He graduated magna cum laude and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 1971.
Three years later, Sammons graduated from Tufts University with his master's degree in history.
In 1982, after earning various fellowships, he graduated from the University of North Carolina with his Ph.D. in American history.
[3] In 1987, as a Henry Rutgers Research Fellow, Sammons finished writing his first book Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society.
[2] His 2001 research fellowship from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and History and 2001 National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship led him to thoroughly research and write the book Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality with historian Dr. John H. Morrow, Jr.[3] Sammons has served on the editorial boards for the publications, The Journal of Sport History and Sport and Social Issues.