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Changing pro football’s color barrier: Paul Brown hires Bill Willis and Marion Motley

None of the NFL owners will own up to this which owned NFL franchises from 1934 to the end of World War II, but the fact remained that none of them hired any black players during this time-frame.

In team photos of NFL clubs in 1933, such as the maiden season of the Pittsburgh Pirates (later renamed the Steelers), there are black players sprinkled about from the various clubs. But not in 1934. Or the year after that. And subsequent years all the way up to 1945.

None. Zero. Natta.

The NFL began its operations in 1920 under the name the “American Professional Football Association” until 1922 when the name was changed to the “National Football League.