Details of the history of black players in American professional football depend on the professional football league considered: the National Football League (NFL), which evolved from the first professional league, the American Professional Football Association, or the American Football League, (AFL), a rival league from 1960 through 1969, which eventually merged with the NFL. United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... The Football League is an organisation representing 72 professional football clubs in England and Wales, and runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. ... AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ...

At its inception in 1920, the American Professional Football Association had several African-American players (a total of thirteen between 1920 and 1933). Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first black players in what is now the NFL in 1920. Pollard became the first black coach in 1921. However, by 1932 the subsequent National Football League had only two black players, and by 1934 there were none. This disappearance of black players from the NFL effectively coincided with the entry of one of the leading owners of the league, George Preston Marshall. Marshall openly refused to have black athletes on his Boston Braves/Washington Redskins team, and reportedly pressured the rest of the league to follow suit. The NFL did not have another black player until after World War II. Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Christianity (predominantly Baptist), Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Frederick Douglass Fritz Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). ... Bobby Marshall was an American sports player. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. ... George Preston Marshall (1896 – 1969) was the long-time owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). ... City Landover, Maryland Other nicknames The Skins Team colors Burgundy and Gold Head Coach Joe Gibbs Owner Dan Snyder Fight song Hail to the Redskins League/Conference affiliations National Football League (1932–present) Eastern Division (1933-1949) American Conference (1950-1952) Eastern Conference (1953-1969) Capitol Division (1967-1969) National...

In the NFL, when the Cleveland Rams wanted to move to Los Angeles, it was stipulated in their contract with the Los Angeles Coliseum that they had to integrate their team, so they signed two UCLA teammates, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington, who were playing semi-pro ball in the area in 1946. Still, Marshall was quoted as saying "We'll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites." In spite of this open bias, Marshall was elected to the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. As part of his "qualifications"' for enshrinement, the hall says: "Marshall was totally involved in all aspects of his team's operation and endured his share of criticism for not integrating his team until being forced to do so in 1962." The Redskins had no black players until they succumbed to the threat of civil-rights legal action by the Kennedy administration. The Redskins eventually came through though signing Bobby Mitchell and two other African American players by 1962. In 1946, the Cleveland Browns of a rival pro football league, the All-America Football Conference, signed two black players: Marion Motley and Bill Willis. The St. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium located in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California, near the campus of the University of Southern California. ... Binomial name Ucla xenogrammus Holleman, 1993 The largemouth triplefin, Ucla xenogrammus, is a fish of the family Tripterygiidae and only member of the genus Ucla, found in the Pacific Ocean from Viet Nam, the Philippines, Palau and the Caroline Islands to Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Christmas Island), and the... Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (born July 28, 1914, Los Angeles, California; died December 31, 1994) was a decathlete and football star at UCLA before becoming a film actor. ... Kenny Washington Kenneth S. Kingfish Washington (born August 31, 1918, Los Angeles, California; died June 24, 1971) was a professional football player who was one of the first African-Americans to play in the National Football Leagues modern (post-World War II) era. ... The Harlem Globetrotters are a basketball team that combines athleticism and comedy to create one of the best-known sports entertainment franchises in the world. ... The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the National Football Leagues Hall of Fame. ... Robert Cornelius Mitchell (born June 6, 1935, Hot Springs, Arkansas) is a former American football running back/ wide receiver who played for the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... ... The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the rival National Football League from 1946 to 1949. ... Marion Motley (born June 5, 1920, in Leesburg, Georgia, died June 27, 1999) was a former American Football fullback who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. ... William Karnet Willis (born October 5, 1921 in Columbus, Ohio) is a former professional football defensive lineman who played for the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1953. ...

Even when the NFL did sign black players, poor treatment was evident. Reportedly, black players routinely received lower contracts than whites in the NFL, while in the American Football League there was no such distinction based on race^[1]. Position segregation was also prevalent at this time. According to several books such as the autobiography of Vince Lombardi, black players were stacked at "speed" positions such as Defensive Back but excluded from "intelligent" positions such as Quarterback and Center. However despite the NFL's segregationist policies, ater the league merged with the more tolerant AFL in 1970, more than 30% of the merged league's players were African American. Today, recent surveys have shown that the NFL is approximately 69% non white (this includes African Americans, Polynesians, non white Hispanics, Asians, and people that are mixed race.) Evidence shows that the general stereotype that "blacks run faster, but whites are smarter" is still prevalent, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Conversely, the American Football League actively recruited players from small colleges that had been largely ignored by the NFL, giving those schools' black players the opportunity to play professional football. As a result, for the years 1960 through 1962, AFL teams averaged 17% more blacks than NFL teams did^[2]. By 1969, a comparison of the two league's championship team photos showed the AFL's Chiefs with 23 black players out of 51 players pictured, while the NFL Vikings had 11 blacks, of 42 players in the photo. The American Football League had the first black placekicker in U.S. professional football, Gene Mingo of the Denver Broncos; and the first black regular starting quarterbacks of the modern era, Marlin Briscoe of the Broncos and James Harris of the Buffalo Bills. Willie Thrower was a back up quarterback who saw some action in the 1950s for the Chicago Bears. AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ... Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American football. ... Defensive back (DB) is a player in American football whose role is primarily pass coverage; that is, the defensive back will stay near a receiver and try to deflect or intercept any passes thrown to him. ... Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco sets up to throw. ... Look up Center on Wiktionary, the free dictionary This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Polynesia (from Greek, poly = many and nesi = island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... The term Asian can refer to something or someone from Asia. ... The terms multiracial, biracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestors are not of a single race. ... AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ... Eugene Mingo (born September 22, 1938 in Akron, Ohio) was the first black field goal kicker in professional football in the United States, and was a very versatile American football player, playing several positions including halfback, kicker, and kickoff/punt returner. ... City Denver, Colorado Other nicknames Orange Crush Team colors Orange, Broncos Navy Blue, and White [1] Head Coach Mike Shanahan Owner Pat Bowlen General manager Ted Sundquist Mascot Miles League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Western Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970... Marlin Oliver Briscoe (born September 10, 1945 in Oakland, California) is a former American football professional wide receiver/quarterback who played American professional football for nine years, after playing in college at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. ... City Denver, Colorado Other nicknames Orange Crush Team colors Orange, Broncos Navy Blue, and White [1] Head Coach Mike Shanahan Owner Pat Bowlen General manager Ted Sundquist Mascot Miles League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Western Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970... James Harris is an alternate title of the ballad The Daemon Lover, though it may also refer to James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, or the American football player James Harris. ... City Orchard Park, New York Team colors Dark Navy, light blue, Red, light Red, Royal, Nickel, and White Head Coach Dick Jauron Owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. ... Willie Thrower (March 20, 1930-February 20, 2002) was a professional American football player. ... City Chicago, Illinois Other nicknames Da Bears, The Monsters of the Midway Team colors Navy Blue, Orange and White Head Coach Lovie Smith Owner Virginia Halas McCaskey Chairman Michael McCaskey General manager Jerry Angelo Fight song Bear Down, Chicago Bears Mascot Staley Da Bear League/Conference affiliations Independent (1919) National...

External links

• Hall of Fame list of Black players in the early years of the NFL
• An Essay About Black Quarterbacks and the Wonderlic

References

1. ^ Jim Acho (1997). The "Foolish Club". Gridiron Press. ASIN B0006QUG20.  Foreword by Miller Farr.
2. ^ Charles K. Ross (1999). Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-7495-4.