The 2007 Orange Bowl was as memorable for its honorary captains as it was for its first-time participants: Wake Forest and Louisville.

Wake Forest chose alum Arnold Palmer to represent it while Louisville selected city native Muhammad Ali, resulting in what some media dubbed as a meeting between “The King and The Greatest.” Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the personality of the outspoken Ali contrasted with that of the humble Palmer, but there’s no question that both men helped to define the era. Both won the Hickok Belt, both were named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, both had impacts well beyond their sports, and both were beloved by their fans. Both men left us in 2016, but their legacies of excellence continue, inspiring us all to push a little harder and to be a little better each day.

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