Classic Penn State Football

Watch how the 1946 and 1947 PSU football teams contributed to the civil rights movement in these Penn State Live videos.

In 1945 Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard became the first African-American football players to take the field in varsity football games at Penn State. Their race became an issue when the team was scheduled to play Miami in the segregated Orange Bowl in 1946.

Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard made history again in 1947 as the first African Americans to play in the Cotton Bowl. In 1947 an unbeaten Penn State football team faced an also undefeated Southern Methodist University team in Dallas.

Update: Links broken? See this post.

Keywords: college sports, discrimination in sports, history, football