Southeastern Conference official Wilbur Hackett Jr. recently gained Internet fame for his on-field collision with South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia. He should be remembered more for being the first African American captain of an SEC team when he joined Kentucky in 1967.
Hackett will be featured Tuesday night in an HBO documentary, "Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football." The film examines how racial barriers were broken in the Atlantic Coast, Southwest and Southeastern conferences, culminating with the 1970 game between USC and Alabama at Birmingham's Legion Field.
Sam Cunningham starred in that game, running for 135 yards and two touchdowns in the Trojans' 42-21 victory.
Other players featured include Darryl Hill, Jerry LeVias, Thom Gossom, Jimmy Jones, Willie Lanier, John Mitchell and Bubba Smith.
Hill, playing for Maryland, describes a trip to Clemson where there were "50,000 drunk Southern gentlemen waiting to see this brother come onto the field ... and there was not a black person in the stands anywhere."
African American fans had to sit and watch from a spot outside the stadium, which helped motivate Hill to set a single-game ACC receiving record.
What a great lead into the story.
Posted by: Marshell scott | December 14, 2008 at 01:02 AM