One hundred twenty-five years ago today HBCU Football was born.

On December 27, 1892, Biddle University defeated Livingstone 5-0 in Salisbury, NC. From that time forward, HBCU football has flourished. Some of the greatest players to ever play pro football attended HBCUs.

The North Carolina A&T Aggies are consensus HBCU football national champions. In honor of 125 years of HBCU football, boxtorow.com will highlight some of the most influential people in HBCU football. All persons highlighted played or coached at an HBCU. If a player, their influence could have taken place at the school or on the “next level.”

We’ll start with the obvious and easy one. Most people would consider former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson the most influential. At the time of his retirement in 1997, he held the record for the most wins in Division I football with 408.

Robinson coached four Pro Football Hall of Famers in Willie Davis, Buck Buchanan, Willie Brown and Charlie Joyner. He also coached history makers in Doug Williams, who became the first Black man to win a Super Bowl playing quarterback for the Washington Redskins, and James “Shack” Harris, the first Black man to start at quarterback in the National Football League.

Robinson was instrumental in putting Grambling on the national and International map. The Tigers played in classics all over the nation and the world, including in New York at Yankee Stadium and in Tokyo, Japan.

Each week, BOXTOROW will feature a new person, influential to HBCU football as we celebrate 125 years of HBCU football. Give us your thoughts. When on Social Media, use #HBCU125 Follow us on Twitter @boxtorow or Facebook box2row