Gene Washington

Born January 25, 1944 was Hall of Fame player Gene Washington. Here is a special tribute to this legend as we learned about him through an interview with his daughter Maya back in 2022.

Some 100 years after the Civil War, equal rights for black Americans were still being fought for in the 1960s. Many places would not allow some people to sit down and have dinner in a restaurant or even drink out of the same water fountain because of the color of their skin. Brave souls like Rosa Parks, Dr. King, and others including the famous football father of our guest Maya Washington1 battled racial ignorance in their own lives. Maya shares her family's story of over 50 years ago in her book and film, which she tells about the powerful tale of courage and a championship football team that defied the odds.

Maya Washington of the: Light & Shadow Podcast was a recent guest of ours in the Pigpen. Maya is also a filmmaker and an author to round out her communications talents.
Recently she had her award-winning documentary Through the banks of the Red Cedar debuted on the Big Ten Network as well as being aired nation-wide on PBS for Black History Month. She has made the rounds on some great programs such as the Tamron Hall show and the Football History Dude Podcast here on SHN to promote her work.

Maya visited us to speak about a great book she penned also titled THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDAR: My Father and the Team That Changed the Game. As you can tell by her book’s title she has a pretty famous Dad, College Football Hall of Fame inductee Gene Washington.

The Cover of Maya Washington's Book, courtesy of Maya and her publisher, Dandelion PR

Gene Washington is most famously known as a wide receiver of the 1965 & 1966 Michigan State National Championship football teams as well as a first round NFL Draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings who played in Super Bowl IV.

The title of Ms. Washington’s works, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar” is enticing. During our discussion I asked her the meaning behind it and once she explained where it came from , it all made perfect sense. Those very words are lyrics from the Michigan State fight song, a place where her parents met, and where both their lives changed.

As Maya shares, her father went through a lot of adversity to reach the heights of football that  he did. During the era he grew up in in Texas, black men and women were not welcome to attend big colleges in the south. Segregation was prevalent as African American leaders like Dr. Martin Luthor King were leading the movement for Equal RIghts. It was also difficult for these young men of color to get noticed by northern schools where black student athletes could compete alongside white players.

Michigan State University under the leadership of Head Coach Hugh Duffy Daugherty and school President at the time, John A. Hannah was light years ahead of the rest of College football in the recruitment of black men from southern high schools. Gene Washingnton’s story of getting on the Michigan State roster is pretty interesting. Apparently a fellow Texas high school recruit, future Hall of Fame player Bubba Smith, played against Gene in high school on a rival team. Smith remembered Washington and mentioned him to Coach Daugherty, and eventually Washington, a scholastic track and gridiron star, found his way to East Lansing too.

Photo of the 1966 Game between Michigan State and Notre Dame, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

As a matter of fact the two national Championship teams of MSU in 1965 and 1966 had an unheard of 23 black men on it's very talented roster. Daugherty had assembled such a great pool of talent that it is truly legendary.

The roster being talented may be an understatement as Gene Washington along with Bubba Smith, Clint Jones, George Webster were four Spartans drafted in the first eight picks! This is the only time in the history of the NFL Draft where four players from the same school were drafted in the top ten by league teams.

NFL:  1967 AFL/NFL draft

1. Bubba Smith by the Baltimore Colts; Defensive tackle from Michigan State
2. Clint Jones by the  Minnesota Vikings; Running back from Michigan State
3. Steve Spurrier by the San Francisco 49ers; Quarterback from Florida
4. Bob Griese by the Miami Dolphins; Quarterback from Purdue
5. George Webster by the Houston Oilers ; Linebacker from Michigan State
6. Floyd Little by the Denver Broncos; Halfback from Syracuse
7. Mel Farr by the Detroit Lions; Running back from UCLA
8. Gene Washington by the Minnesota Vikings Wide receiver from Michigan State

In an attempt to try and put this in perspective I compared this to some more recent NFL Drafts in which Alabama Crimson Tide players seem to dominate. The results are not even close to the 1967 Spartan picks:

2012 NFL Draft  Alabama:Trent Richardson (3), Mark Barron (7), Dre Kirkpatrick (17), Dont'a Hightower (25)

2011 NFL Draft  Alabama:Marcell Dareus (3), Julio Jones (6), James Carpenter (25), Mark Ingram (28)

2017 NFL Draft  Alabama Marlon Humphrey (16), Jonathan Allen (17), OJ Howard (19), Reuben Foster (31)

Gene Washington  played for the Vikings from 1967-1972 and then had a one year stint with the Denver Broncos in 1973.

As a rookie, Washington averaged 29.5 yards per reception. In 1968, he caught 46 passes. In 1969, he had 821 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns. Pretty strong numbers in any era for a rookie, especially the 1960s NFL where offenses still predominantly ran the ball.

Maya Washington tell the truly inspirational story of struggle and success that her parents endured through adversity, and helped to open doors for those that came after them. It is an awesome story about some great people and one that I hope you will watch and read.
 

Banner photo is courtesy of Dandelion PR and Miss Maya Washington, of her book cover. The game action photo later in the article is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Michigan State place-kicker Mike Kenney kicks a field goal against Notre Dame in 1966. Courtesy Michigan State University taken by a photographer not identified.