Thanks Maris61 - great points. 99% of my reading is focused on pro football history - so I'm in many ways not the right one to ask about anything related to college football
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Similar questions though have been interesting to me - for example I've wondered if football had a Satchel Paige type figure. I came up with Kenny Washington who appears in both the 48 Bowman and 48 Leaf set. From what I've read, he didn't get the first team AA honors he deserved and then on top of that despite interest from Halas, he didn't get drafted by the NFL. Going from memory, he basically didn't get to play in the NFL until after his prime although I do believe he did play in a Pacific Coast league. And then like you said, being the only black player couldn't have been great. I'm sure I have some of this wrong, but there was a road trip where where Hugh McElhenny would see Joe Perry at practice, but not in the hotel or at dinner. On the way home, Hugh said - "Joe, where have you been?". Turns out Perry had to stay in a private residence.