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Black History Month has been celebrated in some form since 1924. For sports fans, it is a chance to reacquaint themselves with those who broke down barriers in all areas of competition and all segments of society. Many are now household names and American icons: Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Muhammad Ali, up to Tiger Woods, Tony Dungy and Venus and Serena Williams today.Throughout February, FanHouse will shed light on the other figures in the history of sports whose breakthroughs were as significant as those mentioned above, but who aren't as instantly recognizable as pioneers. During Black History Month 2010, FanHouse aims to give them their due.
Eldridge Dickey
First African-American quarterback picked in the first round of a pro football draft
The American sports landscape should mourn the loss of the opportunity for Eldridge Dickey to realize his full potential, if only because it was denied one of the great nicknames ever created: The Lord's Prayer.
One has to be of a certain time and place to remember Dickey or his ethereal moniker. Natives of his hometown of Houston and former coaches and teammates have created a website and DVD to keep his memory alive, but they'd also swear that he had to be seen to really be believed.
As a dazzlingly talented and accomplished (not to mention ambidextrous) quarterback at Tennessee State, Dickey led the 1965 and '66 teams to undefeated seasons and national championships, the first two of his three years he was named the best quarterback in black college football. Sports Illustrated once described him as having "a Johnny Unitas arm and Gale Sayers speed.''
The Oakland Raiders, coming off an appearance in Super Bowl II, couldn't resist, casting aside tradition and precedent and taking him 25th overall in the 1968 AFL Draft. The move fit the mold the Raiders and the rest of the AFL were creating at the time, tapping the vein of historically black colleges that the NFL was still overlooking.
Despite constant reports and subsequent recollections that he thoroughly outplayed the other Raiders rookie QB in training camp -- Ken Stabler -- the coaches would only play him at receiver in games. Neither was going to beat out Daryl Lamonica and George Blanda, but even as Al Davis fought hard for Dickey, Stabler was the one groomed for the future.
Said Raiders teammate and Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, in William C. Rhoden's 2007 book "Third and a Mile," about the history of black quarterbacks: "He never really had a chance, because in those days, they didn't give you a chance. You're in the moment, and you don't have a point of reference because there's no one else in front of you. Being a pioneer is a bitch.''
Not getting the opportunity to be that pioneer broke Dickey's spirit. He ended up spending four injury-riddled seasons in Oakland, returning kicks, running and catching the ball, but never playing the position he had believed he would revolutionize. When he died in 2000, at age 54 after years of battling (and overcoming) post-career drug problems, his football legacy had been reduced to one of the great "what-ifs'' of all time.
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