Taliaferro was a football star at Indiana University, one of its then-rare African-American players. Dowsing, a prep star from Tupelo, and Bell, a native of Meridian, enrolled at MSU and were members of the Bulldog freshman football team. [2] He led both teams to city championships in the same calendar year. [16][page needed], After retirement from football, Washington returned to the LAPD. Patterson enrolled at FSU and was the first black player to break the color barrier in football, playing on the freshman team – freshmen were ineligible to play varsity football until the NCAA changed the rule in 1972. Dr. Prentice Gautt, an original member of the Big 12 Conference staff, was a pioneer in the field of college athletics from his time as the first African-American football player at the University of Oklahoma to a successful career in administration. Preston Eagleson, a classmate of Neal, is credited as being the second Black graduate of IU in 1896. Bellamy was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Via Big 12: Dr. Prentice Gautt, an original member of the Big 12 Conference staff, was a pioneer in the field of college athletics from his time as the first African-American football player at the University of Oklahoma to a successful career in administration. Via the Missourian: (Stevenson) was the first black player to accept a scholarship to play at Missouri. He also excelled on defense and did some place-kicking for the Wolverines. It was the first season UW's teams were called the Huskies. For a large portion of the 1900s, many of the college football powers we see today did not even admit black students at their respective institutions. He earned all-league recognition each year, including his first year when he suffere… Via The Houston Chronicle: He was among the first black athletes in the nation to receive a football scholarship when he came to Texas from San Antonio Highlands High School in 1969. Nate Northington, the first black football player in the SEC, finally understands his place in history. During the 1953 season, Georgia Tech refused to host Notre Dame for a home game, because Black players, Edmonds and Washington, were on the team. He first joined the Longhorns in 1969. A legend for his defense, rebounds and shot-blocking, Bill … Fred Patterson (Photo: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/c-r-patterson-sons-company-1893-1939. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the four backfield players that year. He faced large scale discrimination from not being allowed to room with any of his white teammates because of university rules to being bared from certain hotels and dinning rooms while traveling with the team due to states' laws. One story has it that Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher wanted to offer Washington a contract to play for the team, but only if he went to Puerto Rico first, which Washington refused to do. Reeves lettered for the Tigers from 1971-1973 as a defensive back and tied for the team lead with four picks during the 1971 season. Newsome struggled with injuries during his playing career, but stayed at Duke to earn master’s and doctorate degrees from the divinity school and served on the University's Board of Trustees from 2002-18. Kenneth S. Washington (August 31, 1918 – June 24, 1971) was an American professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League (NFL) team in the modern (post-World War II) era. Four years later, King became the first African American from Georgia drafted to play in the NFL, and he had a nine-year professional career as a running back with the Detroit Lions. [24][25], One legacy of Washington's and Strode's experience in the NFL – paralleled in 1946 by racial trailblazers Marion Motley and Bill Willis in the rival All-America Football Conference – was that Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, saw that blacks and whites could coexist in a violent sport without much disruption, and decided that Major League Baseball could be integrated as well. Via The Chronicle: Jackson became one the Blue Devils’ all-time greats on the field, getting enshrined into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986. [5][3], Washington was the first Bruin to lead the nation in total offense and became the first consensus All-American in the history of the school's football program in 1939. Dowsing, a prep star from Tupelo, and Bell, a native of Meridian, enrolled at MSU and were members of the Bulldog freshman football team. Here are the first black players to make a first-team appearance for each of the current 20 Premier League clubs. Via Ole Miss Athletics: A native of Yazoo City, Miss., Williams earned four letters (1972-75) while playing defensive tackle for Ole Miss and served as team captain his senior year when he earned first team All-America honors. When the five athletes earned scholarships to play at Georgia, their accomplishment began a series of firsts for the program. Scroll up to see the first black players at major college football programs around the country and the year that they debuted. Via Seminole Nation Museum: Pittman arrived on OSU's campus in the fall of 1957, a year after the University of Oklahoma had welcomed its first black football player on campus, Prentice Gautt. This rejection of the “gentleman’s agreement,” which kept teams from fielding black players against all-white teams, inspired black Angelinos and the African American press to adopt the teammates as their own. Jackson and George, a running back from Tampa, made Florida football history when they became the first African-American players to sign scholarships with the Gators under Coach Ray Graves. During his first football game, he suffered severe injures that resulted in his death. Kentucky was the first Southeastern Conference school to break the color barrier, in 1966. He competed in the 100-metersprint and was a member of the USC mile relay team that set a World Record in 1925. In addition to his athletic participation, he won oratorical contests on campus. “From a test-tube like situation, we both turned out pretty well.”. Wilbur Jackson (Photo: Encyclopedia of Alabama). Impressed by Smith's rugged play, Macklin allowed him to stay on, and in 1913 made him the school's first black varsity student-athlete.