Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: The First Black Football Players at Alabama

In terms of pioneers, one would be hard-pressed to find a bigger one in Alabama football history than Wilbur Jackson, the first black athlete to sign a football scholarship to play for the Crimson Tide.

Integration was a hot issue in the South in the 1960s, especially in Alabama, which had endured everything from the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, which killed four young girls, to Governor George Wallace trying to block the University of Alabama’s first two black students from entering their classrooms.

Tensions were at an all-time high, and for years Coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant maintained that the local social and political climate wasn’t ready for black football players. During a deposition for an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed against the school, Bryant testified that he had actively been trying to recruit black players for years, but had found no takers, while forwarding some to other coaches.

Alabama finally made history when Jackson became the first black player to accept a scholarship to play football for the Crimson Tide, and was followed by Bo Matthews.

What helped ease the transition was the 1970 season, when, in part due to an obvious difference in talent, the Crimson Tide finished 6-5-1. In the season opener against visiting Southern California, a 42-21 pasting, Trojans halfback Sam Cunningham, who had been recruited by Alabama, rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns.

Noted assistant coach Jerry Claiborne: “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King did in 20 years.”

The first black player to get into a game for Alabama was John Mitchell, a two-time Junior College All-American defensive end who had transferred from Eastern Arizona Junior College.

“I wouldn’t say everyone accepted me, but Coach Bryant was fair so the players all treated me the same,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell was named an All-American in 1972, the first black co-captain at Alabama, the Tide’s first black assistant coach, and later became the Southeastern Conference’s first black defensive coordinator at LSU.

“I’d do it again in a minute,” he said. “If you’re a football player, you dream of playing for Coach Bryant.”

Meanwhile, during his junior season, Jackson led the SEC by averaging 7.1 yards per carry. For his senior year, he switched from halfback to fullback in the new wishbone offense (another important change) and accumulated 752 rushing yards on 95 carries for a 7.9 average.

Alabama went 11-1 in 1971, 10-2 the following year and capped it with a 11-0 regular season in 1973 to be named the United Press International national champion in the final year the coaches’ poll was conducted prior to bowl games (it lost to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, 24-23). All three years, the Crimson Tide captured the SEC championship.

Jackson was selected in the first round of the 1974 draft by the San Francisco 49ers and played eight years in the National Football League, including with the 1982 Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. He accumulated 895 yards his rookie season and was named NFC Rookie of the Year. For his career he posted 3,852 career rushing yards on 971 carries, with 1,572 receiving yards on 183 catches.

Meanwhile, by the 1973 season, one-third of Alabama’s starters were black.

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books