Growing Up Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA in which his parents were sharecroppers. Growing up Jackie excelled in most of the sports he played. At UCLA, Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track. In 1941, he was named to the All-American football team. He then enlisted into the U.S. Army. He ranked up all the way to second lieutenant. He did not stay very long due to him being court-martialed because of racial discrimination. Start of Baseball Career In 1945, Jackie played one season in the NBL (Negro Baseball League) traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City monarchs. In 1947, Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers president, asked Jackie to join his team. The problem was that major league baseball had not had an African-American ball player ever play in their system. When Jackie put on the Brooklyn Dodger uniform, he had officially broke the chains to segregated baseball. Interesting Facts In 1982, Jackie Robinson became the first MLB player to appear on a post stamp. Jackie Robinson's older brother Mack finished second to Jesse Owens in the 100-meter race in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Jackie Robinson was the first ever four-sport letter winner at UCLA (football, track, basketball and baseball).