Woody Strode's Pioneering NFL...

May 7, 1946, marked a watershed moment in the history of the National Football League, a day that quietly heralded the end of a long and unjust segregation. On this date, former UCLA standout and multi-talented athlete Woody Strode signed a contract to play for the Los Angeles Rams. While seemingly a routine player acquisition, this event carried immense historical weight, as Strode became the first African American player to ink a deal with an NFL team since the discriminatory color barrier was solidified at the close of the 1933 season.

Woody Strode was a formidable presence on the UCLA campus. A track and field star who excelled in the shot put and discus, he was also a standout on the Bruins football team. Alongside Kenny Washington and Jackie Robinson, Strode formed part of a talented and notably integrated UCLA squad in the late 1930s, a stark contrast to the all-white landscape of professional football at the time. Despite their collegiate success, opportunities in the NFL remained closed to Black players for over a decade.

The signing of Strode by the Rams was not solely a matter of talent recognition. The Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, the body overseeing the Rams' home venue, reportedly put pressure on the team to integrate as a condition of their lease. This external pressure, combined with the undeniable athletic prowess of Strode and his former UCLA teammate Kenny Washington (who also signed with the Rams shortly thereafter), finally cracked the NFL's color line. While their experience was fraught with racial prejudice and limited playing time, Strode's single season with the Rams in 1946, alongside Washington's longer tenure, bravely paved the way for future generations of African American athletes to compete at the highest level of professional football, forever altering the league's landscape and legacy.