Calvin Huey was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

to play football at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, a doctor, coach, teacher, and businessman.

History

Huey was born October 27, 1942 in Sartinville,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

to Harold Magee and Eartha Lee Huey. Huey was a 1961 graduate of Carver High School in

Pascagoula The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw ...

. At Carver, he was team captain, MVP, and all-city, receiving all-city honors as a basketball player as well. Upon graduating, he briefly attended the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

, then went to Oakland City College, where he was selected as an honorable mention All-American Junior College quarterback. Huey applied to his congressman in Mississippi for an appointment to the Naval Academy, but was refused on the grounds that he would be a "stain on Mississippi". A California representative was willing to nominate him, and he was accepted by the academy as a student, with no mention of his football prowess. When he reached Navy he tried out for the football team. Because there were so many quarterbacks trying out, he decided to try out as a wide receiver instead. He sufficiently impressed coaches

Carl Schuette Charles William "Carl" Schuette (April 4, 1922 – 1975) was an American football player and coach. He played linebacker in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers ...

Lee Corso Lee Richard Corso (born August 7, 1935) is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been a featured analyst on ESPN's '' College GameDay'' program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the he ...

and

Steve Belichick Stephen Nickolas Belichick (January 7, 1919 – November 19, 2005) was an American football player, coach, and scout. He played college football at Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University, from 1938 to 1940 and ...

to make the team; he also tried out for and made the basketball team. When Navy played

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in 1964, he became the first black player to play at Bobby Dodd Stadium. He also became the first black person to play in an Army–Navy Game. In 1963, as a plebe, wearing number 49, he began the season as an end, before moving to flanker behind Navy's top receiver, Ed Orr. When Orr was injured during the third-from last game of the season, Huey earned the starting position and caught 4 touchdown passes from quarterback

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

. In 1967, Huey was one of two African-Americans to graduate from the Academy. He was assigned to the

USS Perry USS ''Perry'' may refer to the following United States Navy ships that are named for Oliver Hazard Perry: * , a sailing brig 1843–1865. * , an armed side wheel ferry built in 1859 and purchased by the US Navy 2 October 1861 * , 1900–1919. * ...

and served two tours of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. He earned a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Maryland (degree awarded in 1976), and returned to Navy as a professor and assistant football coach in 1973. He then left Navy to work for IBM for fourteen years, before retiring due to kidney failure. In 2012, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill titled "Calvin Huey; commend accomplishments and legacy of as Naval Academy academic and football phenomenon", recognizing Doctor Huey for his outstanding achievements in academics and athletics, overcoming the substantial barriers in his path. In 2017, the city of Pascagoula placed an 18 feet tall image of Huey, along with Jimmy Buffett, Trent Lott, and Sara Bailey Thomas on Main Street. Huey died from kidney failure on September 1, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huey, Calvin People from Pascagoula, Mississippi United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Navy Midshipmen football players Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players United States Navy officers IBM people 2018 deaths American men's basketball players African-American sportsmen Sportspeople from Mississippi 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Deaths from kidney failure