By LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
In last week’s BCSP, we charted the first HBCU player ever taken in the NFL Draft – North Carolina A&T running back Robert “Stonewall” Jackson in 1950 – up through the start of the rival AFL and its positive effect it had on the number of black college players selected.
In this week’s Part Two of our HBCU NFL Draft History, the story picks up as the two leagues move closer to merger just as those numbers are about to shoot way up.
A DECADE OF DOMINANCE
The NFL and AAFL Drafts of 1966 were the last to be held before the leagues merged a year later and held a common draft.
Again, a league high of 22 HBCU players were taken by NFL teams in 1966. Ten (10) of those same players went in the AFL Draft.
Maryland-Eastern Shore running back Emerson Boozer was selected by the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steeelers in the seventh round and the AFL’s New York Jets in the sixth round. Boozer played ten years for the Jets and was a key player when the Jets upset Baltimore in Super Bowl III, the first win for a former AFL team in the classic.
The merger of the leagues in 1967 saw the numbers of HBCU players in the draft take a precipitous uptick. The next eleven (11) years, from 1967 to 1977, could be considered the heyday for black college players as they dominated the draft. Twenty-two (22) black college players were first round selections and the HBCU draftees over that 11-year period included ten future Hall of Famers.
A then-record 51 players went off the combined AFC-NFC draft board in 1967. The gem of that draft had to be Morgan State linebacker Willie Lanier who went in the second round to the Kansas City Chiefs. Lanier is believed to be the first African-American to play middle linebacker in the NFL and he set a new standard at the position. He played 11 outstanding seasons for the Chiefs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
The HBCU draft list climbed to an alltime high of 70 in 1968 and included two first round picks, defensive end Claude Humphrey of Tennessee State taken third overall by the Atlanta Falcons and Humphrey’s TSU teammate, quarterback Eldridge Dickey taken 25th overall by Oakland.
Dickey, the first African-American or HBCU quarterback to be selected in the first round was taken before former Alabama quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ken Stabler who went to the Raiders in the second round. Despite outplaying Stabler in the preseason, Dickey was moved to wide receiver and never played quarterback in an NFL game.
Future Hall of Famer Lem Barney, a defensive back out of Jackson State, was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round.
The 1969 haul of 66 black college players included first round defensive back Jim Marsalis out of Tennessee State that went to Kansas City with the 23rd overall selection.
Three black college first rounders were among the 67 taken in 1970. They included Morgan State wide receiver Raymond Chester snagged by Oakland, Texas Southern wide receiver Ken Burroughs taken by New Orleans and North Carolina Central offensive lineman Doug Wilkerson drafted by Houston.
Pittsburgh Steelers shutdown cornerback Mel Blount, a four-time Super Bowl winner and future Hall of Famer, was taken in the third round out of Southern.
There were four more HBCU first rounders among the first 15 selected out of a total of 62 in 1971. The first rounders included Grambling defensive end Richard Harris fifth to Philadelphia, Grambling wideout Frank Lewis to Pittsburgh eighth overall, Southern linebacker Isaiah “Butch” Robinson 10th to
the LA Rams and Tennessee State defensive tackle Vernon Holland 15th to Cincinnati.
Six-eight, 225-pound wide receiver Harold Carmichael out of Southern was taken by Philadelphia in the seventh round and became one of the most prolific wideouts in league history, finishing his 14-year career with nearly 600 catches for nearly 9,000 yards and 79 touchdowns. He is a member of the upcoming 2020 NFL Hall of Fame class.
Dynamic 6-3, 218-pound wide receiver Jerome Barkham of Jackson State was the lone first rounder among 51 HBCU players taken in the 1972 Draft. Included among them was another quarterback, “Jefferson Street” Joe Gilliam of Tennessee State taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 11th round. In 1974, Gilliam because the first African-American to start a season opener. Despite going 4-1-1 over the first six games, he was benched in favor of 1970 top overall draft pick Terry Bradshaw.
Despite being drafted in the 14th round in 1972, former Virginia State defensive lineman Larry Brooks had an outstanding NFL career with the LA Rams. He played ten years earning spots five times in the Pro Bowl. There was just one first rounder among the 44 HBCU players drafted in 1973 but there were some notables. Texas Southern defensive back
Photo Caption: In 1975, Jackson State running back Walter Payton was taken by Chicago with the fourth overall pick of the NFL Draft’s first round. Payton played 13 seasons for the Bears and retired as the all-time NFL leader in rushing yards. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. The FCS Offensive Player of the Year award is named in his honor
Mike Holmes was the first rounder taken 18th overall by San Francisco. He ended up playing wide receiver and had only one productive season, his rookie year with the Niners. South Carolina State defensive standout Barney Chavous was the second earliest HBCU selection in 1973 going to Denver in the second round, 36th overall. He played 12 seasons for the Broncos.
Grambling running back Lee Fobbs, who later was head coach at North Carolina A&T, was taken in the eighth round by Buffalo. His teammate at Grambling, quarterback Matthew Reed was taken two rounds later by the Bills. Arkansas-Pine Bluff wide receiver Wallace Francis was taken earlier by the Bills in the fifth round. He had no catches in two years with the Bills, but led the league in kickoff returns as a rookie. He was later traded to the Atlanta Falcons and became one of their career receptions leaders.
Also notable from that draft was Southern wide receiver Rod Milburn taken by the LA Rams in the 13th round. Milburn, a track star at Southern, had broken the world record in the 110-meter hurdles five times and won a gold medal in the event at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He never played in the league.
The 1974 Draft stands out as again four HBCU players went off the boards in the first round. They were each among the first 26 players drafted. Forty-four (44) were taken overall.
The quartet was led by Tennessee State defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones who was taken by Dallas with the first overall pick. Following him in that first round was TSU teammate and linebacker Waymond Bryant to Chicago fourth overall, Florida A&M offensive lineman Henry Lawrence to Oakland 19th overall and Jackson State defensive lineman Don Reese to Miami 26th overall. Five more HBCU players were taken in the second round.
In the third round, the Pittsburgh Steelers took future Hall of Fame wide receiver John Stallworth out of Alabama A&M. Stallworth teamed with first round pick Lynn Swann to form one of the most prolific receiving tandems in league history. The pair won four Super Bowl rings. Both are in the Hall of Fame.
Out of 42 HBCU draftees in 1975 four more first rounders were taken led by two Jackson State products and future Hall of Famers.
Running back Walter Payton, who retired after 13 season as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, was the fourth overall pick to Chicago and linebacking JSU teammate Robert Brazille went to Houston with the sixth selection. They were followed by Grambling defensive tackle Gary “Big Hands” Johnson who went eighth overall to San Diego and Langston linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson taken by Dallas at 18th overall.
The lone first rounder in 1976 among 53 HBCU selectees was defensive back James Hunter out of Grambling who was taken by Detroit 10th overall. Hunter played seven productive years for the Lions but two from that draft made the Hall of Fame. Jackson State offensive tackle Jackie Slater earned his place in the Hall after being drafted by the LA Rams in the third round. The four-time lineman of the year and seven-time Pro Bowler had a 20-year career and was the first in NFL history to play 20 years for the same team, that included a then-record 259 games played.
The other Hall of Famer is middle linebacker Harry Carson out of South Carolina State who was taken by the New York Giants in the fourth round after dominating the MEAC. The two-time MEAC Defensive Player of the year was selected to the Pro Bowl in nine of the 13 years he played for the Giants and was a key player as the Giants got a win in Super Bowl XXI.
The number of first round picks over the next four years (1977-1980) could be counted on one hand while the overall number of HBCU players took a nosedive. It appeared that the major colleges had short-circuited talented black players routes to HBCUs. Those that previously attended Tennessee State were now going to Tennessee. The Grambling and Southern recruits were now choosing LSU. What had been the exclusive territory for Jackson State and Alcorn State was now being mined by Mississippi and Mississippi State.
Ezra Johnson out of Morris Brown was taken by Green Bay as the 28th selection in 1977 among just 19 HBCU selections.
Grambling quarterback Doug Wiliams went to Tampa Bay 17th overall in 1978 among 24 selectees and Alcorn State defensive back Roynell Young went 23rd to Philadelphia in 1980. Seventeen (17) HBCU players were selected in 1979 and 25 in 1980.
In part three, the last of our series, we cover HBCU Draft picks from 1981 until 1994, the year the BCSP was birthed, up to today.