Andrea Vadrucci The NFL did not allow Black players from 1932 to 1946. This Month in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change. Eric Harland Join our linker program. All Rights Reserved. [2] Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. [3] He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Kenneth Stanley Washington (August 31, 1918 June 24, 1971) was an American professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League (NFL) team in the modern (post-World War II) era. Phil Rudd [18] However, in the 1960 presidential election, Washington voted for John F. Kennedy instead of Nixon and tended to vote for Democrats for the rest of his life, but he never declared a political party affiliation. What allured author Dan Taylor to write the memoir was stories he heard from people who witnessed his athleticism firsthand. Kenny Clare JoJo Mayer Nana Vasconcelos Brian Bennett In the early '70s, Kenny Burrell met Grover Washington, Jr. in Chicago where they jammed together at the Jazz Showcase, promising someday to get together and make a record. Marvin "Smitty" Smith I thought others might appreciate these tidbits of forgotten history of People of Color. Chris Parker Kenneth Stanley Washington, the first African-American to have played in the American National Football League (NFL) in the post-World War II modern era, was born on August 31, 1918, in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. Lenny Castro Marco Minnemann Washington played for the Los Angeles Rams for three seasons and retired from the game in 1948. Washington was a college and pro football star back in the 1930s and 1940s. Mick Avory Kenny Washington was a sports trailblazer. Senri Kawaguchi He led Lincoln High School to the city title his freshman year and then six months later to the football championship his senior season. Players played offense and defense back then. After placing 39 th out of 1,837 candidates who took the department's entrance exam, Kenny joined the force in April 1942 and was appointed to the motorcycle detail a month later. Lionel Hampton Jon Bermuda Schwartz Ignacio Berroa Emmanuelle Caplette Carlos Vega Mickey Hart Eric Moore Steve Jordan Paulinho Da Costa His son Kenny Washington Jr. along with teammate Woody Strode and his children have passed away. Sherrie Maricle He is Woody Strode. Clyde Stubblefield My Buddy: Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson, "Bill Charlap jazz trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington are 'like family', "Washington, Kenny | The Juilliard School", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kenny_Washington_(musician)&oldid=1124232132, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 November 2022, at 23:45. Peter Donald He appeared in some movies as well including the likes of Pinky (1949), Rope of Sand (1949) and The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Kenny Washington played football and baseball with Jackie Robinson at UCLA. Amir Bresler Some defensive statistics Copyright Baseball Info Solutions, 2010-2022. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. The memoir Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington descriptively tells the story of Washington and his accomplishments on and off the football field. One of the many young hard-bop revivalists to have arrived on the scene in the late '70s and early 80s, Washington has been in particular demand by much older musicians, playing with such legendary veterans as Lee Konitz, Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Tommy Flanagan. Tal Bergman Jack Bruno Famadou Don Moye George Halas tried to sign him for the NFL's Chicago Bears but he was stopped from integrating the NFL. Kenneth Washington Jr., CHST, ASHM, ST/CHMM Holding the protection of people paramount and influencing others to do the same. [9] Despite these achievements and the fact that he also doubled as a defensive back, he was named to second-team All-America selection instead of the first and was omitted from the EastWest Shrine Game that year. Eric Kamau Gravatt View the profiles of professionals named "Kenneth Washington Jr." on LinkedIn. Sharing in this triumph was Washington's best friend and fellow Bruin, Woody Strode, whom Washington had insisted the Rams . Don Lamond Randy E. Moore, Officiant, Rev. Harvey Mason Diego Piera Toss Panos Finally, in 1946, under a threat that the team would lose its lease on the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Los Angeles Rams signed Washington (along with Woody Strode, to be his roommate), ending the 12-year ban on black players in the NFL. Mike Johnston However, Washingtons daughter Karin Cohen and grandson Kirk Washington helped him. Bobby Previte He was one of four African American players on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team, the others being Woody Strode, Robinson, and Ray Bartlett. Hannah Ford Welton Roy Haynes He also starred in football, running for a UCLA-record 1,914 career yards (the mark stood for 34 years); Jackie Robinson was his football teammate in 1939. Jon Hiseman Kenny Jr. was on the winning team in the 1963 College World Series and made the All-Tournament outfield alongside Hector Barnetche and Craig Morrison. [3] Kenny Washington was raised by his grandmother Susie Washington, his uncle Rocky, the first black uniformed lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD),[4] and his aunt-in-law Hazel. On the football field, Washington was nearly unstoppable. Ginger Baker Jeff Ballard However, Washington's daughter Karin Cohen and grandson Kirk Washington helped him. Morgan Agren 2016 BASE - Seasonal Path of the Lake Land College Lakers, Significant Events within Major League Baseball (compiled by Brittney Renton Feb 18, 2011), 2013 Softball - Seasonal Path of the Lake Land College Lady Lakers, 2013 Baseball - Seasonal Path of the Lake Land College Lakers, Philadelphia: A History of Sport and City, Tevez in England - European Highs and Miserable Lows, The First Five Years of the Worcester Bravehearts, Foundations of US Major Professional Leagues, My Basbeball Career Milestones (Justin Contursi #23), The History of the University of Texas at El Paso. Dave Weckl Not even legendary Chicago Bears coach George Halas, who'd coached Washington in the College All Star Game and pushed hard to get Washington to play in the NFL, could get the ban overturned. Matt Abts Charli Persip Washington retired from the NFL following the 1948 season. A firm Republican Party loyalist, he favored the 1950 U.S. Senate campaign by Richard Nixon. He wasn't the only NFL pioneer who finished his sports career in pro baseball; Wally Yonamine, the first Asian-American NFL player, would go on to a productive baseball career. Lincoln High School renamed their stadium after Washington, and every year since 2011 holds a memorial football game on the anniversary of Washington's death. Gary Chester Pedrito Martinez Bill Ward Hall of Famers, Pro Bowlers . He later worked for the Los Angeles Police Department. Rick Marotta .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. As a player, he won two national championships playing college basketball with the UCLA Bruins and represented the United States national team in the 1970 FIBA World Championship.He was also the first head coach in UCLA women's basketball history.. Washington, a 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) guard out of Robert Smalls High School . Lil John Roberts Jason Bonham Bill Stewart John Riley Rayford Griffin Jim Black Cindy Blackman Aynsley Dunbar Sly Dunbar Many thought Marshall did not want Black players because Washington was the farthest-south team in the NFL from the 1930s to the 1960s. LAKENDRICK (KENNY) COBEY,JR. Nate Morton Louis Hayes The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. The USC alumnus signed with Japan's Nankai Hawks midway through 1970 but hit only .185/.224/.311 in 47 games. Still, Washington was a very important person in NFL history.