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Forgotten Four: The Integration of Pro Football is a documentary about athletes Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley and Bill Willis.They helped break down the barriers that existed for black athletes in professional football.
The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier". [1] [2] The world of sports generally is invoked in the frequently cited example of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947, after 60 years of segregated Negro leagues. [3]
In 1933, the NFL, now the only major football league in the United States, reversed its limited integration policy and completely segregated the entire league. [109] The NFL color barrier permanently broke in 1946, when the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode and the Cleveland Browns hired Marion Motley and Bill Willis. [109]
Although progress was slow and racially motivated hostility continued for many years, the color barrier was broken in all major sports by 1950. [21] Many of Motley and Willis's teammates on the Browns were used to playing with black players in college, where teams were integrated across most of the country. [5]
As much as the NFL loves to present itself as diverse, inclusive, proactive and forward-thinking, the troubling case of Jon Gruden shows us — once again — that the league is a long way from ...
1947: Larry Doby (1923–2003), second African American to break the color barrier, first in the American League 1964: Masanori Murakami (born 1944), first Japanese player National Football League
John Wooten, who help originate the NFL’s Rooney rule, would like to see Dan Snyder sell the Washington Commanders to a Black owner.
The post NFL and its fans can blur true colors, but anti-Blackness shines through appeared first on TheGrio. OPINION: The NFL binds like nothing else, putting us shoulder-to-shoulder with fans who ...