By Darin History often overlooks the man who arrived first, but Bobby Marshall’s legacy is impossible to ignore. Long before the modern era of the gridiron, Marshall was a dominant force who redefined what was possible for an athlete. A Walter Camp All-American, a state grain commissioner, and a legal mind, he didn’t just play the game—he integrated it. From kicking game-winning field goals for the Golden Gophers to breaking the color barrier in the very first game of what we now call the NFL, Bobby Marshall was a true American original.
Football Bio
March 12, 1880 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin – The stalwart end of the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1904 to 1906, Bobby Marshall was born. The National Football Foundation reports that in the three seasons Bobby played on the gridiron at Minnesota, the Gophers went 13-0, 10-1, and 4-1. They out-scored their opponents by a whopping margin of 1238-63.
Marshall was a Walter Camp All-America selection in 1905, and the next season he helped Minnesota defeat the powerful University of Chicago team coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg, with Bobby kicking a field goal to lift the Gophers to a 4-2 victory over the Maroons. Marshall was a brave racial pioneer, too, as he was the first African American to play football in the Big Ten, which at the time was called the Big Nine. The College Football Hall of Fame gathered the gridiron resume of Bobby Marshall and inducted this great player into their hallowed halls in 1971. According to an article on StarTribune.com, Bobby made a significant milestone in the NFL’s very first game.
Marshall was 40 years old, and had become a Minneapolis lawyer as well as the state’s grain commissioner when one of his part-time gigs as a three-sport legend in football, baseball, and hockey led him to become the first person of color to play a game in the American Professional Football Association, which was later renamed the National Football League.
On Sept. 26, 1920, two weeks before Pro Football Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard made his debut with the Akron Pros, Marshall made history. The 6-2, 195-pound Marshall hopped a southbound train and played both ways at end. His Rock Island Independents blanked the visiting St. Paul Ideals, an independent pro team, 48-0. This was the first game played in league history. On Oct. 3, Marshall’s Independents beat the Muncie Flyers 45-0. That was one of the first two games between APFA teams. The article continues with a final statement. Marshall and Pollard were the league’s only Black players that year. Eleven more played between 1921 and 1933, before an unwritten rule among owners—veiled as a “gentleman’s agreement”—kept Black players out of the league until 1946.
Conclusion
Bobby Marshall was a titan of the early 20th-century sports landscape, proving that excellence knows no color line. His career was a masterclass in longevity and versatility, competing at the highest levels of professional football well into his 40s while simultaneously serving his community as a lawyer. By standing as the first person of color to compete in the Big Ten and the NFL, Marshall didn’t just set records; he opened doors for every athlete who followed. He remains a foundational figure in the history of the American gridiron.
Accolades and Football Accomplishments
- College Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 1971.
- First African American in the Big Ten: Integrated the conference (then the Big Nine) in 1904.
- NFL Barrier Breaker: The first person of color to play in an APFA (NFL) game on Sept. 26, 1920.
- Walter Camp All-American: Second-team selection in 1905 and 1906.
- Multisport Legend: Excelled in football, baseball, and hockey; played professional baseball for the Minneapolis Keystones and St. Paul Colored Gophers.
- Western Conference Champion: Helped Minnesota secure the title in 1904 and 1906.
- Clutch Performer: Kicked the game-winning field goal to beat Amos Alonzo Stagg’s Chicago Maroons in 1906.
- Longevity Record: Competed in the NFL’s first season at the age of 40.
