Much like professional baseball, professional football in its earliest days had Black players in its ranks, then an unwritten rule to bar them from further participation took effect. For the fledgling NFL, that barrier lasted 13 years which was broken in 1946 by two star players from UCLA – Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. In that year, there was another professional football league, the All-American Football Conference that also signed two Black players, Marion Motley and Bill Willis. They signed with the Cleveland Browns who were led by the legendary coach Paul Brown, who was one of the most progressive coaches for integration at that time.

This book by Keyshawn Johnson and Bob Glauber tells the story of each of these men and others who were either important in the breaking of the color barrier, such as Brown and Rams owner Dan Reeves or those who were responsible for the lack of Black players in the professional ranks such as George Marshall, the owner of the then-Washington Redskins, now known as the Washington Commanders.

The negatives of this book are not many but there are two main issues I have with the it. One is that while the portrayal of Marshall is accurate, it places the bulk of the blame for the lack of integration on him. Yes, he was outwardly racist and had an inordinate amount of influence on NFL owners, including the legendary George Halas. However, the entire league had this barrier, not just Marshall’s team. To blame it all on him is not correct – the entire league was the problem. The other one is that far too little is mentioned about the Black players before these four as they were the true pioneers, such as Fritz Pollard.

However, the positives of the book do add up to a good reading experience. While there are other books that may have more information on Washington and Strode in particular, this book will be a good introduction to them, as well as Motley and Willis, and their lives and careers. As one would expect, all four of them had to endure the racism from not only fans but other players as well. There were many instances described in the book about them taking extra hits or getting their hands injured when other players would make sure they stepped on the Black player’s hands at the end of a play. I was especially pleased to read about Motely and Willis as there is even less available reference material on them, mainly because the NFL does not recognize statistics and other items from the AAFC. This despite the fact that three of that league’s teams were absorbed into the NFL – the Browns, the San Francisco 49ers and the then-Baltimore Colts, now the Indianapolis Colts.

Overall, this is a quick paced book that gives good information on these four players who may not have been superstars during their era but still played a very important role in the history of professional football. Those who have read other books on them, such as “The Black Bruins” (about among others, Washington, Strode and their famous teammate Jackie Robinson) may not learn as much as other readers who have not heard of these pioneers. But for those who have not, this is a very good starting point to learn more about them and the permanent integration of professional football.

I wish to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Keyshawn Johnson & Bob Glauber for this book!! As an avid fan of football, I’m embarrassed I did not know much about these four great men & their trailblazing trek into football at both the collegiate and professional levels. I know I am not alone either, I know countless others do not know the stories of Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley & Bill Willis. These men experienced racism at many levels. These men fought hard to break the color barrier in the NFL & we should do more to celebrate their journey. While it was great to celebrate The Forgotten First, it is equally disappointing that the current NFL does not do more to celebrate them.

I recommend this book to anyone who truly loves the game of football!!

Subtitled: Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley, Bill Willis, and the Breaking of the NFL Color Barrier

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

One year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947, four African-American players signed contracts to play professional football – two for the Los Angeles Rams, two for the Cleveland Browns. The NFL had employed African-American players previously, but it had been 10 years since the last two players had been released. At least one owner was adamant about not signing African-Americans, and there were rumors of an informal agreement among all NFL teams to avoid signing them.


I learned so much from reading this book. I never knew that singer/actor Paul Robeson had played in the NFL. Jackie Robinson played in the same offensive backfield as Kenny Washington and Woody Strode at UCLA. The Brooklyn Dodgers approached Washington about breaking the color barrier a year or two earlier than deciding on Robinson, but Washington refused because they wanted him to play in Puerto Rico for a year and then claim to be Puerto Rican upon his return.

While it was interesting to read about all four of the players who re-broke the NFL color barrier in 1946, it was Woody Strode who really captured my imagination. Besides his football accomplishments, he also made his mark as a professional wrestler, and as an actor in a 40-plus year career. One additional bit of trivia – the character Woody from Toy Story was named in honor of Strode, with his cowboy hat being a reproduction of a hat worn by Strode in one of his many Western films.

I gave Forgotten First five stars on Goodreads. As I said previously, I learned a lot from reading this book, which is one of the major factors I use in rating non-fiction books. It shed a lot of light on American history and race relations in the first half of the twentieth century while also updating where things stand with the NFL’s present-day approach to race relations.