William C. Rhoden | |
|---|---|
 Rhoden in April 2022 | |
| Born | 1950 (age 73–74) |
| Education | Morgan State University |
| Occupation(s) | Sports journalist, Author |
| Years active | 1973–present |
William C. “Bill” Rhoden is an American sports journalist and author who formerly worked as a columnist for The New York Times from 1983 until 2016,[1][2] when he joined ESPN's The Undefeated as a writer-at-large,[3] where he is currently employed. Rhoden is also a visiting senior practitioner at Arizona State University[4] as well as the director of the Rhoden Fellows program.
Rhoden was born in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He attended Morgan State University from 1968 to 1973, and played on the 1968 Morgan State Bears football team that beat the Grambling Tigers in Yankee Stadium,[5] the annual match known as the "Whitney Young Classic".[5][6][7]
After graduating from college, he worked for the Afro-American Times, the Baltimore Sun, and eventually Ebony where he became a columnist for magazine from 1974 to 1978. In 1983, Rhoden joined the New York Times staff as a sports columnist.
In 2006, he published his first book, the Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete, an original and perceptive analysis of the racist history and current reality of professional sports in the United States.[8][9][10][11] Etan Thomas, a major activist and retired professional basketball player, praises this book and claims it is a "necessary read for all young athletes."[12]
