American Sport in the 21st Century - Seth Jones' unusual path to the NHL

During class on November 10 and 15, American Sport class had a discussion about race and ethnicity in sports.  Sports were mostly played by white males before the 1950s, as the United States were at the start of the Civil Rights movement.  That meant if African Americans or Latinos wanted to play in sports, they had to form their own leagues.  That meant U.S. history, African American history, and the history of sport in our country are very intertwined.

As the class conversation kept going, I remember my professor Dr. Higgs had asked us if we could name ten African Americans that play in the National Hockey League (NHL).  I, being the hockey player I am thought I could do it, but when it came down to it I could only name three.  Dr. Higgs used this as a lead into how African American men and women are under represented in most sports.  This got me thinking because of a player I forgot to mention when Dr. Higgs asked us how many African Americans are in the NHL.  This player is Seth Jones.

He is one of the more interesting players in the NHL apart from being African American.  He was drafted 4th overall in the 2013 draft by the Nashville Predators.  Right there makes him a pretty impactful player.  After being traded, he just signed a big contract worth $5.4 million a year at only 21 years of age.  Yet, the most interesting characteristic about him is that his father played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  It is very uncommon for this to happen.  One, hockey and basketball are played during the same season, two his father was a fairly successful basketball player and seeing his success might drive him to be the same, and third making it to the NHL as an African American is not normally what you would see.

Here's an article with more information: https://www.nhl.com/news/former-nba-player-jones-helps-groom-son-for-nhl/c-642855

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVYJGFU84kQ