LONG BEACH >> He was a giant of a man yet someone who was accessible to community members in Long Beach.
“Imagine being able to touch somebody and to talk to somebody that was in the top three in his sport in the world,” said Chuckie Miller, who played football at Long Beach Poly, UCLA and in the NFL. “John was that guy for us.”
Former NFL player Chuckie Miller said 1964 Olympic bronze medalist John Rambo was a super hero to him when he was growing up in Long Beach and while playing football at Poly High. @presstelegram @BeachVarsity @LBPoly_Football #LongBeachVarsityReport pic.twitter.com/hEE6X9u6W5
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) January 29, 2022
That was the central reflection during a celebration of life that was held to remember John Rambo at Cornerstone Church in Long Beach on Saturday, Jan. 29.
By all accounts, Rambo was a Long Beach sports legend, one who spent his college summers working as a newspaper copywriter for the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
His most notable international accomplishment was winning a bronze medal in the high jump in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
In 1996, Rambo was again honored when he carried the Olympic torch down Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach on its tour through the city before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
However, those who knew and loved him said his most important accomplishment was his local legacy and impact in Long Beach, specifically via youth sports, which they said was beyond measure.
“He earned a gold medal in Long Beach,” said Joysteen Toliver in reference to her first-cousin John Rambo’s community impact.
Rambo, 78, died on January 8, 2022.
For decades earlier, he was a servant leader.
Rambo’s legacy in Long Beach high school and college sports
Rambo’s love affair with Long Beach began when his family moved to the area when he was 8 years old from Rambo Settlement, Texas.
He always loved playing sports but during his sophomore year at Long Beach Poly High School, he had a 12-inch growth spurt in 14 months. His legend grew from there.
“Being a Rambo really meant something (at Poly High School),” said Nedan Rambo, Rambo’s great-nephew, who also attended and graduated from Poly High School. “He wanted to help people. He wanted to uplift people.”
“I’m the real John Rambo,” Rambo said with a laugh during a 2009 interview with then Press-Telegram sportswriter and columnist Doug Krikorian. “But I have to admit, I’ve seen all those ‘Rambo’ movies. Entertaining, but pure escapism. What I’ve done so much of life is real.”
In 1961, the 6’7” graduate of Long Beach Poly High School, who was known in the area as a two-sport star in basketball and track and field, earned a scholarship to Utah State University.
After growing homesick, Rambo transferred back home to Long Beach City College and earned a scholarship to Long Beach State University.
According to his LBSU Hall of Fame bio, in which he was inducted into in 1986, Rambo was a two-time national champion in the high jump and in 1964 he jumped 7 feet, 1 inch to win the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, without a high-jump coach.
“(I’ll) never forget the tremendous feeling I felt being in that Olympic Stadium and heading 80,000 people cheer for me when I made it over the bar,” Rambo recalled in his 2009 interview. “What a feeling!”
Meanwhile, during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Rambo said his roommate was future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
In addition to his accomplishments in Track and Field, he led LBSU’s basketball team in scoring and rebounding in 1965, averaging more than 20 points and nearly 13 rebounds per game. Later that year, Rambo was drafted in the sixth round of the NBA Draft by the St. Louis Hawks.
Rambo’s community impact on youth sports
Rambo was a father figure to countless youth in the Long Beach sports community said Miller.
“A giant. A superhero in Long Beach,” said Miller who first remembers meeting Rambo when he was 8 years old while playing Pop Warner-Youth Football in the 1970s. “John never left Long Beach. He became successful and never turned his back on us.”
Former NFL cornerback Chuckie Miller recalls what it was like the first time he met 1964 Olympic bronze medalist John Rambo in Long Beach in the 1970s. Miller said Rambo was a father figure to many young people in the area. @presstelegram #LongBeachVarsityReport pic.twitter.com/bCJA0ucOGS
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) January 29, 2022
“I learned at a very young age it’s about giving back. … It’s about serving and who did that better than John?” said Miller, who since retiring from the NFL has become a successful entrepreneur, real estate investor, and philanthropist in Long Beach. “If I could do half as much as John has done in Long Beach … I’m still catching up.”
“John never got the credit that he deserved,” said former ABA and NBA player Mack Calvin, who was mentored by Rambo in the 1960s when he attended Poly High, Long Beach City College and USC. “He was the first African-American that brought international fame to Long Beach. … We should honor John with a statue.”
Some of the professional athletes Rambo coached as a youth included Tony Gwynn, Jesse Sapulo, Randall Morris and Reggie Ward.
His nephew Ken-Yon Rambo, who attended Poly High School in the 1990s, played in the NFL and CFL.
Between attending Poly and Long Beach State University, John Rambo was enrolled at Long Beach City College and was inducted into the LBCC Hall of Champions in 2002.
Rambo was also known for allowing those in need of shelter to room with him on Myrtle Avenue. He was also a staple in the area’s basketball community as the first Long Beach native to ever be drafted by NBA. He was known to put on basketball camps for decades during spring break, winter break and summer months at Poly High School.
“I call it my academic cultural arts fundamental basketball camp,” Rambo told Krikorian. “The kids have to understand they can’t play basketball well without knowing their fundamentals. That’s what (Poly basketball coach) Bill Mulligan taught so well, and that’s what I’ll continue to teach to the latest generation of kids I’m working with.
“This is what I enjoy doing most – helping people,” Rambo reflected.
“John made me believe that you can help people. That you should help people,” Miller added. “What I’ve accomplished off the field is directly impacted by John Rambo.”
Rambo’s proclamation
During Saturday’s memorial service, Rambo received a proclamation from the City of Long Beach for his service to the community.
Rambo is survived by his three daughters Samantha, Donyan, Fatima, his son Jason, his 11 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
