Tony McGee
No. 71, 78 | |
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Position: | Bishop |
NFL draft: | 1971 / Round: 3 / Pick: 64 |
Career history | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
Career NFL statistics | |
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Anthony Eugene McGee (born January 18, 1949) is an American former professional
College career
Born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, McGee played college football at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. In his junior season in 1969, the team was off to a 4–0 start, ranked #16 in the AP poll,[1] and appeared headed for a fourth straight conference title. But on Friday, October 17, the day before the home game against BYU, McGee and thirteen other African American players went to head coach Lloyd Eaton's office to discuss how they might participate in a protest called by the UW Black Students Alliance against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tenet which prohibited black men from becoming priests. As soon as Eaton saw them wearing black arm bands, he took them into the Memorial Fieldhouse bleachers and immediately informed them they were all off the team because they violated the coach's rule against participating in demonstrations.[2][3][4]
The rule was withdrawn the next week, but the players were not reinstated. McGee and five others were starters, and after this, the Wyoming football program was not the same. Although the suddenly all-white Cowboys defeated BYU and San Jose State to improve to 6–0, they lost their four road games in November. In 1970, the Cowboys went 1–9 and Eaton "retired" from coaching, reassigned to assistant athletic director.[5] Wyoming posted only one winning season in the 1970s, in 1976.
Three of the Black 14 underclassmen returned to the team in 1970,
Professional career
McGee played 14 years as a defensive lineman in the NFL with the
TV career
McGee is the founder and host of the longest running minority-owned sports talk show in the Washington, D.C. region. His "Pro Football Plus" television show is celebrating thirty-eight seasons of broadcasting excellence.
References
- ^ "3 schools gain; Ohio State firm". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. October 14, 1969. p. 15.
- ^ Putnam, Pat (November 3, 1969). "No Defeats, Loads of Trouble". Sports Illustrated. p. 26.
- ^ "Wyoming loses 14 players in dispute". Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ Block, Joel. "The Wyoming 14 and athlete's rights". Michigan Daily. (Ann Arbor). (editorial). p. 9.
- ^ a b "No regrets says Eaton, 13 years after 'crash'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. May 14, 1982. p. 17.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference
- Pro Football Plus - http://www.redmagplus.com/index.htm