My athleticism was really the core to social acceptance, because in those days the overwhelming number of students came from more of a public school background than I did.
He would still see it as his duty to shut up and get on with it, not cause any trouble. In our own time we've made a hero of the rebel, and it's more heroic to speak up.
I think the Canadian Football League is a great league, but it's not the NFL, and I'm not Jerry Rice.