Who was the first black Pittsburgh Steeler?

Answer 1

Bill Willis tried out and made the team in August 1946 when the team was formed. "Big Bill" played for Paul Brown at Ohio State and was voted All-Big Tackle in 1943 and 1944. Soon to join Willis in 1946 was famed Browns Fullback Marion Motley. Willis was considered a pioneer of the middle linebacker position. Motley was a all-star fullback. Willis and Motely played both ways. Motley was a member of the goal line defense and Willis a guard on offense. Both Willis and Motley were select to be in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Answer 2

Fourteen years before Jackie Robinson broke professional baseball's color barrier, Ray Kemp became the first African-American player for the Pittsburgh Steelers - then known as the Pirates. Kemp, a graduate of Cecil High School, planned to go to law school following his graduation from Duquesne University in 1931. But Art Rooney asked Kemp to play for his semipro team, the J.P. Rooneys, while attending law school. When Rooney got the charter for a pro franchise in 1933, Kemp was invited to play, becoming one of just two African Americans in the NFL. Kemp's brief career lasted just four games during the franchise's inaugural season. The following year, Kemp was hired as the head football coach at Bluefield State College in West Virginia, where he led the Blues to an 8-0-1 record in the first of a 39-year coaching career. After Kemp left Pittsburgh in 1934, there were no African-American players in the NFL until 1946.

Answer 3

Ray Kemp. Played in 1933. Member of the first team and it was many years before the second player made in onto the squad.

Answer 4

Ray Kemp in 1933

Answer 5

William (Bill) Shakespeare