Nice article. Thank you for celebrating these men. I’m sure their families appreciate it. You guys share such important information with us about sports history. Much appreciated. Keep it coming.

Eric Daniels, from personal experience, there is nothing more rewarding then opening the young minds to the beauty of the lost treasures of ourstory.

Fortunately we live in a time where it is so much easier to get information when I started my journey. Link me up brother at my blog and I hope i can share some things with you!

Peace

I apologize for the length of the link – but if you’ve never seen him, it’s important that you understand this man was born in 1914. Do not get it twisted – when you have folks who look like this with the capacity to act, lead and inspire – they instill fear in folks all over the place…and he still had a 53 year career in film.

Apologies on the movie title – It’s called Once Upon A Time in the West.

That’s Bear Bryant, Tom Osborne, Joe Paterno, Dan Devine, Frank Broyles, John Robinson, Barry Switzer, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and on down the line…

And imagine if the league actually played Black quarterbacks during Robinson’s time. While Doug Williams and James Harris were the best, they weren’t the only ones. So, Grambling’s legacy is something that should actually cause one to consider what has been lost ECONOMICALLY by Black institutions post-segregation. Many individuals have benefited (and we had every right to), but our institutions have been decimated.

Of course it’s a new day and folks have to adapt and seize the many opportunities which are now available – but the case of Grambling is a solid illustration of what might have been possible if other schools had made a similar commitment to gridiron excellence and retained the services of those who went to greatness at Alabama and USC, etc.

It was Bear Bryant who said that USC’s Sam Cunningham did more for desegregating the SEC than anyone else – and he did it by running all over the Crimson Tide.

I knew about Grambling before I knew about football…my Pop made sure of it.

Do our children know who Eddie Robinson, Fritz Pollard, Bill Willis and Marion Motley are?

On the tip. We do not and should not seek others to cosign who our heroes and sheroes should be. Ultimately, the National Plantation League and the National Bojangling Association are the playground of rich Caucasian men, who is only desire, is to relive the best times they ever had in America Inc. That is to be exclusive to themselves and or to control hue-mans as commodity.

Our story constantly shows that we never “break” shit! We kicked the damn door down, because only our best could have even started 10 paces back.

Ever since I was a Loudmouth teenager, I have always believed that we have to build our own monuments to our time, place, and pathfinders, on our time, this very day, by any means necessary.

Nature will chew you up and spit you out if you don’t get yours righteously so we are chewed up and spat out by them that never want us to share in the pie we bloody well helped in building.

TSF Nuff respect! All ways documenting our legacy and keeping it real!

Kellen Winslow spoke his mind at his Hall of Fame induction speech. Winslow is straight up with his and he doesn’t hold his tongue for anyone. He could give two shits about what the NFL thinks about his positions on “race” and racism. And no one can say a damn thing to him about his legacy on the field OR off the field. He’s an attorney and his son is an elite player under the tutelage of a long-time dedicated league man, Romeo Crennel.

The HOF also had to sit and listen to Harry Carson tell it like it is. There are players who have been inducted in recent years that have expressed their long standing dismay with the Hall, the NFL and the business of sports. The real issue has always been how does one retain a legacy of greatness IF one speaks out DURING one’s career. That’s the trick.

TBR:

Again, this is a great post. Much appreciated.

Eddie Robinson is ours. To the extent that the MSM continues to deny or ignore his legacy, they reveal their own grounding within a white supremacist worldview. You should not see that as an insult…you should see it as a confession.

Do you!

Scotty – I believe Jim Brown is one of those men that comes to mind off of the top of my head, there may not be many after that.

If there ever was a reason to lament the lack of continuity in the passing dow of the traditions and stories of our ancestors, Emmit Smith’s response was it.

At a later date please expand on this list, too many don’t know or don’t want to know.