The Highest Paid Professional Athletes in 1966

The highest paid professional athletes in 1966 were not the ones you would expect. Think golfers and boxers.

1966 was a watershed year for Muhammad Ali. It was the year that he changed his name from Cassius Clay and became active in the American Muslim movement. It was also the year that he declared as a conscientious objector and refused to be drafted into the military. He was arrested, tried and found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of the heavyweight title he won over Sonny Liston in 1964.

Muhammad Ali (photo Sports Illustrated)

He was also nearing the end of the contract with the consortium of Louisville businessmen who were his backers and he planned on letting that contract expire and then put his business interests in the control of Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. This was very scary for white America and the press excoriated him. With all the controversy, he lost current and future endorsement income. He was stripped of his titles and vilified in the press. As much as Ali was loved worldwide in his later life, he was reviled and hated in 1966.

Still, he was the best paid athlete…