don’t forget former Chicago Bears linebacker and NFL Hall of Famer Bill George, or former Cleveland Brown Abe Gibran. Another NFL player is Drew Haddad of the Indianapolis Colts.
Major League baseball player Joe Lahoud (below) played with the Boston Red Sox and Sam Khalifa played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In auto racing, Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500 in 1986, later becoming the all-time earnings champ among Indy car racers. In the ring, Petey Sarron won the world featherweight championship in 1936-1937. Zuhair “Steve” Mansour was weightlifting’s Grandmaster of the World in 1990. In track and field, the world record holder for the marathon is Arab American Khalid Khannouchi (pictured above).
Arab Americans have made a host of contributions to America in every field, including entertainment, activism, military, the arts and law. In researching this post, I learned that two of the country’s most prominent activists are Arab Americans: consumer advocate and Green party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and the founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Candy Lightner. Countless lives have been saved by the work of these two individuals.
Let’s hear it for America, where anyone and everyone has the chance to make their dreams come true!
(Do you know who first penned the words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?” Arab American author Kahlil Gibran!)
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:02 am
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title Piece. Thanks for informative article