Every time the holiday season rolls around, many people are invited to ugly holiday sweater parties. One man who made an art out of ugly sweaters is none other than legendary comedian Bill Cosby. Of course, Cosby gets a bit of a pass because it was during the 1980s, when fashion reached a collective low. Now, Cosby has evolved past the famed "Cosby Sweaters," but he has continued to be a legendary name in entertainment.
Before he decided to pursue show business full time, though, Cosby was simply a student at Temple University. There, he played football during the 1960s and has some interesting stories from that era of his life. Although Temple University's football team wasn't exactly dominant during Cosby's days on the team, he still remembers those days fondly. His time as a player also led to him being awarded the National Football Foundation's Gold Medal, which is the National Football Foundation's highest honor.
Cosby was given the award at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City on Dec. 7 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The National Football Foundation's Gold Medal has been awarded to 56 others since 1958. According to Temple University, others to receive the awards include U.S. Presidents, U.S. Generals, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and dozens of corporate CEOs and Chairmen. Also honored at the Awards Dinner was journalist Tom Brokaw, who was given the National Football Foundation's Distinguished American Award.
Prior to receiving the award, Cosby talked about his football career with the New York Times. In the interview, he joked about his grandfather telling him not to play football when he was young because of the risk of injury on a growing young man, and then the broken shoulder that followed that season. He also laughed about a particularly bad hit when he was in college, and recalled the day he told his coaches he was going into show business.
While a career in comedy seemed like a long shot for a young Bill Cosby, it ended up being a fortuitous choice. Cosby began making a name for himself in stages around the East Coast. His television career began in 1965 when he was cast in the television series I Spy. The series ran until 1968 and broke boundaries for African Americans on television. He won multiple awards for his performance, setting him up for future television success.
In 1969, Bill Cosby starred in The Bill Cosby Show, in which he played a teacher. It only ran until 1971, but it paved the way to more television appearances for Cosby. In 1984, he starred as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show, which became a massive hit and solidified Cosby's position as a comedic legend. He had another show named after him that ran from 1996-2000.
Since then, Bill Cosby has been a champion of various causes he believes in, like education for African Americans, as well as continuing to perform live stand-up. For 2011, Bill Cosby tickets are available for his stops in cities like Nashville, Boston, Chicago, Tulsa and many others.
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This article was sponsored by StubHub.com. StubHub sells sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and other event tickets. Go to StubHub.com for Bill Cosby tickets.
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