Fakes


 * __Race in the Early National Football League (NFL)__** Caleb Fakes

The National Football League, more popularly known as the NFL was established in the year 1920 with the name, American Professional Football Association" (APFA). Later, in 1922 it then adopted the name, the National Football League. The American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920 at a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio. Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe was elected president. The group of 11 teams from 4 different states, all but one in the Midwest, was originally less a league than an agreement not to rob other teams' players. In the early years, APFA members continued to play non-APFA teams. In 1921, the APFA began releasing official standings, and the following year, the group changed its name to the National Football League. However, the NFL was hardly a major league in the 20s. Teams entered and left the league frequently. Franchises included such colorful representatives as the Oorang Indians, an all-Native American outfit. In 1920's seaosns Red Grange and Benny Friedman were the stars of that era. They attracted large crowds for their games. Benny Friedman was named All-Pro for four years and he led the league in passing and passing touchdowns. Red Grange and Benny Friedman began to test the professional waters, the pro game slowly began to increase in popularity. Black football players had been playing in the APFA and NFL since the start of the organizations.The NFL stopped signing black players in 1927, but started signing blacks back to their rosters in 1946 following World War II. The first official championship game known today as the "Superbowl" was held in 1933. By 1934 all of the small-town teams, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, had moved to or been replaced by big cities. One factor in the league's rising popularity was the institution of an annual championship game in 1933. College football was a very popular event to attend and took up a large majority of sports fans. But b y the end of World War II, pro football began to rival the college game for fans' attention. The spread of the T formation led to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game that attracted record numbers of fans. In 1945, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, becoming the first big-league sports franchise on the West Coast. In 1950, the NFL accepted three teams from the defunct All-America Football Conference, expanding to 13 clubs. In the 1950s, pro football finally earned its place as a major sport. The NFL grabbed televisions attention, giving Americans nationally a chance to follow stars like Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung and Johnny Unitas. The 1958 NFL championship in New York considered by many to be the most-important game in the rise of the NFL. The popularitie of pro football was growing largly by the 60s, it had passed up baseball as Americans' favorite spectator sport. As more people wanted to cash in on this surge of popularity then the NFL could bring out a rival league, the American Football League (AFL). The American Football League was founded in 1960. The ensuing costly fight for game changing players between the NFL and AFL almost derailed the sport's ascent. In 1966, the leagues agreed to merge as one in the 1970 season. The 10 AFL teams joined three existing NFL teams to form the NFL's American Football Conference. The 13 remaining NFL teams became the National Football Conference. Another result of the merger was the creation of the Super Bowl would be to determine the "world champion" of pro football. In the 70s and 80s seasons, the NFL made its perminant mark as America's top spectator sport. Then African-Americans were among the NFL's top stars across every team. In the late 1980s, African-American players made gains in positions from which they had been discouraged, particularly as quarterbacks. Art Shell became the first African American head coach in the NFL and the second in professional football history when he was hired by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989. Ten years later, head coach Ray Rhodes and his assistants with the Green Bay Packers became the first all-Black staff in the NFL and only 14 assistant coachs were black in the NFL. By 1997 there was 103 Black assistant coachs. Today 154 of the 547 assistants (28 percent) are Black. Twelve of those are coordinators, compared with five in 1997. Then in 2002 Ozzie Newsome became the first Black General Manager of an NFL team. In 2001 Mike Vick was the first black quarterback to be drafted first in the NFL, this was a breaking point for many blacks in the NFL becuase black players were never a high majority of the NFL's quarterbacks. Still today there are many racial problems players and coaches face, said by many people.

=__Time line__=

=__1920s__= In 1920's the NFL was established, yet the NFL did not consist of many black players a total of nine black players did suited up for NFL teams between 1920 and 1926. There wasnt very many blacks in the league at the time, but there wasnt any rules that said they could'nt play. After 1926, all nine of the black players that were still in the subsequent National Football League left the league. Several teams were kicked out of the league that year, and with a large number of available, talented white players, black players were generally the first to be removed, never to return again. (//The first black player to play in the NFL Fritz Pollard, shown in the photo, 1st row far right)//

=__1930s__= Blacks were still welcome onto NFL rosters untill 1933 when the NFL became segragated.George Preston Marshall (coach and owner of the Washington Redskins1932-69) is said to be the reason behind the segragation in the NFL and encoureged all the other teams to fallow his actions. But Marshall most likely was not the only reason for the lockout of blacks, the Great Depression had spiked the racism and self-inflicted segregation across the country, as well as many politions influencing a lot of the people in the states. The NFL owners all agreed to ban blacks from pro football rosters until after the World War II. By 1934 all NFL teams had relocated to larger cities to be able to handle the finanial needs of the upcoming pro-athletes. In 1936 the first annual NFL draft for college players was held and then the first televised NFL game was on October 22, 1939 in a game the Eagles lost 23-14 to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. (//George Marshall in the photo to the right)//

=__1940s__= Segragation in the NFL was still stronly enforced untill the end of World War II in 1945, then movments began to take place in the black atheletes favor. With-in the next year of 1946 the discrimination aginst black atheletes playing professional football was essentially abolished. The rival of the National Football League(NFL) was established in 1946 called the All-America Football Conference(AAFC), and they were more proactive in signing black players. Three teams had already signed multiple black players in this new league.Right away in 1946 teams started to sign black players, and in 1949 teams started to draft black players out of college in the NFL draft besides their fellow white teamates. Besides one man still did not fallow the crowd he stuck to his guns and didn't place any blacks on his roster, George Preston Marshall.


 * A famous quote from George Preston Marshall; "//we’ll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites//."

=__1950's__= In the 50's the AAFC merged with the NFL and six of the AAFC leagues eight teams had signed black players. Most of the NFL teams did not sign a black player until 1952, by this time every team but the Washington Redskins had signed at least one black player to their roster. All the other teams had integrated by the mid-1950's. In 1957, the Redskins came to Yankee Stadium for an October game against the Giants. This game in the Bronx was the first time that protesters demonstrated against Washington's racial policy. But the past dominating Washington Redskins have fallen to consecutive winless seasons and George Peston Marshalls beliefs on segregration started to slip.

=__1960s__= The 1960's was a big change in the NFL, the man who was so dedicated to keeping his team segregated had fallen from his belifes. George Preston Marshall, he kept his team segregated for 24 year untill he was left with no choice other than keep losing, so he signed a black player to his roster in 1962. Bobby Mitchell was the young black player Marshall had traded with Clevlend for. Bobby Mitchell was a standout football player setting records in all aspects of the game while overcoming much discrimination, and later introduced into the NFL hall of fame. At the beginning of the first game Mitchell was playing the crowd stands and starting signing the song "Dixie", Mitchell is shocked, then George Marchall turns to him and yells, " Bobby Mitchell sing!". The song Dixie started during the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s in favor for black rights, but many racists turn the song around to mock the blacks for all the hardship years they endured. So to most blacks they took the song as racist and have been givin the opposite meaning.

Bobby Mitchell

=__1970s__= In the 70s, black players were among the NFL’s top stars. Though not many black quarterbacks where in the league or given the chance to play there were a few like; Vince Evans, Joe Gilliam, John Walton,and the only black Quarterbacks to get real playing time and to actully shine as a starter would have been, Doug Williams and Warren Moon. The main problem of the 1970s era in pro football was the amount of whites in charge of the "BIG" positions such as, owner, head coach and Quarterbacks.

=__1980s__= In the 1980's another milestone was set for the black professional athletes. Doug Williams, who played for Grambling (an all black 4-year college team) before turning professional, helped change forever the perception of the black quarterback in the NFL. In 1987 Williams became the first African American to lead his team (the Washington Redskins) to the Super Bowl. His dominating performance led the Red-skins to victory over the Denver Broncos, and Williams shattered the myths of intellectual and athletic shortcomings that had been used to keep black players out of the most important position on the field, the quarterback. Then Art Shell became the first black head coach in the NFL in 1989 when he was hired by the Los Angeles Raiders. Ten years later, Ray Rhodes and his assistants with the Green Bay Packers became the first all-black coaching staff in the NFL. Tony Dungy is the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, when he beat Lovie Smith’s (//also black//) Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XXLII.

=__1990s__= The Lions stunning 1st round draft pick Barry Sanders(black) set a record and led the NFL in becoming the first running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in ten consecutive seasons (1989-1998).Now by the 90s there isnt much that black players havent done yet, they are coaching throwing the ball making equal opprotunities as everyother player.

=__2000s__= By the time the 2000s touched down black atheletes are everywhere. The milestone that Mike Vick set in 2001 being the first black quarterback to be drafted first overall in the NFL DRAFT. Today, recent surveys have shown that the NFL is approximately 57-61% non-white, including African Americans, Polynesians non-white Hispanics, Asians, and people of mixed race. In recent years the halfback position has seen a dominance of non-whites, particularly blacks. As of 2010, Cleveland Browns halfback Peyton Hillis is the only white starting running back in the NFL. There were none in 2009.As recently as 2005, no white halfbacks received a single carry,and no white running back rushed for 1,000 rushing yards in a season between Craig James in 1985 and Hillis in 2010. But yet today many black players and fans still feel the NFL is racist because there is more white players at the quarterback position. Thats true but they need to look at the other positions like, runningback, reciever, defensive back, are all nearly 90% black players. The reason for that is its who ever perfroms most efficientlly at the selected position, its not about racism.

=__Citations__= = = []  []  []  []  []  []  []  []  [|http://books.google.com/booksid=G4IkgU7jpLwC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=1940s+football+racism&source=bl&ots=Ob4l5gQbEt&sig=Ip_FOUj6fUdEkqL4duTy0CuBbXQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qE7yTqqyKanQ2AWBlemTAg&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=1940s%20football%20racism&f=false]  []  [] []

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