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History Of African Americans In The Canadian Football League
African Americans have played prominent roles in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and its precursors since 1946. In many cases black Americans have been able to pursue Professional football (gridiron), professional football opportunities in the CFL that were for one reason or another unavailable in the United States. Especially in the mid-20th century, many African American players came to Canada to avoid the racially charged atmosphere of segregation in the United States, segregation-era America. For many years, blacks were better represented in the CFL than they were in the National Football League (NFL), and achieved a number of "firsts" in the CFL years before the same was accomplished in the NFL. More recently, the CFL has provided opportunities for black, as well as other, Americans unable to break into the NFL. Background There were a small number of black players in the league now known as the National Football League from its inception in 1920. Following the 1933 season ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division. As of 2022, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in 1936). History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Trawick
Herb Trawick (February 22, 1921 – September 16, 1985) was a professional Canadian football player and was the first African American to play professional Canadian football. Trawick spent his entire 12-year career as an offensive lineman and defensive guard with the Montreal Alouettes. College career and military service Trawick attended Kentucky State College for Negroes and graduated with a degree in physical education. He was a three-time All-American in football, from 1940 to 1942. After school he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. Professional career Lew Hayman and Leo Dandurand were managing the new Montreal Alouettes franchise in 1946, and they did not fail to notice how popular and well-received the first black baseball player in the pros, Jackie Robinson (when he played minor league ball with the Montreal Royals), was. They were determined to have a black player on their team. Trawick was not their first choice, but he was the best. Surprisingly quick f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Shell
Arthur Lee Shell Jr. (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professional football player in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL), a Hall of Fame offensive tackle and a two-time former head coach of the Oakland Raiders. He holds the distinction of becoming the second African-American head coach in the history of professional football, and the first in the sport's modern era. Shell was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989. He played college football at Maryland State. Playing career Shell was drafted by the American Football League's Oakland Raiders from Maryland State College (now known as the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore). Playing offensive tackle, Shell participated in 24 playoff contests, including Super Bowls XI and XV, and was named to eight Pro Bowls. Shell was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1999, he was ranked number 55 on ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Wood (American Football)
William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and a nine-time All-Pro. In 1989, Wood was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Wood played college football for the USC Trojans, becoming the first African-American quarterback to play in what is now the Pac-12 Conference. Undrafted out of USC, he was granted a try-out with Green Bay. Wood changed his position to safety in his rookie year, and played for the Packers from 1960 to 1971, winning five NFL championships. He later coached in the NFL, World Football League (WFL), and Canadian Football League (CFL). College career After graduating from Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C. in 1956, Wood went west and played college football in southern California, playing his freshman year at Coalinga Junior College, where he was a junio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the CFL East Division, East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1873, the team is the oldest existing professional sports team in North America still using its original name, as well as the oldest-surviving team in both the modern-day CFL and East Division.''Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records.'' (2009). pg. 23 The team's origins date back to a modified version of rugby football that emerged in North America in the latter half of the 19th century. The Argonauts played their home games at Rogers Centre (originally known as SkyDome) from 1989 Toronto Argonauts season, 1989 until 2016, when the team moved to BMO Field, the fifth stadium site to host the team. The Argonauts have won the Grey Cup a record 18 times and have appeared in the final 24 times. Most rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Whitlock
Kenneth E. Whitlock Sr. (March 23, 1920January 31, 2012) was an American professional gridiron football player for the Toronto Argonauts of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU), which later became part of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the first Black player for the Argonauts. After earning a master's degree in education, he became a school principal. Early life and college Whitlock was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, the son of Frank Whitlock Sr., who was the first Black on Sewickley High School's football team in 1906. Following his father, Ken Whitlock also played football at Sewickley High. Whitlock attended Virginia State College, where he played football with the Trojans. He earned Negro All-American honors as a junior in 1940. He left college to work, later returning to Sewickley to join the United States Marine Corps during World War II. The first Black marine from Allegheny County, he served in an all-Black combat unit, the 51st Defense Battal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabe Patterson
Gabe Patterson (September 9, 1919 – October 26, 1991) was an American professional multi-sport athlete who played Canadian football and Negro league baseball. Career Patterson played high school football at Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, and his college football at Kentucky State and the University of Pittsburgh. He was signed by the Montreal Alouettes in 1947, but was released. He then signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, playing two seasons and was selected an all-star in both seasons. Patterson was the first African-American to play for the Roughriders, breaking the colour barrier, like Herb Trawick. Patterson also played professional baseball for the New York Black Yankees in 1941 and 1947, and for the Philadelphia Stars in 1947 and 1948. He had a wife and three daughters, and died in Pittsburgh in 1991 at age 72. His previously unmarked grave was marked by the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project The Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1910 as the Regina Rugby Club. Although Saskatchewan was not the first team to play football in Western Canada, the club has maintained an unbroken organizational continuity since their founding. The Roughriders are the fourth-oldest professional gridiron football team in existence today (only the Arizona Cardinals, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts are older), and one of the oldest professional sports teams still in existence in North America. Of these teams, the Roughriders are both the oldest still in existence that continuously has been based in Western Canada (as well as the oldest surviving team in the CFL's present-day West Division) and the oldest in North America to continuously have been based west of St. Louis, Miss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Football Hall Of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coaches, officials, franchise owners, and front-office personnel, almost all of whom made their primary contributions to the game in the National Football League (NFL). As of the Class of 2022, there are a total of 362 members of the Hall of Fame. Between four and eight new inductees are normally enshrined every year. For the 2020 class, a 20-person group consisting of five modern-era players and an additional 15 members, known as the "Centennial Slate", were elected to the Hall of Fame to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the NFL. The Chicago Bears have the most inductees, with 30 (36, including players with minor portion of their career with team). History The city of Canton successfully lobbied the NFL to have the Hall of Fame built ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emlen Tunnell
Emlen Lewis Tunnell (March 29, 1924 – July 23, 1975), sometimes known by the nickname "The Gremlin", was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants and also the first to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Tunnell played college football at the University of Toledo in 1942 and University of Iowa in 1946 and 1947. He also served in the United States Coast Guard from 1943 to 1946. He received the Silver Lifesaving Medal for heroism in rescuing a shipmate from flames during a torpedo attack in 1944 and rescuing another shipmate who fell into the sea in 1946. He next played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a defensive halfback and safety for the New York Giants (1948–1958) and Green Bay Packers (1959–1961). He was selected as a first-team All-Pro six times and played in nine Pro Bowls. He was a member of NFL champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Giant
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its home games at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, west of New York City. The stadium is shared with the New York Jets. The Giants are headquartered and practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, also in the Meadowlands. The Giants were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925, and they are History of the National Football League, the only one of that group still existing, as well as the league's longest-established team in the Northeastern United States. The team ranks third among all NFL franchises with History of the National Football League championship, eight NFL championship titles: four in the pre–Super Bowl era (1927, 1934, 1938, 1956) and fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian Football Hall Of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, Canadian university football and Canadian junior football history. The Hall previously had a main feature in the central portion of the museum where inducted members, each with a metal bust depicting their head, were displayed prior to the physical building being closed. There were also featured displays that highlight each CFL team's history, and an interactive Field goal kicking exhibit. The CFHOF is currently changing to a de-centralized model, which does not included a main museum building (see "Today" below). Once during every CFL season, the Hall sponsors the induction ceremony of former players. Included in the "Hall of Fame Weekend" is a regular season game, usually (but not always) affiliated with the Hamilton Tiger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
