Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 SEPT. 2, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE H istory will be made at Notre Dame Stadium when Tennessee State visits for the 2023 home opener Sept. 2. Not only is TSU Notre Dame's first-ever opponent from the FCS level, but it will also be the first time the Fighting Irish have met an Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) program. And while some HBCU programs have afforded Black athletes the chance to compete in football for more than a cen- tury now, it's been a much more arduous route for them to populate the rosters of historically white universities. While there were singular stars at schools from time to time, such as at Michigan (George Jewett, 1890-92), Iowa (Duke Slater, 1918-21) and Iowa State (Jack Trice, 1922-23), truly inte- grated rosters didn't come about until after World War II. Coaches Ben Schwartzwalder at Syr- acuse, Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State and Murray Warmath at Minne- sota led the way in recruiting multiple Black athletes in the 1950s. Minnesota's Sandy Stephens was the first Black All- American at quarterback in 1961 and led the Gophers to a Rose Bowl victory over UCLA. Nebraska's Bob Devaney and Okla- homa's Barry Switzer were considered groundbreakers when they opened up their rosters in the 1960s. In the South- eastern Conference, teams like Alabama and LSU remained segregated until the 1970s. At Notre Dame, integration came in the early 1950s. Before there was Alan Page, Thom Gatewood and Ross Browner, there was Wayne Edmonds. A standout student-athlete from West- ern Pennsylvania, Edmonds visited the university in the spring of 1952 and was hosted by several Irish players from his home state. "Those guys told us about how much they loved the university and about the hard work that went into being a foot- ball player at Notre Dame," Edmonds said in a 2012 interview. The work was just a bit more chal- lenging for Edmonds, a lineman, and running back Dick Washington, who became the first Black players ever to appear in a game for the Fighting Irish during their sophomore season in 1953. They encountered issues on road trips to the South, but generally found them- selves accepted at Notre Dame. "I actually experienced more racial issues in high school than I did at Notre Dame," Edmonds said. "I knew that Frank Leahy, when he came to Notre Dame, wanted to have minorities on the team. Leahy was the law of the land and nobody questioned him. "I had a lot of great teammates at Notre Dame and it was not a situation where you would have to deal with any racial issues." Leahy's support for an integrated ros- ter was tested early in the 1953 season, when Notre Dame was scheduled to play at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets let it be known they would not play host to an opponent with Black players on its ros- ter. Leahy threatened to cancel the game if Edmonds and Washington weren't allowed to play. Finally, an agreement was reached to play the game at Notre Dame, where the Irish prevailed with a 23-14 victory. Bo t h Ed m o n d s a n d Wa s h i n g to n earned varsity monograms that sea- son as the Irish rolled to a 9-0-1 re- cord. Edmonds went on to win two more In 1953, Edmonds (above), a lineman, and Dick Washington, a running back, became the first Black play- ers ever to appear in a game for Notre Dame. FILE PHOTO Wayne Edmonds Made An Impact As Notre Dame's First Black Letterman