North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, center, and his players observe a moment of silence in honor of former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith. (AP Photo/The News &Observer, Robert Willett)
When the death of legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith was announced, a story from a 2014 John Feinstein column began making the rounds around the Internet. Feinstein, who wrote the column shortly after Smith celebrated his 83rd birthday told an anecdote from when he was working on a story about Smith during his coaching days.
From the Washington Post:
In 1981, Smith very grudgingly agreed to cooperate with me on a profile for this newspaper. He kept insisting I should write about his players, but I said I had written about them. I wanted to write about him. He finally agreed.
One of the people I interviewed for the story was Rev. Robert Seymour, who had been Smiths pastor at the Binkley Baptist Church since 1958, when he first arrived in Chapel Hill. Seymour told me a story about how upset Smith was to learn that Chapel Hills restaurants were still segregated. He and Seymour came up with an idea: Smith would walk into a restaurant with a black member of the church.
You have to remember, Reverend Seymour said. Back then, he wasnt Dean Smith. He was an assistant coach. Nothing more.
Smith agreed and went to a restaurant where management knew him. He and his companion sat down and were served. That was the beginning of desegregation in Chapel Hill.
When I circled back to Smith and asked him to tell me more about that night, he shot me an angry look. Who told you about that? he asked.
Reverend Seymour, I said.
I wish he hadnt done that.
Why? You should be proud of doing something like that.
He leaned forward in his chair and in a very quiet voice said something Ive never forgotten: You should never be proud of doing whats right. You should just do whats right.
Feinsteins column is nearly a year old, but worth another read today. You can find it here.
(Thanks to Mother Jones for bringing this to our attention)
Dean Smith, North Carolina Tar Heels, NCAAB
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Source: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/dean-smith-feinstein
