When the Champs were even better

 

Perhaps another real victory for the recent Super Bowl Champion Rams is recognition of their signing the first black player in NFL History.  Kenny Washington was signed 76 years ago today.  Kudos for this little celebrated event for the Ram organization. 

The Rams moved from Cleveland to LA in 1946.  There was public pressure for racial integration.  So 3/21/46 was the date Kenny Washington broke the NFL’s color barrier, more than a year before the great Jackie Robinson did the same for Major League Baseball (Washington was a baseball player in college too, and outhit teammate Jackie by 200 points at UCLA!). 

Washington had been rated the “#1 threat” in a college player poll upon Graduation as an All American in 1939.  Washington was awarded the Douglas Fairbanks Trophy as the nation’s best college player.  But, like Jackie, his success was delayed. 

After he graduated, unable to play in the NFL, Washington coached football at UCLA and joined the LAPD.  For six years, he played for the Pacific Coast Professional Football League’s Hollywood Bears where he was that league’s highest paid player.  He got a knee injury during that time which certainly slowed him down.

The public demand that the Rams integrate or risk playing elsewhere had Rams owner Dan Reeves contact the now nearby former star known to his new fan base.  The signing of Washington and teammate Strode several weeks later, also black, was unpopular with other NFL owners.  While the LA signings were popular with that fan base, Washington, who had knee issues, faced the racism that would similarly haunt Robinson.  They’d tee off on him, dive at his knees and drop their knees on him. 

Washington waited 8 years, till he was 28, for his NFL chance.  Washington played for 3 years, carrying the ball 140 times for 859 yards with an excellent 6.1 yard average (and 8 TD’s), including a league leading 7.4 yards per carry in 1947.  He received a standing ovation from his home town fans after his final game as a pro. He was inducted into pro footballs Hall of Fame in 1956.

Eagles Lessons:  Although the Cleveland Browns quickly followed suit, also bringing in 2 black players in 1946, it took the Eagles till 1952 with the drafting of Ralph Goldston to integrate.  The Redskins were the final team to integrate in 1962, when running back Bobby Mitchell, Guard John Nisby & fullback Ron Hatcher joined the team. 

Racism doesn't simply end when a barrier is broken. Unspoken hardships remain for a long time.  But while trailblazing isn't as glamorous as often depicted, it is a necessary step for real change.