Legally speaking, nothing stood in the way of a football coach — especially an icon like Bear Bryant — bringing on black players. Ross Barnett, the segregationist governor of Mississippi, explicitly linked college football to the policy of massive resistance to civil rights. The tawdry record of Southern universities should give no moral superiority to pro football or football outside Dixie. The battle for equal rights in pro football continued with the efforts of black quarterbacks to break the color line at that position. “For us, as a football team, it’s about us remaining solid.

Source: New York Times September 24, 2017 20:00 UTC