Dr. Charles Ross is silhouetted against a screen where he discusses a 1930s photo of a black Chicago defender who is returning a punt for a touchdown past two white Chicago Bears. At right is Red Grange. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

[02/16/01] The Pro Football Hall of Fame should “right past injustices” and enshrine African-American pioneers of the game, much like professional baseball has done, Dr. Charles Ross said at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center on Thursday night.

“These players should be given an opportunity due to their contribution to the growth of the game,” said Ross, an assistant professor of history and Afro-American studies at Ole Miss.

He was in Vicksburg as part of the SCHC’s Humanities Lecture Series for Black History Month. Only 10 people were in the audience. All 10 were white.

In his book “Outside the Lines: African-Americans and the Integration of the National Football League,” Ross writes about black football pioneers who began playing professionally as early as 1903.

In 1933, when the NFL was starting to gain stability, a 13-year segregation of the game took place. Not until Kenny Washington signed with the Los Angeles Rams in 1946 did the league reintegrate, Ross said.

Washington, who led the nation in virtually every offensive category as a senior at UCLA, went undrafted in 1939. By the time he made it to the NFL, Ross said, he was a shadow of his former self due to years of physical injuries.

Fritz Pollard co-coached and played for the Akron Crows of the American Professional Football Conference in 1922, was an All-American at Brown and the first black player to play in the Rose Bowl, but has not gotten his recognition.

Many of the players during that time played in small Negro Football Leagues, but statistics were hard to track down. Ross said not having the numbers should not keep such athletes out of the Hall of Fame.

“I think Fritz Pollard is the most glaring oversight,” Ross said. “But there are many more that are deserving.”

Ross said he has spoken at length with members of the Hall of Fame selection committee as well as presented a paper at the Hall in an effort to gain support for the idea.

“(The committee members) are very aware of it, but I have not gotten a commitment to make this change,” Ross said. “Hopefully it will happen down the line.”

Many of the early black baseball players were in the same situation as the football stars of the era: past their prime when the opportunities came about, Ross said.

“Baseball has to be given credit,” Ross said.

“Satchel Paige was almost 50 years old when he finally got the opportunity, and he was a shell of his former self. Josh Gibson never played in the major leagues and he’s in there. So it’s time to give these football players their due recognition.”

Ross said he will continue his work to get the football pioneers recognized.

“The response has usually been, We agree with you, but they have to be nominated by a committee process,’ ” Ross said.

“… There seems to be support for the idea, but up to this point, those ideas have not been turned into reality.”