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Since a number of players from his high school team attended Michigan State, Thrower chose the institution for both academic and athletic reasons.\u00A0 Although he was only 5 feet 11 inches tall, he could throw the ball as far an accurately as anyone then playing in college. \u00A0\nThrower was not the first African American to play the position of quarterback at a Big Ten conference school but he was the first in the post-World War II era.\u00A0 Playing time, however, was scarce and scattered since he competed against two other All-American quarterbacks at Michigan State, Al Dorow and Tom Yewcic.\u00A0 As a backup quarterback, Thrower helped lead the 1952 MSU Spartans to an undefeated 9-0 season and a national title. During that season he completed 29 passes out of 43 attempts, stacking up 400 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns. \nAlthough Thrower was not drafted in 1953, he was offered one-year contract with the Chicago (Illinois) Bears to play as a quarterback. He accepted and broke a major racial barrier in the National Football League when on October 18th, 1953, he was called in as a substitute quarterback in a game against the San Francisco (California) 49ers.\u00A0 With that game he became the first African-American quarterback to play in the NFL. The Bears won the game 35-28, and Thrower threw for 27 yards. \nWillie Thrower played only one more game","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/willie_thrower.jpg","ImageHeight":350,"ImageWidth":314,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1930-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1930,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":5326,"FactUId":"8b88307a-e2f1-4456-a161-7e0afcab1107","Slug":"william-willie-the-pro-thrower-1930-2002","FactType":"Event","Title":"William \u0022Willie the Pro\u0022 Thrower (1930-2002)","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/william-willie-the-pro-thrower-1930-2002","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"By the early 1960s Bayard Rustin would emerge as a major strategist for the civil rights movement and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King.\u00A0 In 1948, however, he was less well known among the American population.\u00A0\u00A0 By that point, however, most of his views were shaped and well known.\u00A0 In World War II, for example, Rustin spent two years in prison as a conscientious objector to the draft.\u00A0 In the speech below he argues that young black men should challenge segregation in the U.S. military and in society in general through civil disobedience campaigns.\u00A0\u00A0 He calls on them to refuse to serve if they are drafted.\nIT IS A REAL OPPORTUNITY to speak with American citizens who seriously seek to remove racial and religious intolerance from our national life, for recent history amply reveals that America cannot gain moral leadership in the world until intolerance of minority groups has been eliminated at home. The Journey of Reconciliation was organized not only to devise techniques for eliminating Jim Crow in travel, but also as a training ground for similar peaceful projects against discrimination in such major areas as employment and in the armed services.\nThe use of these methods against Jim Crow military service is a regrettable necessity. Today no single injustice more bitterly stands out in the hearts and minds of colored people the world over, or continues more successfully to frustrate the United States efforts abroad, than the continuation of discrimination and segregation in our military forces.\nAs a follower of the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, I am an opponent of war and of war preparations and an opponent of universal military training and conscription; but entirely apart from that issue, I hold that segregation in any part of the body politic is an act of slavery and an act of war. Democrats will agree that such acts are to be resisted, and more and more leaders of the oppressed are responsibly proposing nonviolent civil disobedience and non- cooperation as the means.\nOn March 22, 1948, A. Philip Randolph and","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/bayard_rustin_.jpg","ImageHeight":400,"ImageWidth":263,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1948-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1948,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ExtractionBotHub","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":7408,"FactUId":"a0a83489-c702-4326-a29c-98051adbf150","Slug":"1948-bayard-rustin-jim-crow-army-0","FactType":"Event","Title":"(1948) Bayard Rustin, \u201CJim Crow Army\u0022","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/1948-bayard-rustin-jim-crow-army-0","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Chinua Achebe died in Boston on March 22, 2013.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/achebe_chinua.jpg","ImageHeight":500,"ImageWidth":327,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"de2ecbf0-5aa4-45ce-bbf9-9a6ac45f6ac8","SourceName":"Black Past","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://www.blackpast.org/","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"2013-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":2013,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":18793,"FactUId":"fe8fd564-4697-45db-8a12-2ff981a1e0a6","Slug":"achebe-chinua-1930-2013--death","FactType":"Event","Title":"Achebe, Chinua (1930-2013) - Death","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/achebe-chinua-1930-2013--death","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"State troopers mobilized to put down student rebellion on campus of Cheyney State College.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2019/10/06e4a7a9-4658-48a1-bd86-a5af48e643af1.png","ImageHeight":449,"ImageWidth":300,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1968-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1968,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":229,"FactUId":"2d5623f7-e328-46d9-b604-437bbe3f29f6","Slug":"student-rebellion","FactType":"Event","Title":"Student Rebellion","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/student-rebellion","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith dies in Sheffield, England. Smith had emigrated to England in 1866.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageUrl":"https://cdn.blackfacts.com/uploads/blackfacts/facts/2019/10/d2210692-6687-48ff-b501-549f269599bc1.png","ImageHeight":529,"ImageWidth":408,"ImageOrientation":"portrait","HasImage":true,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1882-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1882,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":252,"FactUId":"1cd3ce11-b2ab-46fe-86dc-5270a080bddb","Slug":"african-american-shakespearean-actor-morgan-smith","FactType":"Event","Title":"African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/african-american-shakespearean-actor-morgan-smith","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"Alonzo\n Pietro,\n explorer, sets\n sail with\n Christopher\n Columbus.","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","IsSponsored":false,"HasSmallSponsorLogo":false,"EffectiveDate":"1492-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1492,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","LastUpdatedBy":"ddowdie","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":2688,"FactUId":"43d6bf78-8395-4d03-9f6c-c3d96c787a0b","Slug":"alonzo-pietro-sets-sail-with-christopher-columbus","FactType":"Event","Title":"Alonzo Pietro sets sail with Christopher Columbus","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/alonzo-pietro-sets-sail-with-christopher-columbus","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"},{"FadeSummary":false,"SummaryText":"George Benson, Grammy award winning singer, born","MaxDetailCharacters":0,"ImageHeight":0,"ImageWidth":0,"ImageOrientation":"none","HasImage":false,"CssClass":"","Layout":"","Rowspan":1,"Colspan":1,"Likes":0,"Shares":0,"ContentSourceId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","SourceName":"Blackfacts.com","ContentSourceRootUrl":"https://blackfacts.com","SponsorId":"c774164e-1b1a-4b35-8157-9ce64ec2e2c6","IsSponsored":true,"SponsorName":"Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter","SmallSponsorLogoUrl":"24x24/prospanica-logo.png","SponsorUrl":"https://www.prospanica.org/members/group.aspx?code=Boston","HasSmallSponsorLogo":true,"EffectiveDate":"1943-03-22T00:00:00","HasEffectiveDate":true,"Year":1943,"Month":3,"Day":22,"LastUpdatedDate":"2023-11-25T05:14:39.027","IsEditable":false,"InsertAd":false,"Id":2761,"FactUId":"b61e1b18-d478-42b0-9dbb-52994ee9cf1d","Slug":"george-benson-grammy-award-winning-singer-born","FactType":"Event","Title":"George Benson, Grammy award winning singer, born","LocalFactUrl":"/fact/george-benson-grammy-award-winning-singer-born","ResultCount":-1,"SearchType":"Today"}],"Uri":"https://widgets.blackfacts.com/widgets/5F58B392-EB14-4AC4-90DA-31163907B7AC/today?callback=bfCallback1742631623507","SiteRoot":"https://blackfacts.com","ApiUsage":0,"Cached":true,"StartTime":"2025-03-22T12:28:29.9919762Z","Elapsed":"00:00:00.4452821"})