UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
FOOTBALL DRAFT HISTORY: There have been 1,130 black college players drafted in pro football
history according to drafthistory.com, a website
that bills itself as the premier site for historical information on
the NFL/Pro Football College Draft (see STAT CORNER). According to the site, Grambling has had the
most players drafted with 119 while schools who are presently
Southwestern Athletic Conference members lead all black
college conferences with 458 draftees. Tennessee
State, formerly Tennessee A&I, is the only other school to top
100 with 108. SWAC schools Jackson State (96, 3rd)
and Southern (76, 4th) and current Mid Eastern Athletic
Conference member Florida A&M (64, 5th) round out the
top five. The NFL Draft began in 1936 but black college
players were not selected until 1951. Amongst all colleges,
Notre Dame has had the most draftees with 449. The numbers
are further testaments to great black college coaches like
Eddie Robinson (Grambling. 1941-97), John Merritt
(Jackson State, 1953-62, Tennessee State, 1963-84),
A. W. Mumford (Southern, 1936-61), W. C. Gorden
(Jackson State, 1976-91), Alonzo "Jake" Gaither
(Florida A&M, 1944-69) and Marino Casem
(Alcorn State, 1964-85, Southern 1987-92)
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