Black History Month 2021 - James Harris & Doug Williams - The Black College Football Hall of Fame

A very special 50th blog - introducing Saturdays Feed My Soul's first guest writer, my daughter, Clara, who has been studying civil rights at school and did some research for Black History Month. Here's her piece...

Harris (left) and Williams (right) pictured at the opening of the BCFHOF (Image credit: twitter.com)

James "Shack" Harris & Doug Williams, both former quarterbacks, started the Black College Football Hall of Fame (BCFHOF) in 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was created as a place of recognition for college football players, coaches and contributors from historically black colleges and universities.

Image credit : MAVIN

James Harris became the first black quarterback to be the starter in a season opener in either the American Football League or the NFL in 1969.

Doug Williams in his college years at Grambling (Image credit: Crescent City Sports)

Doug Williams was the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, winning Super Bowl XXII and being named the Super Bowl MVP.

For an astonishing ten years after its establishment, the BCFHOF had no building, until 2019 when it was built in Canton, Ohio.

Also in 2019, the annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton played between two historically black colleges and universities, there have been two editions so far as the Class of 2020 was cancelled to the COVID-19 pandemic.