College Football Hall of Fame honors the Black 14

ATLANTA, Georgia — When former University of Wyoming football player John Griffin saw the display within the College Football Hall of Fame honoring the Black 14, he wept. 

“It got to me, and it takes loads to get to me,” he said on Monday, Feb. 5, standing in front of artifacts and infographics showcasing the Black 14’s story from the Nineteen Sixties to present day. “I used to be standing back there with Tony McGee, and I used to be starting to cry that this beautiful display, this history, tells all of it.”

Griffin and McGee were two of the 14 Wyoming football players who were dismissed from their team in 1969 after asking the coach for permission to wear black armbands in protest of playing against Brigham Young University resulting from a policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stopping Black men from priesthood ordination. The Church’s policy was modified in 1978.

“We all stood tall with each other, not knowing where we were going to find yourself,” Griffin said. “We were told we weren’t going to amount to anything. Well, that didn’t occur. We’ve all had successful careers. …

“This makes me glad, because there’s history here that the masses can see,” he said of the Black 14 story on display throughout February.

For its celebration of Black History Month, the College Football Hall of Fame invited Griffin, McGee and their teammate Mel Hamilton to Atlanta, Georgia, for a two-day event series Feb. 5-6 to spotlight the Black 14’s “resilience and bravado during a pivotal moment in each societal and college football history.”

Events included a food donation in collaboration with the Church and public screenings of a brief film concerning the Black 14 produced by BYU students.

From facing injustice to feeding the hungry

For McGee — who went on to play 14 years within the National Football League with two Super Bowl appearances — the Black 14’s story of turning injustice into friendship and giving back to the community is healthier than what he did in football.

“One of the largest successes I’ve had, apart from my marriage and my family, is doing this with Brigham Young — feeding people,” he told a crowd gathered on the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday, Feb. 6. “We’ve all the time tried to feed people, however the mass of those who are being fed when food security is so necessary, that is considered one of my biggest jobs right away.”

The day prior, the Black 14 in collaboration with the Church donated 40,000 kilos of nonperishable food items to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The Black 14 has given nearly 1 million kilos of food to food banks across the country the past 4 years with the Church’s help.

Elder M. Andrew Galt, an Area Seventy who participated within the Atlanta food donation and has developed a powerful relationship with McGee, said donations like this are about greater than food.

“I hope that it lets people know that we care about all of God’s children,” he said. “There are people on the market which are struggling. And after we come along with different groups just like the Black 14, I believe it shows really a story of redemption, of hope, of repentance, of just an outlook of a superb future.”

That’s the message Hamilton hopes people understand once they learn concerning the Black 14.

“I need people to appreciate that revenge shouldn’t be going to get you anywhere. Hate shouldn’t be going to get you anywhere. Try to consider a solution to turn that bad incident around to the advantage of others. That’s my takeaway,” Hamilton said.

BYU student-produced film on the College Football Hall of Fame

On Feb. 6, the College Football Hall of Fame invited the general public to a screening of “The Black 14: Healing Hearts and Feeding Souls,” produced by BYU journalism students. Hamilton, Griffin and McGee participated in a panel discussion following the film, moderated by Denis Crawford, a historian and exhibit designer on the College Football Hall of Fame.

Crawford called it “a real and great privilege” for the College Football Hall of Fame to share Black 14’s story. “These men are true civil rights pioneers and worthy of our esteem and admiration,” he said.

The same panel event took place the night before on the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta, moderated by Stephane Dunn, a professor at Morehouse College and chair of the Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies Department.

To produce the documentary, a team of BYU students traveled to 11 states in 10 days in spring 2022 to go to with members of the Black 14. They added five minutes of footage after Griffin and Hamilton visited BYU in September 2022. 

BYU communications professor Ed Carter said the film ending up on the College Football Hall of Fame two years later was “serendipitous.”

“I got this invitation out of the blue, an email from the College Football Hall of Fame, saying, ‘Hey, we’re doing a Black History Month event. We’re going to have an exhibit on the Black 14. Could you come out and be a part of that and show the film?’ So after all, we’d love that chance for our students’ work to be shown,” Carter told the Church News.

“What I actually have realized is the explanation the story has legs is since the Black 14’s message is of hope and optimism and reconciliation, though they’re also very honest concerning the real harms that they felt,” he explained.

In a divided world, there’s a hunger for stories like this, Carter added. He shared how he has been inspired by the Black 14: “I can’t solve all the issues, but I can do something. That is their example to me — do what you’ll be able to do in your area and make a difference. That’s how the world gets higher.”