Nixon supporter. Nat Northington had become the Southeastern Conference's first black football player as a freshman at Kentucky in 1967, and when Dowsing was recruited by Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, he knew he would be the first African-American player at any of those schools. It took a special person. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2012. He began playing for the team in 1892 and ended his career with three years of eligibility remaining. Pollard would make history again in the 1921 season when he was named co-coach of the Akron Pros. If they couldnt eat together, no one would eat. If Williams. We knew the importance of standing with him Its hard to say someone is perfect, but Prentice Gautt was the perfect guy for that situation.. Pollard would take the NFL by storm and pave the path for some of the greatest African-Americans who play the game today. And the strength of Gautts legacy is that he was all of it. She saw him on TV and around campus. During the 1869-70 academic year when the "first game" was played, Darst roomed with friend and football teammate Dave Mixsell at 5 East College. The conversation was short and of little substance, but meaningful. Forty-five years after he left the program under depressing conditions - bruised, battered, injured and ignored - Brown was celebrated at a halftime ceremony of the Auburn-Arkansas . Like Henderson, Castiglione was mesmerized by Gautts passion for teaching young people. Lester McClain, the first black player to ever see the field for the Vols, spoke to the program and gave them advice about how to pursue their time in college. Julius Whittier, the first African-American football letterman at Texas, whose family later sued the NCAA on behalf of college players who suffered brain injuries, has died. When former Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson was pressured against giving Gautt a scholarship, a group of black doctors and pharmacists gave him money to attend the school. History was made on Dec. 17, 1968, when the University of Florida signed halfback Leonard George of Tampa to an athletic scholarship, becoming the first black football player for the Gators. Now, the Crimson Tide's first Black players also share a prominent spot outside Bryant-Denny stadium. He played professional football with the Akron Pros and led them to the NFL championship in 1920. pic.twitter.com/IjnFm6ZXU1. He and Richard Washington are the first Black. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 1960 NFL Draft and played eight years of professional football (one season in Cleveland, seven in St. Louis). The NFL had banned black players six years earlier. Gautt was the first black football player who was given a scholarship and played in games, but not the first person of color on the team. Now, the Crimson Tide's first Black players also share a prominent spot outside Bryant-Denny stadium. He understood the significance of what he did, Sandra said. Im Prentice Gautt, havent we met somewhere before? Sandra recalls Gautt saying smoothly. University of California at Los Angeles Bruins football player Kenny Washington leaps high into the air with a football. If you think of Prentice as the first black scholarship football player at OU, also think of him as one of the first to leave football, become very successful in his occupation, continuing his education by getting the highest degree and being humble through it all, said Professor Emeritus George Henderson, a close friend of Gautts. I just wanted to play big time football.. Gautt, who died March 17, 2005, is often remembered for stories similar to the one above. We were passing the gauntlet.. (Post-Dispatch. Bud often defended Gautt after becoming one of the first coaches in college football history to give a scholarship to a black player, something he knew wouldnt be respected until years later. Now, the Crimson Tide's first Black players also share a prominent spot outside the stadium. McClain played three years for the Vols, totaling 70 receptions for 1,003 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding two rushing scores. Emergency Information | Site Policies | Web Accessibility Policy | Web Privacy Policy, A Watershed Experience: Precursor Sherryl Griffin Bozeman Reflects on Lawsuit to Integrate UT Dorms, A Blessing in Disguise: Top Houston architect shares academic journey during UTs early days of integration. They shared the same values and personality, constantly seeking new ways to diversify OU by using their statuses to project the voices of those who couldnt. Brown's hope of being the first black scholarship player, or the first black athlete to take the field in a Razorback uniform, was over. We felt it was important to not only honor his legacy, but to also help people understand, for years to come, who he is, know what he did and how much he contributed to the quality experience that many were enjoying, Castiglione said. 865-974-1000. Phil George, a former ASU Athletic Director, was an assistant football coach for Angelo State University when Ben Kelly came to play in 1953. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson already had their place in Alabama football history. He made four All-America teams in 1971, the year he became the first Black football player in SEC history to be named a captain. During his time at Brown University he lead the team to the prestigious Rose Bowl in 1915. He was roughhoused and targeted on the field. Fritz Pollard would go on to become the first African-American head coach in NFL history. Washington played three seasons for the Rams and rushed for 859 yards and nine touchdowns. 1968 First Black Football Player Lester McClain Sophomore wingback Lester McClain took the field at Neyland Stadium as the Vols' first Black football player on September 14, 1968. The introverted Jackson became the Tide's first Black scholarship football player when he signed on Dec. 13, 1969. First Black Football Player Lester McClain. A Black University of Southern California running back was facing a Texas football team that would not welcome its first Black player for another 13 years. Croom had . He was Iowa's leading scorer in 1896 and led the . A young man named Ken Dious walked on with the football team in the spring of 1966, but chose not to stick with it. The two often talked in his office about the struggles each were facing and knew the impact their on- and off-the-field relationship would have for years to come. Switzer knew Gautts heart wasnt only in football. Leonard George signed his scholarship offer on December 17, 1968. It was about being given a gift, whatever that gift is, and using it to help others It wasnt us. He was the first black football player for Ohio State University, for which he played from 1929 to 1931. Went Pro 1919 & Led team to leagues 1st Championship in 1920. pic.twitter.com/ZENVIDxKFC. Whittier lettered every year from 1970-72, first as an offensive guard and then as a tight end his senior season. Sandra remembers Gautt for that charismatic and outgoing personality he displayed on the elevator. Days later, Oklahoma beat Army, 28-20. Want to tell your story? And he did.. He was quickly joined by a UCLA teammate after signing his first contract. Julius Whittier, a football player who was the first African American letterman at the University of Texas and made his debut in 1970, one season after Texas fielded the last all-white. McClain, who played receiver. Gautt greeted Henderson as he did everyone: clear eye contact, a handshake with both hands and a my brother. Their relationship quickly grew over the years, so much so that they talked at least two to three times a week. Texas' 1969 team was the last all-white national champion in college football history,. Whittier is the first Black player to letter in football at the University of Texas in 1970. Nothing more.. The university unveiled a plaque honoring Jackson and Mitchell Saturday in a ceremony before the current team's end-of-spring A-Day game, more than 50 years after they broke the color barrier. Sandra says a good majority of the people in attendance had no idea Gautt was a football player; they just knew him as a man who genuinely cared for others and worked to inspire passion and confidence. Hurley, Nettles, Overton and Stokes were the first Black student-athletes to play football for Vanderbilt. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. It was never about Prentice Gautt. In the game against the Georgia Bulldogs, his fourth-down reception helped the Vols come from behind and finish in a 17-17 tie. 38. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Whittier came to The University of Texas at Austin from San Antonio Highlands High School in 1969. Castiglione met Gautt in the early 80s. hen Joe Castiglione arrived at OU in April 1998 as the schools new athletics director, he was given the special task of renaming the athletic academic center. The five black players of the California team had to stay at a separate hotel. Fritz Pollard NFL HOF 2005, 1st Black NFL Head Coach 1921. Theres not many athletes that I recruited that could have done what Prentice did. At UT, Walker finished with more than 300 career tackles. Gautts football career was exceptional. . . After returning from deployment in World War I, Pollard made his debut with the Akron Pros in the 1920 season. Dad knew that would have never happened without a person with Prentices character They were a great team together.. It had to take a special coach and player to do that, and Prentice and Bud were the perfect pairing to break that color barrier in college football, former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer said. When Barry Switzer became head coach at Oklahoma in 1973, he offered Gautt the offensive coordinator position on his staff. He was the ideal scholar athlete.. (Strode followed two months later.) Led team to Rose Bowl after 1915 season. Barry Switzer and Joe Washington. In his three years playing for. On March 21st 1946 Washington became their marquee signing: the first black player to sign an NFL contract in the postwar era. There was no championship title, and Washington did not repeat the stardom he had enjoyed at college level a decade earlier. Austin Crumble Jr. John Mitchell Jr. John Mitchell Mitchell was the first African-American to play football for the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide. 1st Black player at Brown. In 1968, FSU football coach Bill Peterson recruited and signed two black players - Calvin Patterson from Miami and Ernest Cook Jr. from Daytona Beach. Mizzou's first black football player Norris Stevenson dies BY VAHE GREGORIAN > 314-340-8199 Mar 4, 2012 0 1 of 3 Norris Stevenson, as a Vashon High football player in 1956. Whittier came to The University of Texas at Austin from San read more The. 1963: First black football player in ACC, at Maryland. First African-Americans to Play Football at West Virginia University The first African-American athletes who played football at West Virginia were Roger Alford (offensive guard, 1963-1965) from Winterville, Ohio, and Dick Leftridge (running back, 1963-1965) from Hinton, West Virginia, . I think about Dr. George Henderson. He remembers listening to OU football games on the radio while still in high school, hearing Gautts name as he excelled as a football player. Pollard turned pro in 1919 after a successful college career, but did not join the league until he finished serving in the Army. Fifty years ago today, McClain became the first African-American to play football for the Volunteers. Gautt left the locker room in tears, but nearly all the other players remained. As we have noted previously, dozens of Texas student-athletes, including football players, are demanding change at the university. But his humility and respect for others is what makes his legacy great. The first black players at the University of Florida were given full ride athletic scholarships in 1968. Some of the greatest examples of people who have endured some of the most incredulous experiences, but by example showed how life should be lived we have, or had, them here at the University of Oklahoma, Castiglione said. When looking at the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website, a quote from Pollard stands out. And some of those came at times during egregious acts of racism on Oklahomas campus the Sigma Alpha Epsilon racist chant in March 2015 and a student wearing blackface while saying a racial slur in January 2019, for example. Then he thought of the present. He fought through plenty of adversity -- racial slurs, taunts, threats -- and went on to become a three . After calling out his players, Bud then left the room, leaving the players to discuss the issue among themselves. Then, one by one, players began to stand up and apologize to Gautt. After the Second World War ended the NFL was compelled to abandon its discriminatory policies: the LA Rams, the 1945 champions newly relocated from Cleveland, were required to sign African American players or lose their lease on the LA Memorial Coliseum. Arthur Wharton is widely considered to be the first Black professional footballer in the United Kingdom. I acted like I was too busy for him, but I wasnt.. Via Notre Dame Athletics: Wayne Edmonds ('56) becomes the first Black student-athlete to earn a monogram on the football team. First Black LSU professor (Julian T. White, Architecture) 1972: First meeting space for Black students was established (Harambe House) 1972: First Black LSU Student Government President (Kerry Pourciau) 1972: First Black Ph.D. graduate in Chemistry (Richard Evans) 1972: First Black LSU varsity football players (Lora O. Hinton, Jr. and Mikell . Listen to Gautt tell this story during a lecture he gave at the University of Kansas in the spring of 2003. January 27, 1894 Frederick Douglass Fritz Pollard, hall of fame football coach and the first African American head coach in the National Football League, was born. Bobby Grier, the first Black football player at University of Pittsburgh and in Sugar Bowl history visited us at our Alumni Tailgate with his family on 11/12. It was never about George Henderson, Henderson said. He was 65. (Strode followed two months later.). Who was the first black football player to play for Alabama? More than 400 people attended his funeral. Frank Kinney Holbrook (c. 1874 in Tipton, Iowa - October 29, 1916) was the first African American intercollegiate athlete at the University of Iowa and one of the first African Americans to participate on an American college varsity athletic squad. 2022 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The Rams eventually gave in and signed hometown hero Washington in March 1946, making him the first black football player to ink a professional contract in the modern era. Working in Missouris athletic department at the time, Castiglione worked closely with Gautt while he was the assistant commissioner of the Big Eight. It was the pillar for many interracial player-coach relationships at OU that followed. George Jewett Jewett cropped from 1890 Michigan team photograph George Henry Jewett II (April 1870 - August 12, 1908) was an American athlete who became the first African-American football player at both the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, and in the Big Ten Conference. He thought of the racial slurs that were yelled at him and his own fans telling him he wasnt welcome there. The two-time All-American would play and coach at the same time for four different teams. He played three years for the Vols, totaling 70 receptions for 1,003 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding two rushing scores. It's being widely reported that former Razorback Darrell Brown, the first African-American player in program history, and likely in all the South among majority-white schools, passed away. Robert Jerry "Ben" Williams, the first African American to play football at Ole Miss and one of the greatest defensive players in the school's history, died Monday. Leonard therefore became the first black football player to receive a scholarship at UF - by one day. He arrived at BC from DeMatha High School in Washington D.C. Austin played for the Eagles from 1963 to . In the game against the Georgia Bulldogs, his fourth-down reception helped the Vols come from behind and finish in a 17-17 tie. Gautt was a man who wanted to be recognized not as a trailblazer in the game of football or as an activist, but as a man of great humility and respect. This statement spoke volumes on how he would change the landscape of football forever. Kenny Washington had an eventfuland in some ways contradictorylife ahead of him. McClain is in the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame. You become a better person just by being in their presence. Who was the first African-American football player? The university unveiled a plaque honoring Jackson and Mitchell Saturday in a ceremony before the current team's end-of-spring A-Day game . Gautts legacy at Oklahoma will always first be that of a football player. Harrison Davis' experiences are captured in his conversation with Artin, part of which is quoted below. Sandra was drawn to his humbleness he was never one to boast about his athletic career. Washington played three seasons on knees that had been surgically rebuilt and he held his own, averaging over six yards per carry before his retirement in 1948. Bob Stoops and Eric Striker. He was never afraid to meet someone new or engage in tough discussions. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2012. Nevertheless, the coach said, the team was treated well and would be happy to return. In addition to being the most polarizing player in the league, Pollard was the highest paid player in pro football in 1919. Today his pathway would be clear: from college legend to NFL draft to stardom, endorsement deals and riches. The shoes were black. Former Texas Longhorn Julius Whittier, a member of three Southwest Conference (SWC) title teams and the Longhorns 1970 national title team, died Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, at the age of 68. Roberts, one of three Black players on USC's roster, played a major role in the Trojans' 44-20 win over the Longhorns. Fifty years ago this month, a Knoxville record crowd of 60,000-plus fans gathered at Neyland Stadium for the first University of Tennessee football game of the season.. He was as a long-time senior prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney Office and trial lawyer in Dallas. The colors of the uniform have been recreated in consultation with UCLA. He, as I did, saw the possibility of sports getting us out of our communities. He played on the Iowa football team and lettered in both football and track in 1895 and 1896. I always felt like I grew when talking to Prentice Gautt. Tension hung over UT's football stadium as C.R. Pollard coached and played for the Akron Pros/Indians in 1920, 1921, 1925, and 1926. Joining me on the football team in autumn 1952 was another young black man from western Pennsylvania, Dick Washington. To celebrate Juneteenth, we take a look back at the career of Ron Knight. Dick washed out during sophomore year, so I became the first black player to remain at Notre Dame long enough to earn a monogram in football. He had met Gautt several times on the recruiting trail and knew of his legacy at Oklahoma. He was the first black football player on scholarship at the University of Oklahoma in 1956, paving the way for many African-American athletes. In Pollard's first year with the Akron Pros he managed to lead the team to a championship. And thats just how he would have wanted it. The first black player drafted by the NFL was Glenn Davis from Indiana University. Williams, from . William Henry Lewis was the first black player in major college football at Amherst from 1889 to 1891, then at Harvard from 1892 to 1893, when he was a law student. Here is a statement from Pollard, recognizing the magnitude of his accomplishment. It wasnt that he just blocked out that part of his life. Leon O'neal II knows that from experience after being the first Black football player to earn a scholarship from the University of Texas in 1968. The Five actually weren't the first athletes to integrate UGA athletics. He played professional. Trailblazer for racial integration. Pollard gave African-Americans the opportunity at a better life by becoming professional athletes. Yet each regularly faced racial taunts and discrimination on and off the pitch: they could not play in Texas, for example, because hotels and restaurants would not serve them. The Past in Colorfeatures the work of colorist Marina Amaral, bringing to life black and white photos with colorapplieddigitally. This is Sandras favorite story of Gautt, along with the story of their first date, which came just days later and took place at a restaurant called Campfire Inn in Rocheport, Missouri. After the sixth player stood up, Gautt had heard enough. Whittier earned three degrees from UT Austin. Be the first one to comment on this story. I was amazed at his laser focus on serving youth. Undoubtedly, though, his story is a key part of the journey toward equality and integration in American sports. He was a two-time All-Big 8 selection (1958, 1959) and was the 1959 Orange Bowl MVP, helping the Sooners to a 21-6 win over Syracuse. No player today experiences what Prentice Gautt experienced. "People don't realize how hard it was to be black in the segregated South. The feel-good story of October's second weekend of college football belonged to Darrell Brown, the first black football player at the University of Arkansas. He, along with then-OU President David Boren, thought there was no better person to name the academic center after. Prentice Gautts status as the first black football player on scholarship at OU is often what hes remembered for. He would call me and say, George, I wish I was you and in the classroom, Henderson said, who came to Norman as OUs third black professor in 1967. And the rest is history. (He also played baseball for UCLA alongside Jackie Robinsonaveraging .454 in 1937 and .350 in 1938.). (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images), The photograph He was 67. Then, with tears in his eyes as he walked off the field, Gautt turned to Sandra with a smile. He played only one season for the team before moving on to play eight more years in Canada. He became one of Buds all-time great fullbacks, donning the No. Whittier played with . But he wanted be viewed as a student, teacher and mentor. Stokes and Hurley integrated the program in . Until she ran into him on the elevator. Lincoln Riley and Nick Basquine. He majored in philosophy as an undergraduate, but went on to earn a masters degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1980. 38. Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom yells to the team near the end of a 19-14 win over Auburn in an NCAA college football game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., Sept. 15, 2007. (Bud) took tremendous pride in the fact that the University of Oklahoma was the first school in the South to break the segregation code, Jay said. Who was the first black football recruit at Tennessee? John Austin became the first African-American basketball player at Boston College in 1963. Condredge. But in 1939 that wasnt an option. The stadium had a new east . HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 1966: First black football player in SWC (forerunner of today's Big 12), at Baylor Henderson and Gautt are two of the most prominent African-American figures to grace Oklahomas campus. A goalkeeper (who. In 1920, Fritz Pollard became the first African-American to play in the NFL during its formative years. Bit-part Hollywood star. The Daily regrets the error and has corrected the story. Jay, a senior in high school at the time, looked up to Gautt. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson already had their place in Alabama football history. Gautts presence is still felt today, not only in the Prentice Gautt Academic Center located inside the north end zone of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, but in the minds of OU students and athletes as issues of racism still exist on Oklahomas campus. Not wanting to make a scene, Gautt politely went back to the bus where he would wait for his white teammates. It was the next generation passing it to the next generation. But Gautt was a former professional football player and not someone she, personally, would be interested in. When Gautt was honored during halftime of one of Oklahomas games in 1999, he thought back to when he played in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The UCLA Bruins left halfback set a college record of 3,206 yards for total offense over his career, won the Douglas Fairbanks trophy for the best college player in the U.S. and was named to an American college all-star team in August 1940. Because of the pain he carried with him for many years . So Washington graduated from UCLA, coached a little and joined the LA police department, where his uncle Rocky was the highest-ranking black officer. It always amazes me that at the heart and soul of human nature is that willingness to take those extra steps to do extraordinary things. James Hurley integrated two SEC programs. He first joined the Longhorns in 1969. Have photos to share? Georgia football posted the video of the four men visiting today's players on their official Twitter account: In 1971, Larry West, Horace King, Clarence Pope, Chuck Kinnebrew, and Richard Appleby became the first African-American men to play football at the University of Georgia. LAPD officer. After earning his Ph.D. in psychology and serving as an academic counselor in the Missouri athletic department, Gautt began his career in athletics administration in the Big Eight. rentice Gautt walked alone to the Oklahoma freshman football team bus. He also remembers the first time he met Gautt, after Bud insisted the two meet shortly after Henderson arrived at OU. He thought of the time his team followed to the bus and his coach sticking up for him in the locker room. He was 6-foot, 3-inches and weighed a little over 250 pounds. ARSENAL: Brendon Batson (1972) Born Grenada, 6 February 1953 West Brom's "The Celebration" sculpture, featuring Brendon Batson with Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham Aged just 19, Batson became. During the time Grier played for Pitt . The San Diego Chargers took him with the ninth pick of the 1971 draft. He was a good football coach, but he knew he would make a great a professor or teacher, Switzer said. Ron Knight was BYU's first black football player. This is too much for me.. Teammates, coaches, former co-workers, community members and friends piled into First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kansas, on March 22, 2005. Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 The flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System and partner in the Tennessee Transfer Pathway. The helmet is made from leather with a lighter brown shade.. https://www.dailytexanonline.com/person/julius-whittier, https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/texaslonghorns/2018/09/27/julius-whittier-first-black-letter-winner-texas-longhorns-football-passes-away, https://www.barkingcarnival.com/2018/9/27/17911310/julius-whittier-darrell-royal-changing-the-face-of-texas-football. January 27, 1894 Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, hall of fame football coach and the first African American head coach in the National Football League, was born. He knew he had me hooked because the elevator went up and down twice and I still hadnt gotten off, Sandra said. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville We could not be more grateful to honor their legacy. Back in 1920, they allowed their first two Black American players into the American Professional football Association (later renamed the National Football League), Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall. Minnesota's first black football player was Robert "Bobby" Marshal, who played from 1904-1906. He was just a wonderful, wonderful human being and that reflected in everything he did during his life.. George Taliaferro, a star football player who led Indiana University to its only undefeated season in 1945 and who in 1949 became the first black player drafted in the NFL, died Oct. 8 in Mason, Ohio. Freshmen weren't allowed to play in those dayswe were to concentrate on our studies. The second date was an ice cream social at his local church. In 2005, he told New York Times reporter Joe Drape, I was a jock, plain and simple. Buds respect and admiration of Gautt grew into a lasting friendship. Updated: 10:21 AM CST November 27, 2020 AUSTIN, Texas The University of Texas will erect a statue of Julius Whittier, the Texas Longhorns' first Black varsity football player, in the. He attended Missouri after he finished coaching, earning his doctorate in psychology, an achievement he had always wanted to pursue. That player was junior college defensive back Ron Knight. Jay Wilkinson, Buds son, remembers the first time he met Gautt. But it was the University of Nebraska, alone among Big Ten teams, that made a nod to history, using a helmet sticker to pay tribute to the school's first Black football player, George. Gautt respectfully turned down the offer, saying he and Sandra were happy with their positions at Missouri. He called for change, pointing directly at Gautt and urging his players, if they were men, to speak to Gautt face-to-face. When Gautt entered the restaurant, the owner approached him and said he had to eat in the basement by himself due to the color of his skin. Brown concentrated on academics and pursuing a law degree. Former Texas Longhorn Julius Whittier, a member of three Southwest Conference (SWC) title teams and the Longhorns' 1970 national title team, died Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, at the age of 68. "Growing up in Texas, I always like . This story is part of a series The Daily will publish throughout February in honor of Black History Month. Frank "Kinney" Holbrook was the University of Iowa's first Black football player and one of the first student-athletes to break the color barrier in the country. However, in the years after Fritz's departure, the NFL owners imposed a "gentleman's agreement" preventing the signing of more black players. He had a passion for teaching, often speaking to student athletes about the importance of using athletics as a vehicle for education. Bud Wilkinson wasnt happy with the way some players were treating Gautt using racial slurs behind his back and wanted to address the team about the matter. Texas' 1969 team was the last all-white national champion in college football history, according to the . He knew of the difficulties Gautt faced while playing football at Oklahoma and viewed Gautt as a man of high character and class because of them. John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson already had their place in Alabama football history. I think about Prentice Gautt. AUSTIN, Texas The road less traveled isn't always the easiest. Eleven more would play between 1921 and . Washington died in 1971, aged 52. Gautt's football career was exceptional. Before playing at Oklahoma, he was a standout football player at Douglas High School in Oklahoma City, becoming the first black player in Oklahoma to be an All-State selection. Jay recalls his family receiving racist and profanity-laced telegrams after each game from fans wanting Gautt off the team. Pollard's achievements in bringing racial integration to the NFL helped create a more diverse, inclusive, and exciting dynamic. Lets take a look at how Fritz Pollard's achievements altered the sport of organized professional football for the better. He had made the team as a freshman. He was receiving a boisterous standing ovation an ovation that, Castiglione says, has yet to be matched at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. In celebration of Black History Month, The Darden Report is republishing Jeff White's profile of University of Virginia and UVA Darden School of Business alumnus Kent Merritt (MBA '83). Gautt was the first black football player at the University of Oklahoma where he wore #38. He earned All Big Ten and Honorable Mention All-American honors his final season. Today, the conference honors Gautt with the Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship, which is given to student athletes who exemplify excellence both in athletics and in the classroom. Family of the first Black football player in University of Texas history suing the NCAA A racial pioneer in the Texas football program is back in the news. He was an athletic phenomenon who broke the NFL's "color barrier.". Him being the first black player It wouldnt have happened if it wasnt for pioneers like him, said former OU running back Joe Washington. Leave a comment He started as an assistant commissioner for the Big Eight in 1979, before becoming a special assistant to the commissioner of the Big 12. I think that story says a lot about Prentice and even more about his teammates, said Gautts wife, Sandra. It was on the ride back from Dallas after a 19-12 loss to Texas in the 1959 Cotton Bowl. Other images from the same period show Washington photographed with his fellow black teammates, Robinson and Woodrow Strode. Prentice and Bud took those steps., Listen to Gautt talk about racism during a lecture he gave at the University of Kansas in the spring of 2003, FIRST BLACK FOOTBALL PLAYERS AT SOUTHERN SCHOOLS, Alabama: Wilbur Jackson and John Mitchell, 1971. autt met his wife, Sandra, in 1969 at Missouri. But in 1939 he was a star, plain and simple. Email Jessica Sinn for anything big or small. 1st Black RB named Walter Camp All-American. The university unveiled a plaque honoring Jackson and Mitchell Saturday in a ceremony. (AdobeStock) Rogers said he looks back on his time with the Tigers and believes race was the reason his white teammates were often promoted while he was overlooked. In fact, he rarely talked about it. The Kingfish was an athletic phenomenon. Six years after the dedication of the academic center to Gautt, he passed away unexpectedly due to flu-like symptoms. Bud Wilkinson and Prentice Gautt. Who was the first Black professional footballer in the UK? He paved the way for a lot of that.. These, and many others, are the relationships that have helped shape OU football on and off the field. Sandra, who was studying special education at the time, recalls it being big news that Gautt was coming to Missouri to coach football. I didnt care about civil rights or making a mark. (Photo courtesy of BYU Athletics) PROVO, Utah - Back in 1970, BYU football had its first Black American athlete join the varsity squad. He was part of the 1969 SEC Championship squad and played in the Cotton Bowl, the Gator Bowl, and the Sugar Bowl. Because of his fortitude, thousands of black athletes have followed in his footsteps. We were all concentrated on being a good football team, and Prentice was right there with us, said Leon Cross, who played at OU from 1957-62. In all of them, Washington and his comrades exude the athleticism and confidence of preternaturally talented young athletes. Im sure that businessman had a lot of fried chicken that went to waste that evening.. Prentice did it with grace.. The university unveiled a plaque honoring Jackson and Mitchell Saturday in a ceremony before the current team's end-of-spring A-Day game, more than 50 years after they broke the color . And he . His achievements paved the way for sweeping changes across the NFL, ensuring that Pollard's place in the Hall of Fame is well-deserved. They were the league's only Black players that year. This is what George Henderson remembers most of Gautt. 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