Jay-Z is not the first regarding talks of African American ownership in the NFL
There is a lot of discussion taking place regarding Shawn C. Carter’s (Jay-Z) Roc Nation and the NFL’s announced partnership around social justice.
The NFL partnership will make Jay-Z and his Roc Nation agency a co-producer of the Super Bowl halftime show. It has been reported that the partnership does not contain a provision for Jay-Z to be the halftime performer. In the 2019 Super Bowl, for the 2019 NFL season, it was reported that a number of music artists declined to perform for the halftime show.
When the NFL started, in the 1920s, a handful of African Americans played in the new league. Professional football included 13 African American players through the 1920s and early 1930s. But from 1934 to 1946, there were no African American players in the NFL.
Kenny Washington, an African American who played for UCLA, joined the NFL in 1946. The Cleveland Rams had relocated to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Rams. The LA Rams agreed to allow African American players on the team after being pressured.
The Washington Redskins became the southernmost NFL franchise east of the Mississippi River and the only one outside of the Northeast, the upper Midwest or the West Coast. By 1955, the Washington Redskins were the lone holdout in the 12 member league. Stewart L. Udall was President Kennedy’s secretary of the interior when a new football stadium being built on federally controlled land affiliated with the national parks system, and was under Udall’s domain. Udall stipulated that the Washington Redskins could use the stadium only if they followed federal laws without discrimination.
The NFL signed a lucrative national television contract in 1961. NFL owners urged Pete Rozelle the NFL’s commissioner to meet with the Washington Redskines’ owner George Preston Marshall. Georg Marshall said publicly that he was interested in selecting a top African American football player in the next football draft.
Udall agreed to allow the Washington Redskins to play in the new stadium in 1961, on the condition that they would indeed desegregate after the season. The Washington Redskins drafted Ernie Davis, a running back from Syracuse who had won the Heisman Trophy, and traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns for an African American halfback Bobby Mitchell. Ron Hatcher played with the team during the exhibition season, but was one of the last two players cut before the opening of the 1962 season. He rejoined the team later in the year.
After signing Hatcher and trading for Bobby Mitchell, the Redskins had acquired two additional black players during the 1961-62 off-season: halfback Leroy Jackson and guard John Nisby. All three of these men, Mitchell, Jackson, and Nisby, appeared in the first regular-season game of 1962, which was played in Dallas on September 16.
It has been reported that that NFL is currently made up of around 70 percent African American men employed to play football.
This topic takes a historical look back at the NFL and its many short lived efforts to have more African American ownership opportunities.
Eric T. Reid Jr., who is currently a safety for the Carolina Panthers was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft, with whom he made a Pro Bowl. Eric Reid joined Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem during the final preseason game.
Reid rips Jay-Z over Kaepernick remarks, deal with NFL
Forbes reported on June 9, 2019 that Jay-Z’s and Beyoncé’s combined net worth was an estimated $1.4 billion. Beyoncé’s net worth was an estimated at $400 million.
Forbes reported in March 2019, in their latest count, there were 2,153 billionaires in the world.
The world’s population reached 7.7 billion in mid 2019.
The United States has 607 billionaires (Forbes | March 2019).
The United States has a population of 329,448,990.
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (Atlanta) seats 2,750
Fox Theatre (Atlanta) seats 4,665
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC) seats 2,465
Durham Performing Arts Center (NC) seats 2,700
Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium seats 9,314
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April 1973
May 1987
April 1993
July 1993
September 1993
October 1993
February 1995
May 1998
May 2001 – What happened to the African American who was part of the Carolina Panthers’ founding ownership group?
