Walking Alone

You may know that Kenny Washington was one of the first in a group of men that broke the NFL Post WWII Color Barrier, but how much more do you know about this standout in football history? Our friend Dan Taylor joins us to share some other things that Kenny accomplished and more from his book on the legend. Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington.

Dan Taylor uses his brilliant way of story telling to unveil the life and career of the man Kenny Washington . Washington should be remembered as not only a trailblazer for people of color in professional sports, but as one of the greatest running backs that ever played the game.

I invite you to order a copy of Dan's work titled Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington.

The folks that have taken the time to do the sometimes painstaking research, interviews, and countless hours at a keyboard to bring us the knowledge and entertainment from their books. These people are experts from the fact that they spent the time to learn about or even experience their subject matter. We enjoy reading their work and picking their brains if given the opportunity, and we now share this woth you.

May 4, 2023, 2:46 pm

Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is a sports historian, author, and a former award-winning television sportscaster who is currently the
television broadcaster for the Fresno Grizzlies. He is the author of five books, most recently Lights, Camera, Fastball:
How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball and Walking Alone: The Untold Story of Football Pioneer Kenny
Washington. Taylor is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and contributes to their biography
project. He is also a member of the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He resides in Fresno, California.

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Kenny Washington was an American professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League (NFL) team in the modern (post-World War II) era. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins.

Washington was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1918. He attended Jefferson High School, where he was a star athlete in football, basketball, and track. After high school, he attended UCLA, where he played football and basketball. In football, he was a two-time All-Pacific Coast Conference selection and led the Bruins to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1940. Kenny not only could run but he was a prolific passer, able to throw the ball extremely accurate on long passing plays to become a dual threat.

After graduating from UCLA, Washington was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1940 NFL Draft. However, he was unable to sign with the Rams because the NFL had a rule prohibiting African-American players from playing in the league. Washington then played in the semi-pro American Football League (AFL) for the Los Angeles Bulldogs.

In 1946, the NFL lifted its ban on African-American players. Washington signed with the Rams and became the first African-American player to play in the NFL since 1933. He played for the Rams for four seasons, and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection.

Kenny Washington was UCLA's first-ever, first-team all-American football player; he was on eight of nine all-America teams, the first-team all-American Coming out of UCLA in 1939. The school retired number 13 was the first athlete at UCLA ever to have his number retired.

Washington was the unanimous winner of the Fairbanks Awards. So we have the Heisman today, but back then, we had the Heisman and the Fairbanks Award. The Fairbanks Award is named for the actor Douglas Fairbanks, who sponsored the award.

After retiring from football, Washington became an actor. He appeared in several films, including "The Jackie Robinson Story" and "Gentleman's Agreement." He died in 1971 at the age of 52.

This does not do the man justice, I strongly recommend learning more by reading Dan' book on this legend.

Here are some more items that may interest you that are related to our topic in this post. Please enjoy the further knowledge gain on these legends.

Woody Strode

Born July 25, 1914, in Los Angeles, California legendary football End and trailblazer, Woody Strode. Woody famously played in the the UCLA Bruins back field dubbed the Gold Dust Trio along with Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington. He went on with K. Washington to break racial barriers in the NFL as a member of the LA Rams, and later the CFL's Calgary Stampeders. After football he became a Hollywood and actor and can be found in such classics as the Posse, Cotton Club, Vigilante, and Scream.

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The select few and cream of the crop that are inducted into the legendary baseball museum in Cooperstown, New York.

Jackie Robinson

Born January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia, was Baseball Hall of Fame Infielder Jackie Robinson. Robinson is most remembered for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, which transcended the game into other sports, opening the door in just a few short years for peoples of all races to be able to participate in American professional sports.

During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1949becoming the first black player honored. Number 42 played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. MLB Jersey Number 42

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The legendary athletes, teams, events and people that made contributions and memories in the sporting games we love. Enjoy this chronicled collection of the greatest stories of sport.

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Gold Dust Trio

The amazing 1939 backfield of the UCLA Bruins that included trailblazing athletes Woody Strode, Kenny Washington, and Jackie Robinson.

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Special thanks to Dan Taylor whoes wonderful book not only provided the image in the banner and in the body of the post but also the information garnered above. Special thank also to the Sports-Reference.com family of websites and Wikipedia.com for additional supporting items.