Black History February 1: Kenny Washington breaks the color barrier in the NFL

With the NFL’s Super Bowl being played today, this is the perfect opportunity  to look at the first African American to break the color barrier in the NFL. Although many African Americans were named All-Americans doing that time, there were some franchise owners along with their coaches that claimed the African American athletes were not good enough to play in the NFL

Kenny Washington, who was the first African American to actually sign a contract to play in the NFL Before signing the contact to play with the Los Angeles Rams, after the Rams agreed to allow African American players on the team after local black newspapers and the city’s stadium commission pressured the team to integrate.  Prior to signing to play for the Rams, Washington played in the smaller Pacific Coast Football League, where he earned all-league honors every year. Before playing professional football Washington played college football with two other great black football players, Woody Strode and another player by the name of Jackie Robinson at UCLA.

Washington had a brief, but memorable, NFL career. He played three seasons for the L.A. Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1958. After his football days, Washington joined the Los Angeles Police Department, where he had an equally distinguished career.