The Ivy Influence: Ivies in the NFL

Photo courtesy of the New York Giants

DID YOU KNOW? Of the 20 former Ivy Leaguers who have played in the Super Bowl, six are African-American. 

From Frtiz Pollard to Kevin Boothe, the influence of African-American players from Ivy League schools in the National Football League spans decades.

Prior to the formation of the Ivy League as an official NCAA Division I athletics conference, Fritz Pollard was one of the most influencial players in NFL history. As a standout at Brown, he was named an All-American at halfback by famed Yale coach Walter Camp in 1916, becoming the first African-American to play a backfield position on an All-America team and only the second African-American to be selected for the team.

Pollard's pro career began with the Akron Pros of the American Professional Football Conference, soon after renamed the NFL. In 1921, he was named the team's head coach to become the NFL's first African-American head coach. Sources state that he went on to coach NFL teams in Indiana and Milwaukee until 1926 when the NFL chose to no longer allow black players and coaches. This action sparked Pollard to embark on a mission to re-open access to African-Americans in the NFL, which finally occured in 1946.

His impact was formally recognized in 2003 with the creation of the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation and the Rooney Rule, named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, which requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations opportunities.

As Pollard's legacy has a lasting influence in NFL front offices, African-American Ivy Leaguers continue to make their impacts on the field.

Former Cornell standout and current New York Giants offensive lineman Kevin Boothe is one of two Ivies that will be in uniform, along with former Brown star and Giants teammate Zak DeOssie, for Super Bowl XLVI. Boothe has compiled a stellar NFL career going to the Giants in 2007 after originally being selected in the sixth round as the 176th pick overall by the Oakland Raiders in 2006. Boothe has played in 73 regular-season games with 30 starts, seeing action at both guard positions, right tackle and center. This season, Boothe played in all 16 regular-season games with nine starts and started in all three postseason games.

Boothe is in a select company of former Ancient Eight African-American greats who have made it to the NFL's championship game. Along with Boothe, the League's list of African-Americans to have made it to the Super Bowl is a who's who of the conference's storied football history -- Yale's Calvin Hill (1971-72) and Kenny Hill (1984-87), Columbia's George Starke (1983-84), Dartmouth's Reggie Williams (1982-89) and Cornell's Derrick Harmon (1985).

With a win over the New England Patriots, Boothe and DeOssie would be just the third and fourth former Ivy players with two Super Bowl rings, following Kenny Hill and former Princeton star and current Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. A Giants victory would also bring a second ring to another former Tiger star, Marc Ross, who is in his fifth season as the team's Director of College Scouting.

A Patriots' win would also give a former Ivy a Super Bowl ring. Yale alum Patrick Graham is the linebackers coach for New England, whose owner Robert Kraft graduated from Columbia and Harvard Business School.

There is no question that the Ivy League influence is on display in Indianapolis on one of the biggest stages in sports.