Rommie Lee Loudd (June 8, 1933 – May 9, 1998) was an American collegiate and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, coach, and executive. He was the first black assistant coach in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and the first black majority owner of a major league sports team. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1955.

Playing career

Loudd was born in

Madisonville, Texas Madisonville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,420 at the 2020 census. Both the City of Madisonville and the County of Madison were named for U.S. President James Madison, the four ...

, and played

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for coach

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American college football player and coach. He was head footnall coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1949 ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) from 1953 to 1955. He was a member of the 1953 Bruins team that lost in the

1954 Rose Bowl The 1954 Rose Bowl was the 40th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Friday, January 1. The third-ranked Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #5 UCLA Bruins of t ...

and a member of the 1954 UCLA squad that was declared the FWAA & UPI National Champions. He was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the 26th round (304th overall) of the

1956 NFL draft The 1956 NFL draft had its first three rounds held on November 28, 1955, at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its final twenty-seven rounds on January 17–18, 1956, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Califo ...

, but instead signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. After being cut by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in 1959, Loudd joined the newly formed American Football League as a member of the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

. He was released by the Chargers after one season and signed with the AFL'

Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

Coaching

In 1964, Loudd moved to coaching. He was the defensive coach of the Boston Sweepers of the

Atlantic Coast Football League The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with National Football Leagu ...

for two seasons before becoming the

linebackers Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

coach for the Boston Patriots and the first African-American coach in the history of the AFL. After two seasons as coach, Loudd moved to the front office, where he was the Patriots Director of Player Personnel from 1968 to 1971 and Director of Pro Scouting from 1971 to 1973. In 1973, Loudd led a bid to get a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

franchise in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The expansion franchise would instead go to Philadelphia construction magnate

Thomas McCloskey Thomas D. McCloskey (May 27, 1924 – October 31, 2004) was a Philadelphia construction magnate. He became the president of McCloskey & Company, Builders, in 1961 when his father, former Democratic National Treasurer Matthew H. McCloskey, was appo ...

who founded the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. In 1974, Loudd became the owner of the

Florida Blazers The Florida Blazers were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1974. The team moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Blazers began in 1974 when oceanographic engineer E. Joseph ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

. He was the first black top executive in major league sports.
Loudd, one season, worked with Don Gillis for

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

preseason.

Legal troubles

On April 3, 1957, Loudd was charged with child molestation. He and four other men allegedly engaged in sodomy and other sexual acts with three boys, ages twelve, thirteen, and fifteen, who were picked up off the street wearing wigs and women's clothing. He was found guilty on two charges of child molestation and sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation. On December 23, 1974, Loudd was arrested on charges of embezzling state sales tax money. Three months later he was charged with conspiracy and delivery of cocaine. He was sentenced to two concurrent fourteen-year sentences for conviction on two counts of delivering cocaine. He was also sentenced to two years in prison for possession and distribution of cocaine. The sales tax embezzlement and conspiracy to deliver cocaine charges were dropped following his convictions on drug charges. After three years in prison, Loudd was released on parole. and became an associate minister at Mount Tabor Baptist Church.

Death

Loudd died on May 9, 1998, in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, aged 64, of complications from diabetes.

References

External links