So Much History

Even from its inception in 1920, the American Professional Football Association (APFA), had comparatively few African-American players. The Association would later change its name to the National Football League. A total of nine Black people suited up for NFL teams between 1920 and 1926. Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first Black players in what is now the NFL in 1920. Pollard became the first Black coach in 1921. However, after 1926, all of these Black players disappeared from the subsequent NFL. For the next few years, a Black player would sporadically pop up on a team.

For instance, Harold Bradley played one season with the Chicago Cardinals in 1928, and David Myers played for two New York City-based teams in 1930 and 1931. There is not information on these two players in the annuals of the NFL. In 1933, the last year of integration, the NFL had two Black players, Joe Lillard and Ray Kemp. Both were gone by the end of the season. There would not be another Black player in the NFL for another 13 years, due to the ban on Black players led by Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall. 

In 1946, the Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football Conference, signed Bill Willis and Marion Motley, to become the first professional football team to have Black players since 1933. During that same year the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League signed Woody Strode and Kenny Washington. Bill Willis, Marion Motley, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington re-integrated the NFL a year BEFORE Major League Baseball Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson in 1947. Here are some former National Football League and American Football League players.