Gary Sheffield: Free My Verse

by James Finn Garner

 

I called it years ago.

What I called is

that you’re going to see

more

black faces, but there ain’t no English

going to be

coming out. …

[It’s about]

being able to tell

[Latin players]

what to do —

being able to

control

them.

 

You might get a guy to do it that way

for a while

because he wants to benefit,

but in the end, he is going to go back

to being

who he is.

And that’s

a person that

you’re going to talk to

with respect,

you’re going to talk to

like a man.

 

These are the things my race demands.

 

So, if you’re equally good as this Latin player,

guess who’s going to get sent home?

I know a lot of players

that are home now

can outplay

a lot of these guys.

 

From an interview in GQ Magazine, June 2007

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