Tamsen Bryon

Ahead of Their Time: a Great College Football Team Stands Up for Fairness, Equality, and Teammates Tamsen Bryon

The 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team was one of the best ever. The team defeated all of its opponents by an average score of 33-8. Nine members of the team went on to play professional football. Five of that group were All-Pros, and three of were chosen to be in the NFL Hall of Fame. At the end of the regular football season, the Dons were offered the chance to show everyone in America how good the team was by accepting an invitation to play in the Orange Bowl game. But if they did, the team's two African-America members would be left out. By standing up for fairness, equality, and teammates, the young men who played on the 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team showed the whole world -- back then and even now -- that honor, integrity, and supporting teammates is more important in sports than winning and being famous.