1939-Los Angeles, CA: Portrait (L to R) of UCLA football players Woodrow Strode, Jack Robinson and Kenny Washington. In commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the first football game, these former football greats pose at a Touchdown Club luncheon November 5th. All rights reserved. Meet Kenny Washington, the man who broke the NFL's color barrier With the Rams in the Super Bowl in L.A., what better time to talk about the man who made history with them By Stephen Knox. When it comes to certain issues, it's like this unspoken rule we don't need to say or nothing. Washington approached the line and barked out, Ready seventy-five, fourteen, period, twenty-six, down, comma, semicolon, right! to the laughter of his teammates, many of whom were also playing in the T formation for the first time, Atwood writes. But these four men did the same thing in pro football one year earlier, their names - Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington. That was more than a year before Robinson who played football with. https://wdet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CS-KennyWashington-012122-Web.mp3. He too made the same claim. On March 21, 1946, Rams general manager Charlie "Chile" Walsh signed former UCLA standout Kenny Washington. JOHNSON: I would define it as putting a lot on the line so that I could have gotten drafted to be the No. On January 15, 1946, the newly-relocated Rams were in Los Angeles, trying to convince the nine-member public commission of the benefits to the city should the defending NFL champions, just in from Cleveland, were to ply their wares at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum via a long-term lease. Its unfair to the memory of Kenny Washington to frame his desegregation of the NFL as a Jackie Robinson moment when, if anything, its the other way around. Joshua Neuman. He brought up former UCLA star Kenny Washington (who once appeared in the same college backfield as Jackie Robinson) specifically, and asked why a college player who had created so many great moments at the Coliseum had never received a tryout for an NFL team. Black newspapers claimed a major barrier had fallen in pro sports. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. So he starred in the Pacific Coast Football League, a minor league that allowed Black players. And awesome. The media personality and model has not only impressed her fans with the TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians but has also inspired fans with her social media presence. video Taylor's efforts add a new sense of . Jackie Robinson is well known across the country for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. In a world where recorded history extends back thousands upon thousands of years, one that is populated by over seven billion people, the impact an individual can make may sometimes seem small. Kenny shines so bright on this album, that I always think of the album as his own. Ive made a good living at it. Kenny Washington (1918-1971) was the first African American to sign with an NFL team after a 13-year unspoken pact among owners to bar black football players from teams. Get a free mystery gift with box subscription from Bespoke when you sign up today! His stats in 1946 would include four receptions for 37 yards, zero scores and a 9.3 yards per reception average. *Terms apply. Harding met with the commission, and during the meeting, spoke of former UCLA star Kenny Washington as a hometown hero, and also reminded everyone of the sacrifices made by black soldiers in World War II. From 1934 through 1946, the National Football League had in place an unofficial but absolute ban on Black players. . Players played offense and defense back then. Do you have any additional comments for our readers? Over 50% of the NFL's players are Black. Today few people know the full story of the man nicknamed Kingfisher. To discuss Washingtons legacy, Will and LZ are joined by Super Bowl champion and ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson; Newsday football columnist Bob Glauber; and Kenny Washingtons grandson, Kraig Washington. The Rams coach also struggled to use them effectively. Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Related Articles: Three Former American Footballers Who Transcended the Fields to Impact Lives, The Most Inspirational Athletes in Sports History. And then now in 2021, there'll be another player that'll be drafted No. They're going to give you the information on Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. Washington isnt even in the Hall of Fame, says Neuman, who joined CultureShift on WDET to talk about his story for Slate. Which of his games do you consider the most interesting/impactful and why? These four gentlemen certainly paid a major price, and they laid the foundation down. Even though UCLA lost the game that afternoon, 19-13, Kenny Washingtons immense skills were placed in the national spotlight for the first time and the Bruins became a force to be reckoned with in college football. Ill admit that his statistics for those three years dont measure up to most Hall of Famers, although he was among the NFL leaders in rushing yards one season. A gallant 82-yard march in the final five minutes of play earned the University of California at Los Angeles football team a 13 to 13 tie with Oregon State College in a wide-open battle staged before 40,000 fans. Halley Harding ofThe Los Angeles Tribuneled a group that urged the Coliseum Commission to deny use of the stadium to any organization discriminating against blacks, writesTimeline. And there were no black players in the NFL. Simply put in information, and well make sure youre notified when we post a new article! Relying on a star, show me your favorite colors [Kyle:] I wasn't much of a mathlete Even less of an athlete Wait actually, I take it back I was busting ass at the track meet Going and going and going and going Just running from all of my problems With zero intentions of stopping Yup, until they got too big to solve em The months before Robinsons arrival at UCLA were particularly turbulent and tragic. What's the legacy of these four men that you wrote about in your book? Despite his clear talents, no National Football League (NFL) team drafted Washington because he was African American. Joshua Neuman wrote the article Why Isnt Kenny Washington An American Icon? for Slate. $245 Million QB Russell Wilson Facing Make-or-Break Season in Denver, The Best Travel Blazers, From Economy to First Class, The Worlds Most Epic Room Service Experiences Worth Traveling For, If You Love Whiskey, Try These 9 Aejo and Extra Aejo Tequilas, 6 Artists Pushing the Future of Jazz Beyond Its Boundaries. The story has been updated. Over the summer, the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference also signed black players Bill Willis and Marion Motley. All Rights Reserved. It wanted to compete with bigger schools, particularly crosstown powerhouse USC. Kenny Washingtons time has come. Kenny Washington is welcome to try out for our team anytime he likes.. For serving as a testament to the impact that individuals can leave upon history, Dan Taylors diligent writing and Kenny Washingtons hard yet humble work are both more than worthy of inspiring the world. MARTNEZ: Super Bowl champion wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson is one of the authors of a new book, "The Forgotten First," which tells the story of those four men. That's because Kenny Washington broke the NFL's color barrier in 1946, The Los Angeles Times wrote. Washington went on to appear in a number of Hollywood films. JOHNSON: Well, I think that was one of the main reasons to create this book is so we can bring light to the situation because, growing up, they're only teaching you what they want to teach you. During one game his first season, Washington was down on his back and well out of the play, but an opponent tried to kick him in the head. While Washington broke the color barrier in football a year before Robinson did the same for Major League Baseball, Neuman argues that its often referred to as a Jackie Robinson moment except for the other way around. The Rams' coach also struggled to use them effectively. His first love was baseball, and his father had played in the Negro Leagues. Even though they had broken the NFL's color barrier, Strode and Washington found mixed results as NFL pros. Scroll down for FREE PICKS and thanks for joining us at Kenny White Sports! And months earlier, Schutz writes, his brother Edgar had been severely beaten by officers wrongly accusing him of not buying a permit to bring chairs to the Tournament of Roses parade. Perhaps the NFL can begin to address its segregated past by naming players who were kept out of the league because of their skin color, such as Kenny Washington, to the Hall of Fame. People will come from far and near to see him play. Robinson would know the two had been football teammates at UCLA. Woody Strode was one of the few other black players at UCLA, and he and Washington became friends. Before. (John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images), UCLA football players (LTR): Woodrow Strode, Jack Robinson and Kenny Washington. Author Dan Taylors latest novel stands against those thoughts, highlighting the actions of one whose titanic accomplishments slipped temporarily under the radar. Both insisted Kenny was a far better player/athlete than Jackie. My friend said a few years later at a high school teaching job, a colleague had been a teammate of Kenny and Jackie on the 39 Bruins. Famed Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher actually offered Washington a contract before Robinson. What I had not known to that point was that Washington was considered an even better baseball talent. Former teammate Ned Matthews remembers Missouri players rubbing sideline chalk in Washingtons face, writes B.J. He did 1,000 push-ups, sit-ups, and knee bends daily. Why do you think over the years, Keyshawn, that these stories aren't more widely known the way Jackie Robinson's story has become part of the fabric of not just sports history in America, but just our history as a country? In 1946, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, still a nascent sports town then. However, over a year before that, another Los . (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images). Local black sportswriters saw an opportunity. However, Washington still has no bust enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame, although a class of fifth graders in New York started a petition for him in 2016. Kenny Washington, despite his great achievements in racial equality seventy-five years ago, has received relatively little time in the modern public eye. In 1946, Kenny Washington became the first Black athlete in the modern era to sign an NFL contract, joining the league's Los Angeles Rams and breaking the co. "I remember our father telling us that we had no idea how hard it was for our grandfather," Kraig Washington told The Times in . White dailies emphasized that Washingtons signing in no way set a precedent for the hiring of other African Americans, Gretchen Atwoodwrotein her chronicle of the NFLs integration,Lost Champions,reportsTimeline. During his tenure, the running back played alongside legend Jackie Robinson and Woody Strode, one of the first African Americans to play in the NFL. (John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images), One sheet movie poster advertises the all-black-cast football drama While Thousands Cheer (Million Dollar Productions), starring Kenny Washington, Mantan Moreland, Pete Webster, Jeni Le Gon, Reginald Fenderson, Laurence Criner, Monte Hawley, and Florence OBrien, 1940. Washington and Strode were seniors when Robinson transferred from Pasadena Junior College. The Rams were going to break the door down, or they were not going to play in the Coliseum. Now, most of us have read about Jackie Robinson, how he broke baseball's color line in 1947. During a meeting with the commission, Harding trumpeted former UCLA star Kenny Washington as a hometown hero, while reminding everyone of the sacrifices of black soldiers in World War II. By Malik Brown. Ive bought a home for my wife and sons. No, they didn't. Robinson spent the night in jail for resisting arrest. Woody Strode, who would join Washington with the Rams and later become an accomplished actor in movies such as Spartacus, Sergeant Rutledge, and The Professionals. NPR's A Martnez speaks with Keyshawn Johnson about his new book The Forgotten First about the four Black pioneers who broke the NFL's color barrier. Former Rams RB Kenny Washington was celebrated at Lincoln High School's Kenny Washington Memorial Game on the 75th anniversary of his historic signing with the Rams. He signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. Heres What to Buy. If you are one who takes an interest in what is positive in your community, state, country or world, we are reaching out to you. Robinson was the son of Georgia sharecroppers. Washington was first in the country in . Rams general manager Charles Chile Walsh, unprepared for this onslaught, stuttered his way through a response. Kenny Washington - After 31 years of limited immigration that granted athletes such as Charles Follis the opportunity to play, the NFL implemented a full ban on Black athletes in 1933. Accuracy and availability may vary. Butthat year, the Cleveland Rams moved to LA, and the team wanted to play in the publicly-owned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He could throw a football 100 yards in the air, had foot speed to outrun defensive backs, and the power to run over linebackers. Kenny Washington Breaks the NFL's Color Barrier NFL 10.6M subscribers Subscribe 38K views 6 years ago Kenny Washington didn't achieve the accolades of Jackie Robinson, but holds the. Its free. After Robinsons father left his mother, she moved to California for a better life, but his family encountered daily racism in Pasadena. Left to right (rear): Mel Hein, Washington State (now U.S.C. But your book traces how Kenny Washington and Woody Strode broke pro football's color line a year earlier, in 1946. The Gold Dust Trio led the Bruins to their first undefeated season and Washington won the 1939 Douglas Fairbanks Trophy for colleges most outstanding player. UCLA halfback Kenny Washington is pictured, Dec. 6, 1939. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Strode was an athletic marvel in his prime. If you are involved or looking to be involved in increasing awareness and having a more positive future that includes educating and preparing our youth. MLB has celebrated Jackie Robinson Day for nearly 20 years now on every April 15th. 12:57 pm. Atwood writes that Washington and Strode were upset, later ending up at the Persian Hotel, the fanciest black hotel in Chicago, sipping Tom Collinses and watching Count Basie at the nightclub. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine. Statistics showed the two teams played on practically an even basis with a slight advantage to UCLA. He was UCLA's first All American, played for 580 of 600 minutes and was the first African-American in the UCLA Hall of Fame. That's what it is. (AP Photo), UCLA tailback and Los Angeles Rams running back Kenny Washington is shown in this 1948 Leaf Gum Company football trading card, shown Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Washington died at 52 years old in 1971, long before seeing his sacrifice lead to an NFL that's now nearly 70 percent Black players. And this is the reason that people like myself bring light to things of this nature. Members of the media were in attendance for the meeting, and several were going to have their voices heard. It's free. Washington also took abuse from opposing coaches and players. UCLA got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff. Robinsons debut was one of the most important events of the 20th century, which is why we still celebrate it every year, well into the new millennium. Dan Taylors most recent work is titled Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington. Sometimes, its simply a matter of when that interest will spark, even if its many years in the future. Teams in Southern cities such as Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; or Tampa Bay, Florida, didnt exist at the time. MARTNEZ: One more thing, Keyshawn - today Black players make up the majority of the NFL. 5 Steps to Staying in Shape for the Rest of Your Life, 30 Songs for a More Pensive Fourth of July, New York City Might Be Sinking Under Its Own Weight, Scientists Warn, Taco Bell Is Fighting to Eliminate the Trademark on Taco Tuesday. NFL needs to recognize the man who broke the color barrier. He convinced the commissions president to sign a resolution guaranteeing integration. It may also appear that only those born into particularly privileged positions can perform actions of any worth. It came from a conversation with a friend, a UCLA alum who shared that when he taught there in the late 60s there were two professors in his department that had been on the campus in 1939 when Kenny and Jackie Robinson were football teammates. 1 overall that potentially could be African American. The commissions president signed a resolution guaranteeing integration, and soon after, Harding convinced Rams general manager to sign Washington. Nevertheless, Washington won teammates over with his charisma for instance, when the team adopted an arcane new system of calling plays at the line of scrimmage (teams traditionally called plays in the huddle). Remember; this was 1946. Even so, Washington left the game with good feelings. Certainly, his debut game with the Rams was the most impactful. They just didn't want to deal with the backlash and the politics of losing money for their organizations. who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. Harding accused the league of ingratitude toward Black pioneers like Fritz Pollard, Duke Slater, and Joe Lillard. Later, when Robinson stepped into the middle of an altercation between a black friend and a white man yelling racial slurs, a white police officer stuck the barrel of his gun against Robinsons stomach. "Kenny Washington is welcome to try out for our team anytime he likes." Two weeks later, and with no word on Washington, the Coliseum Commission assembled to vote on the Rams' tenancy. Washingtons number was the first ever retired by UCLA, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956. Walsh insisted that there was no ban, written or otherwise, though he was unable to explain why no Black men had played in the league since 1933. KEYSHAWN JOHNSON: He was the first African American All-American in UCLA's history in 1939. This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Kenny has assembled some of the most knowledgeable handicappers in the industry to help you cash tickets! Robinson escaped trouble in the UCLA backfield. Prior to 1940, professional football was a non-entity on the West Coast. By this time Washington was 28 years old, and knee injuries had slowed him down. Many thought Marshall did not want Black players because Washington was the farthest-south team in the NFL from the 1930s to the 1960s. Blacks could not go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants or drink from the same water fountains as Whites. 1 overall pick when I did. He was a football player whose stellar performance with the Los Angeles Rams paved the way for the desegregation of football. (AP Photo). Sign up for Unboxed, a pop-up newsletter on the best memes, coverage and buzz around the Barbie movie. Dan Taylor shares how NFL player Kenny Washington broke the color barrier. "It's unfair to the memory of Kenny Washington to frame his desegregation of the NFL as a 'Jackie Robinson moment . If they are sincere in their intentions to sign Negro players, why do they permit that?. But one year earlier, two of his UCLA team mates, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, made their NFL debuts, becoming the first Black NFL players in the modern era (post WWII). The color ban robbed Kenny Washington of valuable time in professional football. Latest Picks 07/15/2023: POWER: 1 Picks: 07/15/2023: MLB: 3 Picks: PURCHASE PICKS. In a three-page statement regarding the Washington signing, Rams publicity director Maxwell Stiles set aside the implications, saying that The National League has never had a rule against the use of Negro players, though for one reason and another members of that race have not played in the league since about 1933., Sign up for the Touchdown Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. Khloe Kardashian's Instagram handle is filled . And so when you look at that, that's something in itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GstE32yLhU&ab_channel=NFL. When we walk into our schools, it's about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and maybe Malcolm X if they're not afraid. I have made wonderful friends in the game.. Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, Los Angeles Rams Washington led the nation in scoring in 1939, playing 580 out of 600 minutes for the Bruins en route to becoming first All-American UCLA player. And he was basically a center of the attention to keep Black players out of the NFL from about - I don't know - 1934 to about 1945. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. The 150 cards, including a series from 1894, are part of approximately 600 football cards from the museums vast collection of sport trade cards donated to the Met by the late hobby pioneer Jefferson Burdick. He failed. It was Washingtons sophomore year, his first season on the varsity. The team announced Washingtons signing at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on March 21, 1946. His number 13 jersey was the first to be retired at UCLA. Here was a guy Hall of Famers called the best player they had ever seen. Chicago Bears owner George Halas considered drafting Washington in 1939, trying to convince NFL owners to lift the ban on black players. Before breaking the color barrier for professional football, Washington was a star at UCLA where he found an athletic department that considered ability rather than skin color. They stuck to an unwritten agreement that would exclude black players for 13 years. Baseballs Jackie Robinson wasnt the only Black athlete to make sports history, Identify these noteworthy images of African American history, NFL commissioner says league should have listened to players who took a knee. Yet his tale was relatively out of the public eye, something which Taylor seeks to rectify with his writing. His coaches said he was even better on defense. Twenty-four hours later game films showed it traveled 62 yards. MARTNEZ: What did change was the decision by the Cleveland Rams to move to Los Angeles. You think about the kneeling down and all that Kaepernick stuff, no one would sign him. Robinson wavered from closely guarded to confrontational. WDET is a community service of Wayne State University. Marshall may have thought that if the league allowed Black players, the fans in the segregated South would not root for his Washington team. Two TD passes in eighteen seconds. Kenny Washingtons popularity filled stadiums for his games. Later that night, the Rams quarterback came by to say theyd convinced the white hotel to let Washington and Strode stay, but the two declined on principle. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Get InsideHook in your inbox. Not one African-American athlete was allowed to crack the racist glass ceiling put in place primarily by Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, and were it not for the Cleveland Rams move to Los Angeles in 1946, the ban may have lasted years longer. He could beat Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic gold-medal decathlete, in . UCLAs Kenny Washington poses for a picture. Next year, the organization should name Kenny Washington as one of the important players and contributors to the game. Kenny Washington didn't achieve the accolades of Jackie Robinson, but holds the distinction of being the NFL's first African-American player in the modern era after being signed by the Los Angeles Rams.Subscribe to the NFL YouTube channel to see immediate in-game highlights from your favorite teams and players, daily fantasy football updates, all your favorite NFL Network podcasts, and more! JOHNSON: It is like it is in today's sports world. Khloe Kardashian's social media game has been strong. So on March 21, 1946, Kenny Washington broke the color barrier, the first black player in the NFL. Back in 1946, football was a pretty insignificant sport in Los Angeles. Robinson and Washington played sports together in college and grew up 6 miles apart in Los Angeles, but ended up with divergent careers with different legacies in the world of sports. The memoir "Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington" descriptively tells the story of Washington and his accomplishments on and off the football field.. Johnson and Glauber are the co-authors of The Forgotten First: Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley, Bill Willis, and the Breaking of the NFL Color Barrier a book on the leagues first Black players.#KennyWashington #Blacknflplayers #nflplayer The combination . Some thought it was a move simply to sell tickets, that Washington was a single exception. Please check your email for a confirmation. By clicking submit, you agree to receive emails from Rolling Out and accept our web terms of use and privacy and cookie policy. 2022 Michigan Public Radio Station of the Year. Back in 1946, football was a pretty insignificant sport in Los Angeles. Kenny Washington signed with the Los Angeles Rams in 1946, pre . Although more than a dozen black players had suited up for NFL teams in the 1920s and early 1930s, none had played after 1933. Smith urged the white Dodgers owner hell-bent on breaking baseballs color barrier to sign Washington, calling him an even better baseball player than Robinson, Chris Lamb writes in his book on Robinson, Blackout.) Kenny Washington, shown in 1938, was a star player at the University of California at Los Angeles. Copyright 2022 by WDET and Wayne State University. Its hell being a Negro, he told the teammate, according to Atwood. 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It was mystifying to me that something this talented, this impactful, and this important to sports history was not known of and had largely been forgotten.