BleedGopher
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per Chris:
Most folks can easily name Jackie Robinson as the first Black man to become a Major League Baseball player, but how many know Bobby Marshall, the first Black National Football League player?
Shelburne-based author Terry McConnell hopes to rectify that in his fourth and latest book, “Breaking Through the Line: Bobby Marshall, the NFL’s First African American Player,” which explores the life and history of Marshall and is being released Friday.
“I think it’s really important for kids to know about this guy,” McConnell said in a phone interview. “Here’s a man who is really a role model … a man we’d all like to be like.”
Marshall, a Minneapolis native, lived from 1880 to 1958 and became the first Black All-American football player from the Western Conference — now known as the Big 10 — for the University of Minnesota while also starring as a baseball and ice hockey player. He was an end for the Rock Island Independents in Illinois.
“He was a huge hero back in the 1910s and 1920s,” McConnell said. “He was probably as good an athlete as Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.”
McConnell said he always had a book about Marshall in mind because his grandfather coached Marshall in the early 1900s, but what really inspired him was a picture he found in the basement.
“In the back of my mind, there was a story there,” McConnell said. “I was looking at some old family photos and saw a team picture. Probably about 15 guys and in the second row, in the middle, was a very tall African American man. On the back of the picture it said, ‘Bobby Marshall.’”
www.recorder.com
Go Gophers!!
Most folks can easily name Jackie Robinson as the first Black man to become a Major League Baseball player, but how many know Bobby Marshall, the first Black National Football League player?
Shelburne-based author Terry McConnell hopes to rectify that in his fourth and latest book, “Breaking Through the Line: Bobby Marshall, the NFL’s First African American Player,” which explores the life and history of Marshall and is being released Friday.
“I think it’s really important for kids to know about this guy,” McConnell said in a phone interview. “Here’s a man who is really a role model … a man we’d all like to be like.”
Marshall, a Minneapolis native, lived from 1880 to 1958 and became the first Black All-American football player from the Western Conference — now known as the Big 10 — for the University of Minnesota while also starring as a baseball and ice hockey player. He was an end for the Rock Island Independents in Illinois.
“He was a huge hero back in the 1910s and 1920s,” McConnell said. “He was probably as good an athlete as Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.”
McConnell said he always had a book about Marshall in mind because his grandfather coached Marshall in the early 1900s, but what really inspired him was a picture he found in the basement.
“In the back of my mind, there was a story there,” McConnell said. “I was looking at some old family photos and saw a team picture. Probably about 15 guys and in the second row, in the middle, was a very tall African American man. On the back of the picture it said, ‘Bobby Marshall.’”
Greenfield Recorder
Franklin County's daily newspaper, The Recorder, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest newspapers in the country. Providing news, classifieds, and events information on the web and in print.
Go Gophers!!