Bobby Grier was the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 football player to break the color barrier of the United States collegiate Sugar Bowl

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

 game, in 1956, which is held in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. Particularly in the deep South, the mid-1950s was a period of strident racial segregation for sports, as well as other areas of life. At the time, Grier's participation as a fullback and linebacker against a segregated all-white team on such a prestigious "stage" was a tremendously significant event.

Biography

Grier grew up in Massillon, Ohio

Massillon, Ohio

Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....

 and after playing college football at Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 joined the Air Force for a number of years. He retired from military service to be an administrator at a Pittsburgh community college and is still active in the Pittsburgh community.

1956 Sugar Bowl

Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl

1956 Sugar Bowl

The 1956 Sugar Bowl featured the 7th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the 11th ranked Pitt Panthers. The game was played on January 2, since New Year's Day was a Sunday. Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl...

, where Grier's Pitt Panthers

University of Pittsburgh Panthers

The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams of University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, faculty, and students...

 would meet the Yellow Jackets from Georgia Tech. There was controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play, and whether Georgia Tech would participate in the contest. Georgia Governor, Marvin Griffin

Marvin Griffin

Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Georgia. He served as the 72nd Governor of Georgia from 1955 to 1959.-Early life:...

, was very publicly opposed to racial integration. A measure for the tenor of this time period is the well known case of Emmett Till

Emmett Till

Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois visiting his relatives in the Mississippi Delta region when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married...

 being subjected to a lynching

Lynching

Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...

 in Mississippi, which occurred the previous summer to the 1956 game. Additionally, within thirty days prior, Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....

 ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...

, where she, in protest, refused to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...

 transit bus.

A large contingent from the New Orleans community, as well as many related to Georgia Tech, openly fought to bar either Grier, Pitt, or the Yellow Jacket team from the game. Students and football players from the Atlanta based school, civil rights leaders from multiple locales, as well as a large number of the Pitt community, however, succeeded in seeing Grier take to the gridiron that January day.

In anticipation of Grier's presence against Georgia Tech, Georgia governor Marvin Griffin

Marvin Griffin

Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Georgia. He served as the 72nd Governor of Georgia from 1955 to 1959.-Early life:...

, in December 1955, publicly sent a telegram to his state's Board Of Regents imploring that teams from Georgia not engage in racially integrated events which had blacks either as participants or in the stands.

Georgia Tech won the game 7-0. The margin of victory mostly resulted from a disputed first quarter pass interference penalty which was called on Grier. Photographic evidence later strongly indicated the referee's call was incorrect.

The irony of the bad call is that the call was made by referee Rusty Coles, from the Pittsburgh area, who had no objective in making the wrong call, but simply made a mistake, which he admitted after seeing the game films.

Grier's participation in the 1956 Sugar Bowl, as well as the support he received from various communities, is seen by some experts as a milestone in American race relations.