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. (AP Photo). Sign up now. Still, Washington was a very important person in NFL history. 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. You think about the kneeling down and all that Kaepernick stuff, no one would sign him. He too made the same claim. Khloe Kardashian's Instagram handle is filled . And there were no black players in the NFL. Kenny Washington is a name forgotten by many today but he was considered the baseball player at UCLA, compiling a higher batting average. Washingtons number was the first ever retired by UCLA, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956. Before playing with the Rams, Washington underwent surgery on both knees, but he recoveredbefore the start of the Rams training camp. Twenty-four hours later game films showed it traveled 62 yards. 1939-Los Angeles, CA: Portrait (L to R) of UCLA football players Woodrow Strode, Jack Robinson and Kenny Washington. Is This Semiconductor Company Going to Change How We Hear Music? Many people know the role Jackie Robinson played in integrating major league baseball in 1947. The team announced Washingtons signing at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on March 21, 1946. 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). Kenny Washingtons popularity filled stadiums for his games. By Gordon Tokumatsu Published February 10, 2022 Updated on February 11, 2022 at 5:34 am (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 threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-7. They just didn't want to deal with the backlash and the politics of losing money for their organizations. It may also appear that only those born into particularly privileged positions can perform actions of any worth. Hims Hard Mints Are a Fresh Way to Treat Erectile Dysfunction, Products of the Week: Hirsch Whiskey, a New Nothing Phone and Sustainable Nike Trainers, Chicagos Best New Restaurants Include Your New Favorite Taco Place. Marshall may have thought that if the league allowed Black players, the fans in the segregated South would not root for his Washington team. 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. 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? It led me to do a bit of digging into Kenny Washington and I was amazed by what I found out. So on March 21, 1946, Kenny Washington broke the color barrier, the first black player in the NFL. So on March 21, 1946, Kenny Washington broke the color barrier, the first black player in the NFL. It wanted to compete with bigger schools, particularly crosstown powerhouse USC. 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 By clicking submit, you agree to receive emails from Rolling Out and accept our web terms of use and privacy and cookie policy. That was more than a year before Robinson who played football with. Before. 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. His number 13 jersey was the first to be retired at UCLA. People will come from far and near to see him play. Robinson would know the two had been football teammates at UCLA. In 1946, Kenny Washington became the first Black athlete in the modern era to sign an NFL contract, joining the leagues Los Angeles Rams and breaking the color barrier a year before his former teammate at UCLA, Jackie Robinson, did the same in Major League Baseball. When we walk into our schools, it's about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and maybe Malcolm X if they're not afraid. You know, he went on to become the first African American player to end the ban on Blacks being able to play in the National Football League. 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.. 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. When the Rams left Cleveland, they also considered Dallas as a prospective landing place. 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. Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson trotted out to play first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, ending Major League Baseballs Gentlemans Agreement that no Black player would play anywhere in pro baseball not at the major league level, nor in any of MLBs farm systems. And he wanted to do that until other people stepped up and said, no, no, we're not doing that - till the politicians in Los Angeles got in the way of things and said, no, let's change the way we think. These four gentlemen certainly paid a major price, and they laid the foundation down. Washington and Strode were seniors when Robinson transferred from Pasadena Junior College. 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. 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. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine. UCLA halfback Kenny Washington is pictured, Dec. 6, 1939. Chanel Boeve-Roth was browsing an estate sale near her home in North Bend, Wash., when she spotted some emerald, hanging lights and a celery-hued chair in the shape of a hand. At least one valid email address is required. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she . The combination . Dan Taylor joins the Out of Bounds crew to discuss his book Walking Alone: The . We'd like to introduce you to four men who changed American history. (Vic Stein/Los Angeles Public Library) The combination of Washington and Strode that had dominated in college failed to dominate the NFL, however. Here was a guy Hall of Famers called the best player they had ever seen. Kennys popularity in Los Angeles was immense. Twenty years later Bert LaBrucherie, who was then the UCLA head football coach, recalled the play as the greatest he had ever seen. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens), Publicity still portrait of American football player and actor Kenny Washington (1918 1971), 1940. The Rams were going to break the door down, or they were not going to play in the Coliseum. (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. One reason was that the owner of the Washington football team, George Preston Marshall, did not want Black players in the league. Ive bought a home for my wife and sons. Famed Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher actually offered Washington a contract before Robinson. No, they didn't. As far as interesting, I would point to December 5, 1937, and UCLAs game with USC. You know, you think about George Preston Marshall, who owned the Washington Redskins. Robinson was the son of Georgia sharecroppers. 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. Copyright 2023 InsideHook. Someone, somewhere, will always be interested in any persons life. During practices, Strode often fought with a teammate who told the coach, I cant play next to a n because my folks would disown me, writes Atwood. And when we spoke, he reminded me that there were Black players in the then-fledgling NFL before 1933. And then now in 2021, there'll be another player that'll be drafted No. So he starred in the Pacific Coast Football League, a minor league that allowed Black players. 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. On their first play from scrimmage Washington threw a deep ball for another touchdown. I imagine a lot of KidsPost readers are asking, Who is Kenny Washington?. 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. Kenny Washington, who broke the NFL's color barrier, was nearly forgottenunlike Jackie Robinson, his UCLA teammate. Jackie Robinson became a trailblazer for breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier, when he made his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1947. When it comes to sports history, Kenny Washington isnt a household name like Jackie Robinson. Washington isnt even in the Hall of Fame, says Neuman, who joined CultureShift on WDET to talk about his story for Slate. Kenny Washington at practice for the L.A. Rams in 1948. 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. What's the legacy of these four men that you wrote about in your book? Related Articles: Three Former American Footballers Who Transcended the Fields to Impact Lives, The Most Inspirational Athletes in Sports History. https://wdet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CS-KennyWashington-012122-Web.mp3. They're going to give you the information on Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson. 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. He is Woody Strode. Black newspapers claimed a major barrier had fallen in pro sports. Here is one of the greatest football players of all time sitting around and never signed. Bentley said of Washington. Ive made a good living at it. I had read about the Dodgers signing of Jackie Robinson I had never seen documents, letters, and articles that it encouraged Branch Rickey to also sign Kenny along with Jackie. Washington was a college and pro football star back in the 1930s and 1940s. Its hell being a Negro, he told the teammate, according to Atwood. 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. So therefore, you didn't know. Simply put in information, and well make sure youre notified when we post a new article! What I had not known to that point was that Washington was considered an even better baseball talent. Then Washington insisted the Rams sign Strode too. JOHNSON: I mean, you get bigots. February 17, 2023 12:43 pm. They're only giving you the textbooks and the information in which they want to give you. His first love was baseball, and his father had played in the Negro Leagues. Whats the Best Sport for Increasing Life Expectancy? After Robinsons father left his mother, she moved to California for a better life, but his family encountered daily racism in Pasadena. ProFootballHistory.com. He did 1,000 push-ups, sit-ups, and knee bends daily. who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. Black newspapers claimed a major barrier had fallen in pro sports. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. The color ban robbed Kenny Washington of valuable time in professional football. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. A teammate who saw this asked Washington about it after the game. 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. Copyright 2022 by WDET and Wayne State University. 12:57 pm. He was a football player whose stellar performance with the Los Angeles Rams paved the way for the desegregation of football. 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. Correction: In an earlier version of this story, a photo caption identified one of the former UCLA players as Woody Strobe. Author Dan Taylors latest novel stands against those thoughts, highlighting the actions of one whose titanic accomplishments slipped temporarily under the radar. He came on in relief of Bob Waterfield after the Rams quarterback was injured in the third quarter of the season opener against Philadelphia. They met a different Robinson in 1939 than the one whod turn the other cheek as a Brooklyn Dodger. He signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. In 1946, the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, still a nascent sports town then. Robinson made his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. Get InsideHook in your inbox. Commission member Roger W. Jessup asked Walsh if the Rams would really refuse to play alongside our Kenny Washington, which told Walsh all he needed to know. Dan Taylors work was published on July 13th this year and seeks to give Washington the attention and focus he deserves for his accomplishments in life. Khloe Kardashian's favorite color is white and here's proof of the same. (John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images). By this time Washington was 28 years old, and knee injuries had slowed him down. Marshall did not allow African American players on his team until 1962. And this is the reason that people like myself bring light to things of this nature. The combination of Washington and Strode that had dominated in college failed to dominate the NFL, however. And so that story needed to be told, that it was the breaking of the color barrier for real, you know, because there were so many people that were against having Blacks play professional football in the NFL. (AP Photo) By Rebecca Gibian Though many people credit Jackie Robinson with breaking the color barrier in sports, there is someone else who deserves recognition: Kenny Washington. Statistics showed the two teams played on practically an even basis with a slight advantage to UCLA. Your email address will not be published. Washington was born in Los Angeles in 1918 and raised in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. #56 is Oregon States right tackle Walter Jelsma. Remember; this was 1946. Joe Locke is also brilliant, but Kenny steals the spotlight, so if you're a first time listener of Mr. Washington, I would recommend For The Love of You. Kenny has assembled some of the most knowledgeable handicappers in the industry to help you cash tickets! Please check your email for a confirmation. All rights Reserved. Since black taxpayers had paid for the stadiums construction just like everyone else, local black sportswriters saw an opportunity to address the fact that there were no black players in the NFL. The panel also talks about the NFLs ongoing issues with race, and the tension over more inclusive hiring that exists between the league itself and its 32 team owners. 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.