Jimmy Nelson of Bangor and Ralph Payne of Orrington grew up in a tiny minority during the 1960s.
They were among a small number of African-Americans attending and competing in athletics at Maine high schools.
In those days, perhaps the most visible and charismatic black athlete in the United States was boxer Cassius Clay, the man who emerged as a controversial world figure as Muhammad Ali.
Ali, who died Friday at 74, played a part in both men’s lives.
Ali was cocky, brash and outspoken. His demeanor did not resonate with either of the former eastern Maine football stars.
“I didn’t like the guy at first. I thought, someone needs to shut this guy up,” said Nelson, who was a 1965 Bangor High graduate. “I was a Joe Frazier fan. I wanted him to get beat so bad.”
Payne, known for showering his coaches and teammates with praise rather than toot his own horn, had a similar reaction to Ali.
“When he first started out, his boasting I didn’t like at all, and I was rooting for him to be beaten,” agreed Payne, who graduated from Brewer in 1971.
However, it was Ali’s boisterous nature that helped keep the spotlight not only on boxing but on racial inequality and the anti-war movement during the Vietnam conflict.
Payne was not in favor of America’s involvement in the war, especially after seeing Ali stand up to the government by refusing his Army induction in 1967. He saw reports of the summit in Cleveland at which Ali convinced the likes of Bill Russell, Jim Brown and Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not to support the war effort.
Payne wound up serving in the National Guard but appreciated having Ali as a spokesman willing to voice the anti-war sentiment on behalf of all those who did not support the war.
“He affected me by saying don’t be afraid to stand out and stand up in what you believe, no matter what the cost,” Payne said.
Payne and Nelson conceded that Ali’s efforts in working toward equal rights for black citizens stood out, even though their own experiences were far different than those of many African-Americans, especially in the south.
“I knew all the racial stuff was there, but I really didn’t face the hatred that some of the people did, or the poverty. I was accepted,” Nelson said.
Payne said he was the only African-American at Brewer High. His brother Glenn later served as the president of the Bangor chapter of the NAACP.
As former standout athletes, Payne and Nelson developed a deep appreciation for Ali’s sustained success in the ring. Payne marveled at how Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, had pointed to injustices upon his return from winning the boxing gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.
“When he came home from the Olympics after winning the gold medal and couldn’t eat in a restaurant in his own home state [of Kentucky], he realized that the gold medal really meant nothing,” Payne said. “You could be the very best that America had to offer and the very best the world had to offer, and yet you didn’t have the freedoms that any man should have.”
Nelson had a brief brush with boxing history before the famed 1965 world championship fight between Clay and Sonny Liston in Lewiston. He and some friends made the drive to Poland Springs, where Liston was training.
“We actually saw Liston spar, got an autograph from him,” said Nelson, who also was thrilled to see boxing great Joe Louis. “I could reach out and touch him.”
Clay knocked out Liston in the first round of the controversial fight.
Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in his 40s, and his health slowly deteriorated. The decline was difficult for many of his fans to watch.
“When I saw how disabled he was, I thought, that’s a crying shame,” Nelson said.
Yet Payne said Ali’s efforts as an athlete and ambassador for racial equality could never be tarnished by his physical decline.
“Ali affected my life tremendously, more than I was willing to admit at that time and probably even now,” Payne said.
“People call him the greatest and say it without reservation, and it’s because he made them believe it,” he added. “He more than said it, he backed it up. Like he said, it ain’t bragging if you can do it.”