Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Jackie Robison, and Jesse Owens are all inspiring African Americans who fought for rights and equality for their race. The struggle for black rights in the United States was carried into all aspects of American culture, especially sports. Racism in American football was prominent in the early stages of the sport and in college-level football in the 19th century, and it lasted even after the National Football League was wholly desegregated in 1962. Nonetheless, the integration of American football was a monumental event in African American history. The desegregation and integration of American football was impacted by geography and by local and national political-cultural events, such as World War I, equality in higher education, and acts of desegregation issued by the American government.
The popularization of professional football sprung from the spread of white college football, which was not initially racist in Northern states. The University of Michigan, Cornell University, Harvard University, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Beloit College, and Williams College — all northern schools — had black players on their football teams before 1900. In 1889, the All-American football team for college athletes was founded by Walter Camp because football was so popular at New England colleges. The team did not discriminate against blacks, partly because it was started in the Northeast. In fact, the league had no set quota of black players per team. For example, William Henry Lewis, the son of free Mulatto African American parents, was the first black All-American football player in the league. In fact, Lewis was the captain of the Amherst football team prior to his recruitment to the All-American team. The New York Times defied the racism of the era by writing that “the election of Lewis, ’92, a colored man, to the football captaincy for the next year does not cause much comment, owing to the democratic spirit of Amherst. Lewis is undoubtedly the best man for the place, having played a very strong game at centre rush the last two year” (1890). Therefore, there was an initial lack of discrimination in both college football and in the All-American league because the sport was most popular in northern states.
However, as the All-American team spread to Southern states, there was much backlash against black players, and racial tensions even spread north. Despite the fact that there was no quota on African American athletes per team, most white college teams had no black players, and there were seldom more than two. Black players received much hostility from fans, the press, and other teams. For example, when Wabash College was set to play DePauw University in football in 1903, DePauw’s manager and players refused to play after hearing Wabash had a black player, Samuel Simon Gordon. However, an army officer forcefully convinced DePauw to put racist instincts aside and play, resulting in a win for Wabash. This conflict was one of many due to such rapid normalization of an integrated league. Additionally, Henry McDonald, a Haitian-born running back for the Rochester Jeffersons, recalled that once during a game in 1917, Greasy Neale of the Bulldogs said that “black is black and white is white, and from where I come from, they don’t mix.” Furthermore, in the early 1900s, Yale University's president said that "football did away with class distinctions altogether,” but the fact that he never mentioned racial distinctions proved that racial issues did arise. These racial conflicts in the early 1900s were prompted by the quick inclusion of black players on white teams in an era where desegregation was quite controversial, especially in the South.
Because there was such an appeal for college football across America, in the early 1900s, an all-black league was created in addition to the league of white colleges to give black athletes the opportunity to play within the black community. The creation of the league was also due to the popularization of higher education for African Americans. Still, black schools struggled with academic standards and inadequate facilities compared to white schools. There were fewer coaches available, and because the players had improper high school training at segregated schools, the skill level at black schools was far lower than at white colleges. This struggle was especially fought for by Edwin B. Henderson, a civil rights activist and promoter of African American involvement in sports. He said that “the [African American] boys from [segregated] high schools haven’t sufficient knowledge of fundamentals and of ‘inside’ football to fit into an intricate system. Thus we must adapt a less intricate system to conform to the players.” This demonstrates the uneven playing field — literally — between black and white colleges. The first all-black college football game was between Biddle University (today’s Johnson C. Smith University) and Livingstone college in 1892. According to the New York Times, “the game was not finished on account of the fatal wounding of Fred Staples and the serious injury of half a dozen other players. A riot concluded the game, when several drunken white men attacked the players because they could not make a touchdown.” Therefore, because of improper training, the games in the all-black league did not run smoothly, but the press misled people to assume this was due to racial inferiority. In fact, the press reported injuries, riots, and other incidents, but seldom actually reported on the football being played and the final scores. Despite the fact that African Americans were given opportunities for education and to play football, their facilities were inferior to those granted to white students and athletes, paving the way to more racism.
The professional football league initially accepted black players after evolving from local athletic clubs and college football in the early 1900s, but this changed in response to more general societal shifts. Charles Follis was the first black professional football player, when he signed to play for the Shelby Athletic Club in 1904. While his teammates were hesitant to welcome an African American on the team, they nonetheless defended him. Indeed, captain Jack Tatterson, stood up for Follis during a conflict, saying “don’t call Follis a ni**er. He is a gentleman and a clean player, and please don’t call him that.” Professional football included thirteen other black players through the 1920s and early 1930s. In fact, James Crowley, an early commissioner of the All-America Football Conference (today’s NFL) said that the AAFC “had no rule that [barred] a Negro athlete from playing.” However, due to growing racial tensions of the era, many black players faced limited use on the field. Eventually, in response to fan boycotts and negative press exposure, the situation escalated so much that team owners issued a secretive and unspoken ban on black players on white teams in 1933. The ban sparked the creation of an all-black professional football league, which was monumentally more successful than the all-black college league, due to more standardized regulations and proper training of players. For example, the Chattanooga Ramblers were one of the first all-black teams to appear after the 1933 color barrier. The color ban aligned with the segregation in America at the time in areas such as the workforce, schools, public transportation, and the military. For example, black employees were segregated from those that were white ever since President Wilson’s executive order in 1915. Additionally, in the midst of the Great Depression, white men earned more money than black men — no matter the occupation. This certainly highlighted the racism in America before World War II, and it definitely played into the politics of football by causing team owners to segregate the league completely.
Dramatic breakthroughs leading to the integration of major professional sports — football included — closely followed Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II in 1945. In fact, the color barrier in the professional football league was lifted in 1946, after the end of the war. Additionally, the Truman administration barred discrimination in federal hiring in 1950. Furthermore, in 1951, Catholic schools desecrated, and public schools followed three years later in 1954. These societal changes and acts of desegregation strongly impacted the inclusion of black players in professional football. True integration of the National Football League (NFL) began a few months after the 1933 color ban was lifted, when the Los Angeles Rams signed running back Kenny Washington and receiver Woody Strode and the Cleveland Browns signed offensive tackle Bill Willis and running back Marion Motley. As early black professional football players in an integrated league, Washington and Strode generated much pride and admiration within the African American community across the country. Additionally, many black players in the integrated league felt that during a football game, every player was targeted and that it was not based on skin color. Indeed, Paul Brown, coach and part-owner of the Cleveland Browns, stated that he “never considered football players black or white, nor did [he] keep or cut a player just because of his color. [He] didn’t care about a man’s color or ancestry; [he] just wanted to win football games with the best possible people.” This quote showed that because American society became more inclusive toward African Americans, professional football closely followed this trend.
The Washington Redskins were the last professional football team to integrate. The process lasted over sixteen years and was strongly impacted by geographic racial biases of the Redskins’ owner, George Preston Marshall. Marshall was born in segregated West Virginia, attended segregated high schools in Washington, and valued his Confederate flag. It was written in the Washington Post that Marshall had a “dedication to white supremacy on the football field.” Besides his personal racism, Marshall was also against integrating because he believed that fans preferred watching football with white players and that they would reject his team if it had black members. Esteemed author Andy Piascik wrote that Marshall “did not pretend there were no blacks good enough to make his team… Unlike the other [team owners], he was honest enough to admit that he simply didn’t want [black players] around.” Ultimately, the Redskins began to integrate against Marshall’s will, thanks to decisions by the NFL’s commissioner and a member of President Kennedy’s cabinet. Additionally, “most Redskins fans wanted the team to integrate” (Povich, Washington Post columnist). Marshall remained so stubborn that when he died in 1969, he barred his estate to go toward “any purpose which [supported] or [employed] the principle of racial integration in any form” (George Preston Marshall). The Redskins’ delayed integration was a prime example of how geography impacted the desegregation of the NFL.
Today, 68% of players in the National Football League are African American. Despite their current majority, black athletes were in the minority on integrated teams for centuries, and it took many years and a strong fight by activists for black rights to change that. Ultimately, American football is how it is today because it aligned with geography and the desegregation of other institutions, such as schools and the workforce. And thanks to African American players such as Corey Clement and Alshon Jeffery, the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018.