Shadow Politics with Senator Michael D. Brown

With Guest, Legendary Athlete, Businessman, congressman - Tom McMillen

Put on your high top sneakers . . . Our guest is Legendary Athlete, Businessman, congressman - Tom McMillen - I'm excited to have a conversation with sports legend and old friend, Congressman Tom McMillen. Tom and I first met in 1980 at the Democratic National Convention in New York. I will speak with him about the evolution of the Democratic Party over the past 45 years, his predictions for the 2024 elections and, of course, his amazing athletic career which spanned decades.

Tom McMillen is the president and chief executive officer of the LEAD1 Association.

Founded in 1986, LEAD1 Association has 130 members located in 41 states. The association is dedicated to the success of student-athletes — both in the classroom and on the playing field for college and afterwards.

As a high school student, McMillen was the most highly recruited athlete of his era and the second high school student ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Tom was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as the youngest presidential appointee ever on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.

An All-American basketball player, Tom still holds the school record for career scoring average at the University of Maryland. The first Rhodes Scholar from the University of Maryland, Tom received a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. A member of the controversial 1972 Olympic basketball team, he also played in the NBA for 11 seasons.

Representing the fourth district of Maryland, McMillen served three consecutive terms (1987-1993) in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the Energy & Commerce Committee; the Banking, Finance & Urban Committee; and the Committee on Science, Space & Technology. He was president of the freshman class of the historic 100th Congress.

President Bill Clinton appointed Tom as co-chair of the President’s Council on Fitness and Sports. McMillen also founded several publicly traded companies and has been a successful entrepreneur. He was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland System, the founding chairman of the National Foundation on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and author of "OUT OF BOUNDS: How the American sports establishment is being driven by greed and hypocrisy – and what needs to be done about it." — a book examining the influence of sports on ethics.

His op-eds and articles have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, USA Today and The Chronicle of Higher Education.