Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers From The NFL Draft To The Ivory Tower Review

In sports, George Taliaferro often found himself being a part of firsts. In high school, he played in the first integrated game between Indiana public schools when his school faced off against a local football powerhouse that had gone undefeated in the 1944 season. The two schools met because they had an open week on their schedules. Although their contest did not officially count, Taliaferro's team rallied to beat the powerhouse. The game also helped to bring the teenager to the attention of Indiana University, whose coach, Bo McMillin, didn't believe in the norm of the "gentlmen's agreement" that often kept major college teams with all-white rosters. As a freshman, Taliaferro helped to give the Hoosiers its first undefeated season in school history with his skills as an offensive back, defensive back, and punter. He led the Hoosiers in rushing as a freshman. His teammates in that 1945 season included future Pro Football Hall Of Famer Pete Pihos and future baseball star Ted Klusewski. In the three years he played at Indiana (he didn't play in 1946 due to military service), Taliaferro was an All-Big Ten selection each year, the first player in the Big Ten to be so honored. Although he had a year of college eligibility remaining, Taliaferro exercised his option to turn pro so he could provide for his widowed mother. In the thirteenth round of the 1949 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected him. In the process, Taliaferro became the first African-American to be drafted by an NFL franchise. Although he had hoped to play for the Bears in his youth, Taliaferro had already committed to play for the Los Angeles Dons of the All America Football Conference. He would play in the AAFC and NFL for seven seasons. As a Baltimore Colt in 1953, Taliaferro became the first African-American to play the position of quarterback. During his pro career, he completed his college studies. After retirement, he pursued post-graduate work, and eventually returned to Bloomington and IU, where he spent many years as a teacher and administrator.

One of his students was Dawn Knight, who chronicled the life of her former professor, and the obstacles he overcame. Her research, which included interviews with Taliaferro himself, are chronicled in the 2007 book, "Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers From The NFL Draft To The Ivory Tower." The book focuses mainly on his football exploits, showing how he dealt with segregation by maintaining a positive attitude. Taliaferro grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood in Gary, Indiana, but the Gary schools were segregated by color. The sports were the same way, as the Roosevelt Panthers had to play other all-black schools or the local parochial schools. That changed when Gary Roosevelt played East Chicago Roosevelt. Changing attitudes wasn't so easy in predominantly white Bloomington, where the African-American students couldn't even live in the campus dorms during his years there. Taliaferro made the best of the accommodations he could get, and got help from both Coach McMillin and the black fraternity he joined. He became a star on the gridiron, and helped Indiana President Herman B Wells bring some measure of integration to the businesses in Bloomington. Years after his retirement from football, he came back to work for another IU President, John W. Ryan, and discovered a different type of segregation in the sporting ranks of the college. Taliaferro, whose post-NFL career included time as a social worker, became a teacher of social work, as well as a popular man on the campus. He and his wife, who also pursued post-graduate education later in life, have even retired to Bloomington.

It was in his social work class that Knight made the acquaintance of George Taliaferro, and once considered following in the career footsteps of her old professor. Instead, she received degrees in English and journalism and became a high school teacher near Indianapolis. "Taliaferro," which was published in 2007, marks her debut as an author. I knew a little about Taliaferro, the football player, primarily through the football cards I have of his. Knight lets readers know just how good a player Taliaferro was. In his first scrimmage with his college team, Taliaferro ran eighty yards to the end zone the first two times he carried the football. Though primarily a halfback, he became known as a triple threat because of his skills at quarterback and punter. In an era where players were expected to play offense, defense, and special teams, Taliaferro was also a fine defensive back, and was the Hoosiers MVP in his final season in Bloomington. In the pros, he was the 1949 AAFC Rookie Of The Year, as well as a three-time All-Pro in the NFL. Knight also gives some insight to Taliaferro, the student and man. Like many of his peers who experienced racial discrimination, Taliaferro did not dwell on the negative. He made the best of his situation, proved himself on the gridiron, and treated people the way he himself wished to be treated. Knight doesn't say anything that hasn't been stated in other ways, but the tale of Taliaferro and others who weathered non-preferential treatment bears repeating. These athletes made the most of their chance to excel in sports, and put the fight for equal rights on display in a manner they knew. Sometimes, Taliaferro faced open confrontation, often in the Jim Crow south, but he showed he could talk and act with equal conviction. His words and actions sometimes led to a positive resolution. In the book's foreword, Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy tells of the inspiration Taliaferro had on his career as both a player and a coach.

Taliaferro also speaks with humility when Knight notes that he was the first player of color to take a snap from center. He reminds Knight and the readers that the first black quarterback to make an NFL roster was Willie Thrower, who played in one game for the Bears in 1953, and was on the roster specifically to play quarterback (In 1950, the NFL made unlimited substitutions a part of their rules). Knight also portrays Taliaferro as a man who keeps his word. Even though the Bears had drafted him, Taliaferro had already made a verbal commitment to play for the Dons. After consulting with his mother, he kept his word to play in Los Angeles. Taliaferro on campus also gets some mention. At Indiana, the physical education major was one of the students who participated in the sexual behavior research conducted by Alfred Kinsey. When he became the teacher, he often shared a belief that was based on his life experience: All sickness ain't death.

Knight, though, has several factual errors when it comes to sports statistics. These errors are found in the book's final chapter, as she discusses Taliaferro's place in the history of the black quarterback, as well as in his place among athletes from Gary. For example, Knight refers to Tony Zale, northwest Indiana's most famous boxer, as "Tony Zakm." Jay Schroeder, whose injury led to a Super Bowl MVP performance from Doug Williams, is called "Joe Schroeder." Knight states that Kordell Stewart was a 1994 draft pick, but he was a 1995 pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. She writes that Steve McNair was a selection of the Tennessee Titans, but he joined the team when they were still the Houston Oilers (The franchise moved to Tennessee in 1996, and became the Titans in 1997). When Knight mentions the African-American quarterbacks who were first round selections in 1999, she names Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper, but omits Akili Smith, who was selected between the two more successful signal callers. Knight also shows she's not a native of northwest Indiana, which she sometimes calls "the region." As a lifelong resident of northwest Indiana, I can safely assure Knight that we don't say "the region." We say "da region," in the same way fans of Chicago's NFL team affectionately refer to their sports heroes as "Da Bears." Knight also accentuates the negative in the relationship between Taliaferro and coaches Bob Knight and Lee Corso, who were coaching at IU when Taliaferro became a liaison for Ryan. Dawn Knight's book is short (164 pages), so I'd like to have seen a little more exposition about the good and bad Taliaferro faced with these two noted coaches (Bob Knight retired as men's college basketball's all time leader in wins in NCAA Division I, while Corso has become a college football analyst and announcer for ESPN).

"Taliaferro" is the biography of a man who has faced prejudice by not letting the views of others adversely affect him. At age 81, George Taliaferro finds that while much has changed, we still have much to change. Americans are a society still trying to come to full terms with the changes, such as the Supreme Court decision in Brown Vs. The Board Of Education and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Perhaps one day, America will become more receptive to one another, and embrace King's notion of judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Until then, America will, to some extent, remain a segregated society. That's a reality that George Taliaferro, were he still in his football prime, could not outrun.