Susan Mangatal

Yesterday, the month long celebration of Black History Month began, and due to the Superbowl taking place this weekend it’s only appropriate to honor and pay tribute to the two (2) NFL African- American Coaches who have made history this year.  Mr. Tony Dungy the Head Coach for the Indianapolis Colts, and Lovie Smith the Head Coach for the Chicago Bears (who studied under Dungy) will be playing against each other in this weekend’s XLI  SUPERBOWL.  THE FIRST 2 AFRICAN AMERICAN COACHES TO GO TO THE SUPERBOWL.  See their history below.

You know…there are a very few African-American head coaches in the NFL.  Actually, this year (2006-2007) there were only 6 of them out of 32 NFL head coaches, and from all the reports I have read recently the ONLY head coaches with PERFECT records are AFRICAN-AMERICAN.  These 6 Head coaches are: Marvin Lewis - Bengals, Herman Edwards - Chiefs, Art Shell -  Raiders, Dennis Green – Cardinals, and of course Tony Dungy – Colts and Lovie Smith – Bears.

Needless to say, among the many issues African Americans endured throughout these 200+ years in these United States, of course there was a major Color Barrier problem in the NFL since the inception of professional football in 1920.  The sport enlisted a total of 13 black players from 1920-1933, some of which went on to distinguish themselves off the field and others pretty much faded into anonymity.  

One of the very first African-American to play in the American Professional Football Association (later became the National Football League) in 1921 was Frederick Douglas “Fritz” Pollard, who in 1923 became the head coach of the Akron Pros becoming the first black coach in the NFL.  However, there were not another black head coach in the league until 66 years later, who was and still is Mr. Art Shell head coach for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989.  To my dismay, one thing I discovered was that black coaches "back then" was not allowed on the sidelines interacting with their players as they are today, instead they were forced to sit on the bench while the team captain ran the game on the field.  Even though Mr. Pollard’s achievements were exceptional which proved the capabilities of black coaches, still by 1934 there were no black players on any NFL teams, and there were none until after World War II for at least a period of 12 years.  (Check out Mr. Pollard’s book called “Pioneer in Racial Advancement”, written by John Carroll).  

Many football historians were not quite sure why blacks were excluded, but according to Thomas G. Smith (Author) the person who should be blamed for this exclusion is George Preston Marshall (Former Owner of the Washington Redskins), which was documented in Mr. Smith’s article in  "Outside the Pale: The Exclusion of Blacks from the National Football League, 1934-1946," from the Journal of Sport History.  Mr. Smith wrote “...even though Mr. Marshall was known as putting the NFL on the map, he was openly racist and his team would not be integrated until the Kennedy administration forced him to do so in 1962..."  Additionally, Mr. Smith wrote in his article “...some historians suspect that other owners did not want to offend Marshall by signing a black player, and so black athletes were passed over...”  Mr. Smith further wrote “…there were many quality black athletes on major college teams during the 1930s but during this depression decade it would have been detrimental to an organization to hire a black man when so many white men were out of work...”  It was even acknowledged and admitted that there was an unwritten rule barring blacks from football known as "A Gentleman's Agreement".  Per Mr. Smith's article a former player Mr. Kemp (former player for Pittsburgh Pirates now Pittsburgh Steelers) indicated that former Coach Paul Schlisser of the Chicago Cardinals admitted that there was indeed "A Gentleman's agreement", Schlisser further stated that the barring of blacks was for their own protection due to opposing teams in the league beating up on black players.

Finally this “color barrier" was broken in 1946 when the Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington (who had been a star for UCLA in the late 1930’s setting records for rushing and passing).  Shortly, thereafter Mr. Paul Brown, coach and part-owner of the Cleveland Browns vowed to sign the best players "regardless of color," and signed two black players-Bill Willis and Marion Motley.  Willis and Motley prevailed even though they were targets of hostility from spectators and players nationwide, and faced not only dehumanizing insults but also a barrage of physical and verbal assaults directed at them for daring to oppose football's unspoken segregation.  Author Mr. Thomas G. Smith stated in his Article Mr. Willis and Mr. Motley were not allowed to play games against the league's team from Miami because Florida state law prohibited integration. 

Following Mr. Brown's lead, more and more owners added black players to their team rosters until 1961, according to Mr. Smith 16.5 percent of NFL players were black.   Progress, however was slow and the newly-signed players encountered prejudice from opposing teams and endured the indignities of discrimination off the field as well as with hotels that would not allow them to stay and restaurants that would not allow them to dine.

There is no doubt that these early African-American football players endured a lot and was hailed as pioneers in their chosen sport of football...they indeed with their stubborn determination were, whether by choice or by fate, pioneers in the civil rights movement as well.

TONY DUNGY CAREER HISTORY 2002-05, Indianapolis Colts, Head Coach 1996-2001, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Head Coach 1992-1995, Minnesota Vikings, Defensive Coordinator 1989-1991, Kansas City Chiefs, Defensive Backs Coach 1984-1988, Pittsburgh Steelers, Defensive Coordinator 1982-1983, Pittsburgh Steelers, Defensive Backs Coach 1981, Pittsburgh Steelers, Defensive Assistant Coach 1980, University of Minnesota, Defensive Backs Coach 1979, San Francisco 49ers, Player 1977-1978, Pittsburgh Steelers, Player 1973-1976, University of Minnesota, Player  As of January 23, 2007, four members from Dungy's coaching staff are head coaches of other NFL teams: Herman Edwards for the Kansas City Chiefs or the (Assistant head coach under Dungy at Tampa Bay) Lovie Smith for the Chicago Bears (Linebackers coach under Dungy at Tampa Bay) Rod Marinelli for the Detroit Lions (Defensive line coach under Dungy at Tampa Bay) Mike Tomlin for the Pittsburgh Steelers (Defensive backs coach under Dungy at Tampa Bay)

LOVIE SMITH CAREER HISTORY 2005, Name the  Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year 2004 Hired as 13th Head Coach for the Chicago Bears 2001-2003, Rams Defensive coordinator  Prior to 2003 season Rams Assistant Head Coach with the Rams 1996-2000, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Coaching Linebackers (under Tony Dungy. )  1995, Defensive back coach at Ohio State 1993-1994 Defensive Back Coach at Tennessee 1992, Linebackers Coach at Kentucky State Univ.. 1988-1991, Linebackers Coach at Arizona State. 1987, Linebacker Coach at Wisconsin State Univ. 1983-1986, Linebacker Coach at his alma mater of Tulsa College 1981 Coaching at Cascia Hall Prep in Tulsa 1980, Began Coaching Carrier at his hometown high school, Big Sandy High School in Texas 1976-1979 Played at Tulsa, where he was a linebacker before moving to strong safety and earning two-time All-America and three-time All-Missouri Conference defensive back honors.

Until next week, please have a great weekend and thanks for all your support!