At the heart of HBCU football history are the people who played the game. Many of these men went on to become stars in professional football, in both the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Due to segregation laws, the vast majority of these players might not have had a chance to play college football without their opportunity at an HBCU. This list includes many players who have since been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and/or played an important role in their teams winning Super Bowl championships. The stories of these players rests at the heart of this project which aims to document what we consider to be a highly overlooked piece of American sports history.
