Black Players in the CFL and the Argos

[jerrym]

3downnation has a more detailed article on Robert Jackson, who was likely the first American Black player in Canadian football in 1930 and who played for Saskatoon and Winnipeg in later years. But there was a Black Canadian player, Russ Gideon, who played for Calgary from 1925 to 1933 and may have been the receiver of the first forward pass in Canada. The article also notes a few Blacks played in the NFL in the 1920s before the racial barrier fell in that league.

*Disclaimer: This story includes some racial descriptors rightfully deemed inappropriate by modern standards. They are included to give the reader a full understanding of the historical coverage of these players. ...
It’s important to understand that history is not the linear march of progress that we typically assume. There are pauses and serious patches of regression along the way, and in few areas is this more true than in race relations. Ahead of the Super Bowl this year, Viola Davis eloquently described how this occurred in the NFL. In a pre-game short that I highly recommend you look up for yourself, she explained how Black players like Fritz Pollard excelled in the NFL in the early 1920s before the league imposed an official colour barrier. ...

Though still unknown to most casual CFL fans, one player in particular is often cited as Canadian football’s first recorded Black athlete. His name was Robert Ellis Jackson and he captivated Regina late in the 1930 season. Details surrounding Jackson are scarce, but his addition to the Roughriders made the papers on September 27th, 1930 with the headline “Dusky Athlete Joins Riders.” The coverage surrounding him would continue to focus on his race for the duration of his time in Regina. The 24-year old, 155-pounder was said to have some football playing experience from the United States and went by the nickname “Stonewall,” an allusion to the famous confederate general, but where he came from was never revealed.

Jackson made his debut for the Riders in their regular season finale against Moose Jaw, ripping off a 45-yard run to the delight of fans. When the playoffs opened a week later against St. John’s, the “ebonyhued boy,” as he was frequently referred to, was top of mind for early Rider Nation. “In the second half an incessant cry of ‘We want Jackson’ from the stand forced Coach [Al] Ritchie to inject the big boy into the fray,” the Leader-Post reported following a 23-0 drubbing of the Manitoba team. “Every move he made was cheered and when he brought [future Hall of Famer] Eddie James down on an end run, howls of joy emanated from the grandstand.” Jackson scored one touchdown in four games for Regina as the Roughriders qualified for the Grey Cup for the third straight year. The team was heading to Toronto to take on Balmy Beach and Jackson became the first Black player to play in the big game.

His journey to the game was a little different than the rest of the team however. A Pullman porter by trade, Jackson drew a shift carrying his teammates bags on the way out east. As the Leader-Post described it, he was “looking after the comforts of the Regina team en-route. The gridders have spent most of their time on the trip so far in offering tidbits of advice to Stonewall and the coloured boy has been the centre of amusement,” the newspaper wrote upon arrival. “His pals are pulling for him to star in the big game on Saturday and they say he will.”

Jackson was photographed by The Globe exiting the train in Toronto in his porter’s uniform, standing next to head coach Al Ritchie dressed to the nines and hardly seeming like a member of the team. It’s an unsettling reminder of the stark racial realities that existed even as fans chanted Jackson’s name. The Roughriders lost that Grey Cup 11-6. In the official team photo taken the Friday before the game, Jackson stands as the lone Black face in the back row, the only player in a shirt and tie rather than a uniform. No one knows why.

Jackson didn’t return to Regina after the 1930 season but he continued playing football. In 1931, he joined the Saskatoon Quakers and in 1932 he played for St. John’s in Winnipeg, but he only managed six appearances over those two seasons. It’s likely his railway responsibilities kept him moving and after 1932, he simply disappeared.

While Jackson is the first Black player in Grey Cup history, he still can’t claim to be the first Black player in the CRU. For that we go back five more years to 1925, when a kid named Russ Gideon broke onto the scene with the Calgary Tigers, a precursor to the Stampeders. Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Gideon moved to Calgary at nine years old and quickly became a standout on the city’s athletic circuit. He was a champion runner, a fearsome boxer, strong hockey player and baseball star, but where he really excelled was football, first for Crescent Heights High School, then the Calgary Juniors. ...

Though he saw two games in 1925, Gideon truly became a star for the Tigers in 1928. At 150 pounds he was described as “one of the smartest outside wings and hardest tacklers in the province.” In contrast to Jackson, coverage of Gideon generally steered away from his race. While he is referred to as “coloured” on a couple of occasions, the Calgary Herald spent far more time waxing poetic about his fleet-footed, hard-hitting play style.

On September 21st, 1929, Gideon would take part in one of the biggest moments in Canadian football history. The Tigers were in Edmonton for the season opener and fans eagerly awaited the implementation of a new rule: the forward pass. It took until the fourth quarter but they were rewarded, with Calgary’s Gerry Seiberling throwing the first one in the CRU. Strangely, no one knows who caught the first of Seiberling’s four completions that day. The Herald credited Ralph Losie, the Edmonton Journal wrote that Alec Mackenzie did it first, but Gideon had that honour attributed to him in his obituary. Gideon’s claim has been backed by the Stampeders in some official publications and historian Daryl Slade told me he remains unsure of the actual recipient. ...

Over the course of his career, Gideon played 29 games and scored two touchdowns. Far more importantly, he gained the reputation as one of the country’s biggest rouge scorers, notorious for tackling opponents in their end zone. By 1931, Gideon was one of just 12 player from the West considered for the first ever CRU All-Canadian team. None were selected. In 1932, Gideon left Calgary for Boston and a spot at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacology, returning only for a one game guest appearance in 1933. To mark his departure, a tea was hosted by the local Elks club with Gideon as guest of honour and the Dodgers baseball team threw a lavish farewell dinner. Unlike Jackson, we do know what happened to Russ Gideon after football. He became one of the first Black pharmacology graduates in Massachusetts history and served in the 366th Infantry Medical Corps in Africa and Italy during World War Two, surviving to open a drugstore in Seattle.

https://3downnation.com/2021/02/27/the-porter-and-the-pass-catcher-uncovering-the-black-football-trailblazers-canada-forgot/

[carlos]

maybe one day indigenous canadians will play

[ArgoGabe22]

maybe one day indigenous canadians will play

T-Dre Player
Jr LaRose
Neal Hughes (Metis)

[carlos]

T-Dre Player
Jr LaRose
Neal Hughes (Metis)

Neal Hughes was an early version of Declan Cross and had a few big plays to his credit. He did well to play for 10 years in the league and retired in 2014.