Official Site of the Eagles · Feb 1, 2021
Black History Month: Lou Montgomery
THE MONTGOMERY FILE
Boston College Class of 1941
Football • Running Back
Brockton, Mass. • Brockton High
In the fall of 1937, Montgomery was one of three Black students in the BC freshman class and became the first Black student-athlete on the Heights as a running back for the football team. He starred out of the backfield for coach Frank Leahy's squad in 1939 and 1940, but was forced to sit out the 1940 Cotton Bowl and 1941 Sugar Bowl due discriminating laws that prevented Black athletes from competing against white athletes in America's south.
An education major, Montgomery was also the first Black player on the Boston College baseball team during his sophomore spring of 1939.