She came to play.

Literally millions of words have been dedicated to Danica Patrick in the past few weeks. She has been lauded as hero. She has been chastised for being attractive. She has even been attacked by Robbie Gordon for simply not being fat enough. Her trails and successes during the Indy 500 have been well documented. One thing seems to have been missed, like another sterling rookie who excelled. She just came to play.

To compare Patrick to Jackie Robinson would at first seem a bit over the top. There is no doubt that they have traveled very different roads to get to their rookie seasons. There is little doubt that the intimation and bias that each faced would be as different as night and day. Yet, what strikes me so strongly is not the actions of the media, the public or their competitors – it is the actions of Danica Patrick and Jackie Robinson themselves, that are so similar.

It has been said that Branch Rickey didn’t choose Jackie Robinson to be the first black player in the major leagues because he was the best black player available but because he was the one would was best equipped to be the first. History will never be able to truly explain or define what Jackie Robinson went through in his rookie season. Yet each and every time that he was faced with hatred, bigotry and just plain stupidity – he took the higher road. Jackie Robinson came to play and he did, no matter what.

The circus that has surrounded Danica Patrick for the past several weeks isn’t likely to subside anytime soon. There are already whispers that the ultimate level of racing, at least in terms of visibility, will come calling sooner or later. Patrick has dealt with the media scrutiny of the Indy 500 with grace, poise and most importantly a visible desire to simply race. When interview she most often focused on the job at hand, never on her place in history or what a pioneer she was. Danica Patrick set out with one goal on Sunday, to win. She didn’t want to simply lead a lap, or rest on the laurels of starting higher than any woman had before – she came to play.

In this era when being a professional athlete can be as much about shoe contracts, drugs and ego. It was amazing to watch an athlete push aside all the perceptions of the media, all the expectations and simply race her heart out to win, no matter what. She took chances, she had bumps and wrecks but she never stopped. She never said, well, I guess this is good enough.

As I held my 7 month old daughter in my arms and watch the final laps of the Indy 500, gender, bias and even history melted away. I felt in that moment as I had a thousand times before, watching an athlete who gives it their all, simply to play.

That is what Danica Patrick gave us all on Sunday. She came to play.

Read Ian O’Conner’s article on Patrick here:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/oconnor/

Check out ESPN’s coverage here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/indy2005/news/story?id=2072004