Sports have changed a lot over the course of the years. Some of the biggest changes in sports come from political, social, and economic movements. One movement in particular that led to a big change was the Civil Rights Movement. When Sports first started, it was all White players. Professional leagues did everything in their power to make sure it stayed that way until the Civil Rights Movement started a positive change in sports.

   The MLB was founded in 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio. During a time of racial tension and segregation, only white players played. However, in 1884, Moses Fleetwood Walker debuted in his first game in the MLB. He was the first African American to play in a Major League Baseball game. He received a bunch of hate from fans and other players and teams but kept playing and was supported by most of his team, the Toledo Blue Stockings. After threats of lynch mobs and bouncing around the minor leagues, he retired in 1889 (Evans). After that, MLB owners established an agreement that they would exclude African Americans from the rosters. It wasn’t till 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers that another African American was on the roster. Branch Rickey was the one who signed Jackie Robinson and was a very important player in integrating the MLB. He was disturbed by the segregation and banning of African Americans in the Major League and from attending some sporting events (Breaking the color line). Robinson and Rickey led to the inclusion of African American’s and other races in the MLB and began a start of other athletes being able to play in professional sports. Some players like Moses Fleetwood Walker, aren’t as well known as players like Jackie Robinson, but it doesn’t mean that their efforts in sports should go unnoticed.

   Another sports league that was greatly affected by the civil rights movement is the NFL. The NFL didn’t discriminate against African American players immediately like some other leagues did. The NFL was created in 1920, and in that same year was the first African American, Fritz Pollard, to play in the NFL. He played and coached for four different teams in Indiana and Milwaukee. However, in 1926, just six years after the trailblazer started his journey in the NFL, Pollard and approximately nine other African American players were banned from the league in the efforts to segregate it (Benbow). Similar to the MLB, the NFL owners imposed a “gentleman’s agreement” in order to prevent any more black players from signing with a team (Meet four men who broke the NFL’s color line). It wasn’t until 1946 when Kenny Washington broke the NFL’s color barrier. Along with Woody Strode, Marion Motley, and Bill Willis. Martin Luther King Jr. praised Kenny Washington as a “legend and a symbol in his own time” (Firsts by black players) This also led to the first African American player, George Taliaferro, to be drafted in the NFL in 1949 (Walker). These athletes along with many other athletes and activists in the Civil Rights Movement paved the way to the inclusion of other races in sports. For many years after, NFL owners and coaches didn’t think African American quarterbacks were intelligent enough to play the role of Quarterback. However, in recent years their has been a drastic increase in African American Quarterbacks on NFL rosters. In 2021 opening weekend games for the NFL, 9 out of the 32 teams started an African American Quarterback. In 2022, 11 out of the 32 teams started an African American Quarterback on opening weekend. Now in 2023, 14 out of the 32 teams started an African American Quarterback during opening weekend of the NFL which is more than half the teams (Stuart). Owners, coaches, and players of sports teams back in the early 1940s probably would never have thought that pro teams would be as integrated as they are today, and the Civil Rights Movement was a big part of that.

   The Civil Rights Movement changed a lot in sports. It led to the desegregation of sports teams and allowed other races to participate in sports at the professional level. It also led to rule changes such as the Rooney Rule in 2003 which required league teams to interview ethnic minority candidates for head coaching and other football operation jobs. It took longer than it should have, but the Civil Rights Movement made a very positive change in sports.