NFL honors HBCU Products and the Black College Football Hall of Fame

By Lenny Moon

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is slated to install the Black college Football Hall of Fame wing within its confines in Canton, OH later this year. It stands to reason that a large chunk of the NFL’s legacy has been contributed by proteges of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

A breakdown of PFHOF members of HBCU decent shows us that 29 players have such a pedigree, with Jackson State’s Robert “Dr Doom” Brazile becoming the most recent in 2018. The former Houston Oilers star became the third linebacker to enter the hall and the fourth JSU Tiger to be enshrined. Collectively, there are 17 defensive and 12 offensive players that comprise this assembly of HBCU representatives in the PFHOF (see below)

OFFENSE:

Running Backs [2]

Leroy Kelley(’94)……………..Morgan State [1960-63]……….…Cleveland Browns

Walter Payton(’93)………….Jackson State [1971-74]….…….…Chicago Bears

Receivers [5]

Bob Hayes(’09)……………….Florida A&M [1960-63]……….……Dallas Cowboys

Charlie Joiner(’96)………….Grambling State [1965-68]….……Houston/San Diego

Jerry Rice(’10)………………..Miss Valley St [1981-84]….……….San Francisco/Oakland

Shannon Sharpe(’11)………Savannah State[1986-89]………..Denver/Baltimore

John Stallworth(’02)……….Alabama A&M[1970-73]………….Pittsburgh Steelers

Offensive Linemen [5]

Roosevelt Brown(’75)……Morgan State [1949-52]…………….New York Giants

Larry Little(’93)……………..Bethune Cookman [1963-66]…….Miami Dolphins

Art Shell(’89)…………………Md Eastern Shore [1964-67]……..Oakland Raiders

Jackie Slater(’01)…………..Jackson State [1972-75]…………….LA/St Louis Rams

Rayfield Wright(’06)……..Ft Valley State [1963-66]……………Dallas Cowboys

DEFENSE:

Defensive Linemen [8]

Elvin Bethea(’03)…………..N Carolina A&T [1964-67]………….Houston Oilers

Buck Buchanan(’90)………Grambling State [1959-62]………..Kansas City Chiefs

Willie Davis(’81)……………Grambling State [1952-55]…….…..Green Bay Packers

Richard Dent(’11)…………Tennessee State [1979-82]….……..Chicago Bears

Len Ford(’76)…………………..Morgan State [1944]………………..Cleveland Browns

Claude Humphrey(’16)……Tennessee State [1964-67]……….Atlanta Falcons

Deacon Jones(’80)…….…….Miss Valley.SC St [1960]……………LA Rams

Michael Strahan(’14)………Texas Southern [1989-92]…………New York Giants

Linebackers [3]

Robert Brazile(’18)………….Jackson State [1971-74]……………Houston Oilers

Harry Carson(’06)……………SC State [1972-75]……………………New York Giants

Willie Lanier(’86)…………….Morgan State [1963-66]…………..Kansas City Chiefs

Secondary [6]

Lem Barney(’92)……………..Jackson State [1963-66]…………..Detroit Lions

Mel Blount(’89)………………Southern A&M [1966-69].………..Pittsburgh Steelers

Willie Brown(’84)……………Grambling State [1959-62]….……Oakland Raiders

Kenny Houston(’86)……….Prairie View A&M [1963-66]……..Houston/Wash

Emmitt Thomas(’08)………Bishop [1963-66]………………………Kansas City Chiefs

Aeneas Williams(’14)……..Southern A&M [1989-90]…………St Louis/Arizona

We’ll highlight each of the aforementioned segments of these former great HBCU gridders that have gone on to immortality and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

NEXT WEEK:

Running Backs

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