If … [8] Neither Washington nor Strode has been inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although both Marion Motley and Bill Willis of the AAFC's and NFL's Cleveland Browns have received that honor. The Redskins once referred to Houston as "pro football's most underrated super-star," but his capabilities were widely recognized. Washington played just three seasons for the Los Angeles Rams, but his legacy has stood for a lifetime. [5] This was a rarity to have so many African Americans when only a few dozen at all played on college football teams. On Thursday November 7, 2019 in Dublin, Ohio, 20 Ohio Veterans were inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2019. These are the stories about the NFL I would like to share with future generations. However, for many years, Washington was ignored by the NFL and the story of professional football's postwar integration received little attention. The NFL had a ban on black players from 1934 through 1946, but when the Cleveland Rams wanted to relocate to Los Angeles, one of the conditions was the team had to be integrated. Every year since 2011, Abraham Lincoln High School holds a memorial football game on the anniversary of Washington's death. That's why it's important to recognize men like Washington. The Rams played at the LA Coliseum which was a city-owned facility. With the historic playoff meeting finally about to happen on Championship Sunday, NFL Research's Matt Okada charts why Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have never met in the playoffs before. [4], Washington attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a member of both the Bruins' baseball and football teams. Pro Football Hall of Fame via AP Images Born on August 31, 1918, Kenny Washington grew up in Los Angeles' Lincoln Heights neighborhood. It was the first UCLA–USC rivalry football game with national implications. A man who had to endure many cheap shots at the bottom of a pile up, yet still stood tall. [12], Prior to his first NFL season Washington underwent surgery in both knees (his fifth knee surgery overall – as a child he contracted rickets and was once hit by car[4]), having torn cartilage removed from his left knee and what was characterized in the press as "a growth" from his right. [14] When he retired in 1948, 80,000 people attended his final game and the entire stadium gave him a standing ovation. Others might refer to him as the "Jackie Robinson of the NFL." This should be an embarrassment for us. [6] The Bruins played eventual conference and national champion USC to a 0–0 tie with the 1940 Rose Bowl on the line. Electing Kenny Washington to the Hall of Fame also sends the message to students like us that being brave, overcoming obstacles and standing up for what is … Washington, Strode and two other men broke through pro football's unofficial color barrier that season. [1] Edgar "Blue" Washington, who played Negro league baseball, was his father but he was raised by his grandmother Susie and his uncle Rocky, the first black uniformed lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It should start and finish with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pacific Coast Professional Football League, List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders, "The NFL was segregated, until Kenny Washington broke the color barrier in Los Angeles", "Forgotten hero: Washington broke NFL's color barrier in 1946", "Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy", "First American NFL Players Helped Break Down Barriers", "Los Angeles and the Reintegration of the NFL", "Los Angeles Coliseum Court of Honor Plaques", "Remembering forgotten hero Kenny Washington", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kenny_Washington_(American_football)&oldid=1001421889, Players of American football from Los Angeles, Burials at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text and caption, Infobox NFL biography articles with old NFL.com URL, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from March 2019, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 16:30. Strode played college football for the UCLA Bruins, the most integrated collegiate team in the nation in 1939, which included future NFL running back Kenny Washington and future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jackie Robinson. [24] [25] If the goal of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is to preserve its history, we need to start right now with Washington. Enter Washington, who was a local hero at UCLA during the late 1930s. One reason is because for most of the 20th century, baseball was by far the top sport in the U.S., and another was that his NFL career was a short three years. He was the first UCLA player to be named All-American. His passing followed a period of declining health that included a months-long battle with inoperable Stage IV pancreatic cancer. [11] The Los Angeles Tribune was especially outspoken, thanks to its African-American sports editor, William Claire "Halley" Harding, a former professional athlete and member of the debate team at Wiley College. [15] However, in the 1960 presidential election, Washington voted for John F. Kennedy instead of Nixon and tended to vote for Democrats for the rest of his life, but he never declared a political party affiliation. Washington died of polyarteritis nodosa on June 24, 1971, at the age of 52 in Los Angeles, California. Alexander was the undisputed face of the Seahawks, and during his MVP year of 2005, he carried Seattle to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance with 1,880 yards and a then-NFL record 27 rushing touchdowns. played. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. His alma mater Lincoln High School has annually awarded the Kenny Washington Trophy to the school's best football player since 1949. [24][25], One legacy of Washington's and Strode's experience in the NFL – paralleled in 1946 by racial trailblazers Marion Motley and Bill Willis in the rival All-America Football Conference – was that Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, saw that blacks and whites could coexist in a violent sport without much disruption, and decided that Major League Baseball could be integrated as well. [2] In 1945, he did serve in the military on the USO tour as a type of sports ambassador, visiting with troops and playing in exhibition games. Click to view Kenny Washington, first African American in the NFL. He immediately became one of the biggest stars for the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately, the motivation behind the signings of these players was not the same. Following his athletic career, Washington was affiliated with the Los Angeles Police Department. As mentioned previously, the legacy of Kenny Washington seemingly disappeared almost as quickly as he came into the league. And yet we don't honor Washington. The night before Nixon's crushing victory over Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, the candidate – a great football fan – spent the evening at Washington's south Los Angeles home playing music and trying to relax. But where Jackie Robinson could avoid the baseballs thrown at him, Washington was given the ball. The Hall of Fame needs to acknowledge, recognize, celebrate and honor Kenny Washington’s contribution. The Rams signed Woody Strode and Hall of Famer Kenny Washington, both who played at UCLA. In a league where the overwhelming majority of players are African-American, you can't deny what he has meant to the league. Ezzrett Anderson and Washington's UCLA teammate Strode were also on that team. It doesn't take an exhaustive Google search to find stories of players misbehaving. Each player will receive a Hall of Fame plaque based on the pithy ones that the Hall used to use back at the start. So I leave it to you, to please consider Kenny Washington for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tickets for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020 and 2021 Enshrinement ceremonies and various events surrounding the ceremonies will be on-sale at a later date. One of only two players (with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen) to win Heisman Trophy, AP Rookie of the Year, AP Player of the Year and a Super Bowl title in his career. Kenny Washington was born on August 31, 1918 in Los Angeles County, California, USA as Kenneth Stanley Washington. That sounds rather heroic to me. Major League Baseball and the entire sporting world will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day today, and it's a well-deserved honor for one of our nation's heroes. [21] He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956[22] and his number 13 jersey was the first to be retired at UCLA. It's an honor that has been long overdue. Two months after being fired by the Lions, Matt Patricia is returning to the New England Patriots in a new role that will combine scouting and working with the Patriots' coaching staff, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday. It is time for us to rectify that. He was posthumously inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame. The Rams haven't even retired his number. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956 [22] and his number 13 jersey was the first to be retired at UCLA. [5][3], Washington was the first Bruin to lead the nation in total offense and became the first consensus All-American in the history of the school's football program in 1939. One story has it that Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher wanted to offer Washington a contract to play for the team, but only if he went to Puerto Rico first, which Washington refused to do. [2] He led both teams to city championships in the same calendar year. [2] As a result, the team signed Washington on March 21, 1946, followed by Strode on May 7. Athletic Hall of Fame.. In fact, it still endures today. [20] He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Kenny Washington: The First to Sign an NFL Contract. Inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1956 but not, at this writing, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Washington suffered from circulatory problems in later years. Kenny Mack, Hall-of-Fame Announcer and WTPA Founding Member, Has Passed It is with a heavy heart that we must report the death on Friday, May 10 of Kenny Mack, 78, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Kenny Washington Honors. Instead, his accomplishments come from those who are given an opportunity today because of what Washington did years ago. He was an actor, known for Pinky (1949), Easy Living (1949) and The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). This year's group of AFA Hall of Famers will be enshrined as the “Class of 2014” during the AFA's 34th Annual Semi-Pro/Minor League Football Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2121 George Halas Drive NW, Canton, Ohio 44708. Too often we confuse excellence with numbers. “Electing Kenny Washington to the Hall of Fame also sends the message to students like us that being brave, overcoming obstacles and standing up … The day is also a tad bittersweet because it comes with a reminder that we, as football historians, have dropped the ball for one of our own, Kenny Washington. He ran head-first into not only defenders who didn't want him in the game, but also the civil rights movement. [23] His alma mater Lincoln High School has annually awarded the Kenny Washington Trophy to the school's best football player since 1949. The Hall of Fame Selection Committee will meet on January 19 to vote. Which is quite an amazing feat if you consider the fact that Washington broke the color barrier in the modern NFL a full year before Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. [23] His alma mater Lincoln High School has annually awarded the Kenny Washington Trophy to the school's best football player since 1949. But what Washington accomplished cannot be measured in yards and statistics. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. After excelling for six years with the Oilers, Ken was traded to the Redskins for five veteran players in 1973. [4], In football, his position was tailback, and he often passed as much as he rushed. Washington DC Bureau; ... Kenny is surrounded by football legends at Pro Football Hall of Fame ... Browns fever captured in ‘ice’ on Fox 8 News in the Morning Video. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the four backfield players that year. [2], According to Time magazine's coverage of the 1940 College All-Star Game, Washington was "considered by West Coast fans the most brilliant player in the US last year. Kenny Washington led the nation in total yards in his senior year at UCLA in 1939, but had to wait seven years for the opportunity to play in the NFL. Some might nod when they hear the name. [1] He was posthumously inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame. Kenny Washington of Beaufort has been named to the S.C. [6] Despite these achievements and the fact that he also doubled as a defensive back, he was named to second-team All-America selection instead of the first and was omitted from the East–West Shrine Game that year. Kenneth S. Washington (August 31, 1918 – June 24, 1971) was an American professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League (NFL) team in the modern (post-World War II) era.

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