Top NFL Players from Black Colleges

They used to call themselves “SBCs,” as in “small Black colleges,” because that’s how TV announcers used to describe the football players from relatively obscure historically Black colleges: “And there’s Walter Payton from Jackson State, a small Black college in Mississippi.”

Well, the mostly Southern schools may have been small in stature, but they stood pretty tall when it came to sending players to pro football. Black college players helped stock and get off the ground the American Football League in the 1960s when rosters of the stodgy, old National Football League teams generally didn’t have a lot of Black players.

Here’s a list of the top Black college players who made it big in the NFL. The list was compiled by Michael Hurd, sportswriter and Black college football historian.

1.  Walter Payton, Chicago Bears/Jackson State
2.  Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers/Mississippi Valley State
3.  Art Shell, Oakland Raiders/Maryland State
4.  Lem Barney, Detroit Lions/Jackson State
5.  Doug Williams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Grambling
6.  Buck Buchanan, Kansas City Chiefs/Grambling
7.  Deacon Jones, Los Angeles Rams/SC State/Miss. Vocational
8.  Bob Hayes, Dallas Cowboys/Florida A&M
9.  Tank Younger, Los Angeles Rams/Grambling
10. Otis Taylor, Kansas City Chiefs/Prairie View
11. Leroy Kelly, Cleveland Browns/Morgan State
12. Willie Lanier, Kansas City Chiefs/Morgan State
13. Charlie Joiner, San Diego Chargers/Grambling
14. Willie Galimore, Chicago Bears/Florida A&M
15. Larry Little, Miami Dolphins/Bethune-Cookman
16. Mel Blount, Pittsburgh Steelers/Southern
17. Willie Davis, Green Bay Packers/Grambling
18. Rayfield Wright, Dallas Cowboys/Fort Valley State
19. Jackie Slater, Los Angeles Rams/Jackson State
20. Harry Carson, New York Giants/South Carolina State

Source: Michael Hurd, author Black College Football, 1892-1992

See all Pro Football lists