by Donal Ware
boxtorow.com

Some of the greatest football players to ever play in the National Football League played at HBCUs. HBCUs helped shape the National Football League.

When Grambling’s Paul Tank Younger became the first player from an HBCU to play in the NFL in 1949, he unfortunately had to do it the way players this year had to do it—via free agency. Mac McCain (North Carolina A&T), David Moore (Grambling), and Bryan Mills (North Carolina Central), all draft eligible players who probably should have been drafted, had to sign free agent deals with the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, and Seattle Seahawks, respectively. Players like Chris Rowland (Tennessee State) and Alex Taylor (South Carolina State) had to sign as free agents last year. Both were had great 2019 seasons and both made their respective NFL teams.

As far as this year’s NFL Draft, not since Robert “Stonewall ” Jackson of North Carolina A&T was the first HBCU player ever drafted in 1950 by the New York Giants, had not a single HBCU player been taken in the draft. That changed this year, when not one single player from an HBCU was drafted last week. Heck, last year, 2012, 1954, and 1951, one player was taken to keep the streak alive. Hear me, NOT ONE SINGLE PLAYER FROM AN HBCU WAS DRAFTED.

There are 33 former HBCU players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who made the National Football League greater. More than 9 percent of those enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are from HBCUs, but as of today, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all colleges that play football are HBCUs and that number has probably been steady throughout the time there has been college football.

Now, there is an argument to be made that COVID-19 played a factor. I would say that’s more of an excuse. The three names I mentioned above all should have been drafted. The NFL will always say part of the reason is that Black college players and small school players don’t play against high competition, but Moore, Mills, and McCain were all extremely productive.

Moore had a dominating career as an offensive lineman at Grambling and was named best offensive lineman at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Mills participated in the Reese’s Senior Bowl where he performed well. During the 2019 season, he had three interceptions against Morgan State (9/28). He’s in excess of 6’1,” has a 37” vertical and plays corner. He has the measurables.

Then there is McCain. McCain is the grandson of Franklin McCain, a member of the A&T or Greensboro Four who played an integral part in the Civil Rights movement by sitting in at Woolworth’s lunch counter on February 1, 1960. In three seasons at A&T, McCain returned four interceptions for touchdowns. Two of those were against FBS opponents – ECU and Charlotte – to seal wins for the Aggies. Against ECU, he returned the interception 100 yards for the score. He runs a 4.38/40. He is not draftable? And I don’t mean in the fifth, sixth, or seventh round.

NFL Network did a piece on McCain and his legacy that if anyone saw would make you think, not only is this kid a great football player, but he also comes from greatness. Yet he didn’t get drafted. The NFL put on an HBCU Combine in March and for what? So it could know which players its clubs could sign as free agents? Sure, signing as a free agent gives players a little more flexibility because they can go to a more ideal situation on their own terms. But the money is less and in most cases not guaranteed.

Last year I wrote NFL: Draft HBCU players (so they can get paid). Sadly, I have been writing similar columns like this for the last 10 years or so. The NFL continues to mostly sign HBCU players as free agents. Last year, 17 of the 28 HBCU players on an opening day NFL roster originally signed as a free agent out of college. That’s 61 percent.

If these players are good enough to sign as free agents, they are good enough to be drafted.

Donal Ware is the host of the nationally syndicated sports talk radio program FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW, airing in over 26 markets across the country and on ESPNU Radio SiriusXM and on SiriusXM Channel 142 HBCU. He is a Morgan State University graduate and has been covering HBCU sports for more than 20 years.