The Black 14
Another example of African Americans advocating for social change was found at the University of Wyoming in the October of 1969. At the time, Wyoming had one of the best teams in its school’s history, ranked second in the nation. They returned a team that had senior leadership, skilled players both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball and were poised to make another run at their league’s championship.
The nation was in the midst of several social movements, and those movements had come to college football, too. BYU’s football team had boycotted their football team after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints doubled-down on their policy barring African American pastors from the priesthood. With some student athletes of rival colleges boycotting games against BYU, the pressure to change the school’s policies began to grow (Yang 2020).
The news of BYU’s African American players and their protest swept across the nation. Wanting to play their part in the struggle, 14 of the African American players on the University of Wyoming team organized. Willie Black was chancellor of the University’s Black Student Alliance and leader of various social movements on campus. He presented his plan for a peaceful protest to the athletic director and president of the University. The protest would be held outside of the stadium and it would take place prior to the game.
Having heard of a possible protest, the head coach, Lloyd Eaton, told the team’s tri-captain Joe Williams that if anyone on his team participated in any type of demonstration, they would lose their spot on the team. Fully aware of what might happen if they disobeyed their coach. Earl Lee, John Griffin, Willie Hysaw, Don Meadows, Ivie Moore, Tony Gibson, Jerry Berry, Joe Williams, Mel Hamilton, Jim Isaac, Tony Magee, Ted Williams, Lionel Grimes and Ron Hill came together with a plan to protest BYU (Yang 2020).
On October 17th, a Friday morning the young men came together in the Washakie Center, a dorm on campus, to organize and create a list of objectives. The student athletes wanted a platform to speak on BYU’s treatment of African Americans at their school. Their goal was to bring attention to the power structure of the Mormon church and how that church systematically barred people of color from earning positions in the priesthood, positions of power within the denomination.
They wore armbands as a show of solidarity as various civil rights groups throughout the nation were wearing the bands uniformly (Yang 2020). The young men thought they would be supported, but they were wrong. Joe Williams told Sports Illustrated, “Like hell he gave us 10 minutes," said Williams. "He came in, sneered at us and yelled that we were off the squad. He said our very presence defied him. He said he has had some good Negro boys. Just like that." (Yang 2020) Pat Putman of Sports Illustrated reported that Ted Williams, another Wyoming player said, “ "Then he said it was stupid for us to be protesting against a faith and a religion none of us knew about," said Willie Hysaw, an ex-receiver. "Talk about stupid! Do you know that Ted Williams [another of the 14] is a Mormon?" (Yang 2020)
Although Wyoming was undefeated at the time, and its African American players made up the bulk of the talent for the team, Coach Eaton kicked all 14 of the players off of the team and they never played football at the University of Wyoming again. In the months that followed, there would be contrasting stories of what really happened. Athletic Director, Red Jacoby said, “ample notice was given to all members of the football team regarding rules and regulations of the squad, some of which cover a ban on participation in student demonstrations of any kind. Our football coaching staff has made it perfectly clear to all members of the team that groups, or factions, will not be tolerated and that team members will be treated as individuals.” (White 2014). Jacoby would go further saying ““We had no choice but to drop them from the squad. It is unfortunate this happened, but an open defiance of a coaching staff regulation cannot be tolerated." (White 2014).
After the coach tried to justify his stance on the matter, the UW Student Senate took it upon themselves to resolve the issue. In a 15-3 vote that alleged, “coach Eaton refused to grant a rational forum for discussion, choosing instead to degrade and arbitrarily dismiss each player....” The resolution said the ASUW Senate "expresses its shock at the callous, insensitive treatment afforded 14 Black athletes. . . .[T]he actions of coach Eaton and the Board of Trustees were not only uncompromising, but unjust and totally wrong" (White 2014).
Moreover, the students also received support from the faculty members who believed that the students were unjustly treated. On Oct. 30, 1969, the faculty of the UW College of, Arts and Sciences—the university’s largest—voted 114-38 to pass a resolution charging that "fourteen black athletes have been given deep human injury and have been dismissed without a trace of due process by Coach Lloyd Eaton. . . .[T]his faculty believes that the action. . .was unjust, unconstitutional, and unwise, bringing the entire University into disrepute” (White 2014). Acting in alliance with the Wyoming faculty, the president barred any competition with its institution and schools that were aligned with the Mormon church. With all of this support the players still had a great deal of work cut out for them.
In the following months, the NAACP would take the case to federal court where they filed against the State of Wyoming. The NAACP lost the case however it was later discovered the judge presiding over the case, Judge Ewing T. Kerr, had attended a booster event that honored Lloyd Eaton on November 25th of that year. This, without a doubt, was a conflict of interest yet Ewing had the last word in the case, dismissing the charges against the state. The following season Eaton would have his worst record and would be moved to an administrative job in the athletic department, a promotion. It wasn’t until 1978 that the Mormon church lifted its ban on African Americans and allowed them to join the priesthood.
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