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UMI A Bell & HoweU Information Compaiy 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 OUTSIDE THE LINES: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN STRUGGLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, 1904-1962 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State U niversity By Charles Kenyatta Ross, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Warren Van Tine William Childs Marshall Stevenson Ivisor Department of History UMI Number: 9639339 UMI Microform 9639339 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 VITA May 12,1964 ..............................................Bom - Gary, Indiana 1986 ..............................................................B.A., Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1987-198 8 ...............................................Contract Administrator, Defense Logistics Agency, Detroit, Michigan 1988-198 9 ............................................... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1990-1992 ................................................M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1993-1995 ................................................Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1995-Present ........................................... Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History TABLE OF CONTENTS VITA...................................................................................................................................ü USTOFTABLES..............................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER PAGE I.KICKOF F......................................................................................................................... 6 II. EARLY BLACK PIONEERS 1919-1933 ...............................................................33 III. INVISIBLE MEN 1934-1945 ..................................................................................64 IV. THE FIRST SINCE LILLARD AND KEMP............................................................105 V. FIRSTANDTEN........................................................................................................128 VI. A NEW LEAGUE WITH OLD RULES.................................................................... 156 VII. 4th and Goal...........................................................................................................182 VIII.TOUCHDOW N.......................................................................................................200 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................221 BIBUOGRAPHY............................................................................................................ 247 III LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Statistics for the Los Angeles Rams 1946 season......................117 2. Attendance of the All-American Football Conference...............120 3. African Americans in pro football 1904-1962.............................. 229 IV Introduction The struggle by African Americans to fully Integrate professional football Is a story that has not been adequately told. Institutional racism, which still permeates American society, was clearly visible In the history of professional football. Yet, the segregation of professional football did not occur until 1933. Unlike professional baseball, whose color barrier was established In the late nineteenth century, blacks participated In professional football beginning In 1904. Charles Follls was the first black player to be compensated for his play In 1904, and he began a history that has remained largely untold. This comprehensive survey of African American professional football players from 1904 through 1962 seeks to describe and Interpret some central themes of that history. I have sought to show, first, how black players were allowed to participate In small numbers until 1933; second, that with the growing popularity of professional football, the reorganization of the NFL In 1933, and the effects of the depression white owners established a color barrier; third, that the reintegration of professional football In 1946 can be explained by the Impact of World War II, public pressure primarily generated by the black press, the creation of a rival league, and the realization among some white owners and coaches that playing 1 2 blacks would increase revenues and talent; and, finally how the reintegration process visibly changed professional football by 1962, and how this change paralleled the larger Civil Rights movement in America. These central themes are but a part of two larger subjects in American history: The development of leisure and sporting activity in American life after the Civil War; and the socioeconomic impact of such a development in relation to the sport of professional football and race relations through the heyday of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Sports, like most other American social, political and economic institutions were racially restrictive or segregated according to the doctrine of "separate and equal" manifested in the 1896 Plessv decision. However, the playing fields of America were integrated years before the Supreme Court reversed itself in 1954, and in many ways sports set the tone for America to begin integration off the field. There is a paucity of sources on this subject, with most information being derived from various black newspapers and secondary sources. Records at the Pro Football Hall of Fame lack specific information relevant to black player participation. Team records and statistics, individual player's statistics, and team histories make up most of the Hall of Fame records. Individual and team salaries were not readily available for the time period. And extensive conversations with the Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan confirmed the lack of specific information regarding black players. Although there are general works on the black experience in sports, and specific books and articles on various aspects of 3 blacks in professional football, the story has not been synthesized; this dissertation seeks to do that. This study focuses on black players and their struggle to get on the field and into the locker room. It does not specifically examine the relationship between black players and the larger black community, which is a future topic for study. There is an absence of scholarly material on this subject, with most material consisting of anecdotal picture books. Ocania Chalk's Pioneers of Black Soort (1975), and Black Colleae Soort (1976) examine the history of black athletes professionally and at the college level in a popular manner. Edna and Art Rust's Illustrated History of the Black Athlete (1985), which examines black participation in several sports, including professional football, is very general in its discussion of the black athlete's history. Finally, Arthur Ashe's A Hard Road To Glorv-Football (1988), is a general historical overview of the history of black athletes in college'and professional football. Chapter 1 of the following dissertation discusses background information concerning the history of pro football, Charles Follis who in 1904 became the first black professional football player, and the formation of the National Football League. Chapter 2 contains the history of early black players in the NFL from 1920 to 1933. It discusses such early pioneers as Fritz Pollard, who was the first black head coach in 1919, Paul Robeson, and Joe Lillard, who along with Ray Kemp were the last two black 4 players to play In the league before the twelve year ban against blacks. Chapter 3 illustrates that from 1933 to 1946, black pro football players created their own teams. This chapter looks at some of those black