saintmdterps
Falling feels like flying til you hit the ground.
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1963 was an interesting year in race relations as regards football. The University of Maryland had just recruited the ACC's first black player, Darryl Hill. When Maryland played on Tobacco Road, Mr. Hill faced verbal and physical abuse. Among the worst venues was Winston Salem. The Wake Forest fans were heaping abuse on Hill, until Brian Piccolo intervened. Piccolo, a Heisman hopeful walked over to the Maryland bench, put his arm around Hill's shoulder and walked him over to the student section. The crowd fell silent as Piccolo told Hill "you're the bravest man here today" Brian Piccolo was a great football player, but he was an even better man.That was the 1963 AFL All-Star game where most of the African-American players from the AFL teams weren't allowed to ride in taxis, to eat or drink at local New Orleans restaurants or bars, in fact when a few black AFL All-Stars tried to force the proprietors to serve them, a few of the bouncers, bartenders pointed guns at them and told them to get out and leave otherwise they'd be shot.
So when the black AFL All-Stars arrived back at the hotel, they called a meeting and discussed and then voted on boycotting the All-Star game in New Orleans. All but 2 or 3 players voted against it and the game itself was moved to Houston.
Sorry for the threadjack.
Saints Trivia: the Saints went over three years without being .500 2014-2016, and would not achieve .500 until week 6 of the 2017 season