Brian Piccolo Would Have Brought World Peace by 1994

In a story ostensibly about Lee Corso's shyness about being the recruiter to bring the first black athlete into the ACC back in '63 (and, yes, you should take a few moments to consider that) and chock full o'quotes from Corso deflecting credit, we are reminded yet again that Brian Piccolo (of "Brian's Song" fame) was the baddest man on the south (Loop) side of Chicago, Leroy Brown aside. All he did was silence thousands of racist Wake Forest students with one move.

Corso and Darryl Hill (said recruit and brave man unto himself) took immense abuse throughout the ACC for letting the coloreds onto the same field as the whites. Taunts, death threats... you know, the usual package racists put in for this offense.

Brian Piccolo wouldn't put up with it, though. The star running back for Wake Forest grabbed Hill and Corso, dragged them in front of the student section of Wake Forest on game day and put his arms over the shoulders of each man. According to Corso, "... when he did that, it got eerie silent and there wasn't another word that day about Darryl."

ESPN's Corso recruited ACC's first black athlete [USA Today]