Michigan State’s 1965 and 1966 players assembled for a Hall of Fame scene no other school can match
PHOTO, Michigan State’s 58 players from the 1965 and 1966 national championship teams gathered for a photo at the Clara B. Smith Academic Center and MSU Hall of Fame. The Spartans under College Football Hall of Fame head coach Duffy Daugherty led college football integration more than any other program.
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— Click here for review and purchase link: THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s and here for a purchase link to RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.
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By TOM SHANAHAN
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And that’s more than a cliche describing the scene at the MSU Hall of Fame ceremonies September 13 at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans enshrined their 1965 and 1966 national title teams for winning on the field and breaking social barriers off it. The picture with Black and White faces of men in their late 70s — not to mention Bob Apisa as the first Samoan All-American player — dining together can’t be duplicated by alumni rosters at other schools.
Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty assembled college football’s first fully integrated rosters in the 1960s. He was a decade ahead of the rest of nation’s schools, who followed an unwritten quota limiting Black athletes to a half-dozen or so, while at the same time team rosters were segregated in the South. Daugherty ignored the quota limitations.
In 1962, the Associated Press reported MIchigan State’s 17 Black athletes was the most in major college football history. What the report didn’t state was the Spartans broke their own records since other schools were in single digits.
USC, for example, numbered only five Black players on its 1962 national title team and only seven on its 1967 national championship roster despite the diversity and population of Southern Califorina. Segrated Alabama and Texas shared national titles in 1961, 1964 and 1965 and segregated Texas won outright national crowns in 1963 and 1969. Minnesota’s 1960 national title team included only five.
These numbers need to be repeated to understand how far ahead of the nation Daugherty was with his teams. With this recognition lost to history at a time the mainstream media avoided race, the Spartans have otherwise been written out of history by myths and fiction favoring the 1970 USC-Alabama game.
PHOTO: Michigan State’s players at the unveiling of the 1965-66 plaque in the MSU Hall of Fame. Left sid, from the back of room to the plaques: Jimmy Raye, Don Witherspoon, Steve Juday. Right side , back to plaque: Jerry West, Ernie Pasteur and Clinton Jones.
The picture of a thousand words depicting Michigan State’s leadership was painted before Spartans athletic director Alan Haller spoke to the audience.
“Tonight is a special night,” Haller said. “We have the opportunity to celebrate two iconic teams in Spartans history. Yes, you were great on the field. But that’s not why we’re here tonight. We’re here for your transcendent impact on your sport, your university and our society.
“I don’t think enough credit has gone to you for what you have done for Michigan State University. You were young men from different states and races. You were the very fabric of who we are and who we strive to be. Your legacy will be your impact. Your success paved the way for athletes of color. By any measure you are champions in life and champions for all to follow.”
Haller added the school has received a $1.25 million gift from a family to pay for “artwork” on the northside of Spartan Stadium celebrating the 1965 and 1966 teams.
PHOTO: Michigan State’s Ed McLoud was fit enough to still wear his gameday blazer from the 1965 and 1966 seasons to the 2024 MSU Hall of Fame enshrinement.
A tipping point to college football was the 1966 Game of the Century when Michigan State lined up 20 Black players, 11 Black starters, two Black team captains, College Football Hall of Famers George Webster and Clinton Jones, and the South’s first Black quarterback to win a national title, Jimmy Raye of segregated Fayetteville, N.C.
Notre Dame lined up one Black player, Alan Page.
And Page wanted to attend Michigan State. On his recruiting trip to Michigan State, his host was Jim Proebstle, a White tight end who was a senior on the 1965. Proebstle was a year older than Page as high school teammates at Canton (Ohio) Central Catholic, Page told him he wanted to play for the Spartans. Years later, Page, a Pro and College Football Hall of Famer, said the same thing to Minnesota Vikings teammates, MSU’s Clinton Jones and Gene Washington.
But Page’s parents wanted him to attend a Catholic school.
When the Spartans and Irish took the field at Spartan Stadium on November 19, 1966, a record TV audience of 33 million saw the contrast of rosters. Michigan State was the future. Notre Dame, USC, Alabama and Texas were the past.
In the decade of the 1960s, 41 percent of the Black players earning a national title ring were Spartans. There were 53 in all on the teams with titles named by The Associated Press (writers) and United Press International (coaches). Michigan State numbered 23, in 1965; Minnesota, five, in 1960; USC, five, in 1962; Notre Dame, one, in 1966; USC, seven, in 1967; and Ohio State, 12, in 1968. This is original research is stated in Chapter 1 of my new book, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.”
PHOTO: All of the players received a framed Hall of Fame Letter. Michael Bradley poses with his daughters.
At the MSU Hall of Fame event, all the Spartans received an individual framed Hall of Fame varsity letter. A total of 58 players from the two teams attended the event. Among those who have passed away were College Football Hall of Famers George Webster in 2007 and Bubba Smith in 2010. Charlie Thornhill, who led the team in tackles at linebacker when he cleaned up plays as opponents ran away from Smith and Webster, died in 2006.
There were six widows who attended, which also was a statement on the bond among the 1965 and 1966 players.
The evening began at the Clara B. Smith Center for the unveiling of the Hall of Fame plaque.
“This may be the last time we get together like this,” said Jimmy Raye, 78.
Once the players were assembled for a team photo, Katie Souder, the MSU S Club director, used as her “smile please instruction, “Go Green! Go White.”
PHOTO, L-R: Author Tom Shanahan and MSU play-by-play broadcaster George Blaha with MSU 1965 and 1966 Hall of Famers. The Spartans: L-R: Jimmy Raye, Regis Cavendar (back), Eric Marshall (front), Chuck Bailey (back), Clinton Jones and Don Moore.
Michigan State president Kevin Guskiewicz, who took over his post in March, also spoke.
“Tonight is about celebrating our history,” he said. “An athletic program is the front porch to a university.”
By the end of the night, 1965 team captain Steve Juday and 1966 team captain Clinton Jones spoke to the audience. The late Don Japinga had been Juday’s co-captain and Webster shared the role with Jones.
“I’d like to have a moment of silence for those who are not with us,” said Juday, who was enshrined in the MSU Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jones, who was enshrined in MSU’s Hall in 2012, requested the team’s unofficial poet laurate, Pat Gallinagh, write a poem about the night. Gallinagh, an Academic All-American in 1966, was unable to attend while caring for his ill wife. Jones read from “A Beacon for all Spartans to Follow.”
Jones’ voice cracked as he got to the final two lines about the Spartans breaking ground as leaders of college football integration.
“But perhaps our most significant accomplishment was not the final score
But in helping make America a better place and helping our ideals to restore
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In addition to the 1965 and 1966 teams enshrined, six individuals also were inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame.
— Laura (Kueny) Smith women’s golf.
— Anson Carter, hockey.
— Jessica (Beech) Bograkos, softball.
— Beth (Rohl) Saylors, women’s track and field.
— Darqueze Dennard, Football.
Dennard, who is from a small town in Georgia, referenced the segregation his grandparents grew up under when his remarks included congratulating the 1965 and 1966 teams.
“I thought about my grandparents sharing your journey,” Dennard said.
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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanamag.com. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.
My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.
Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.
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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do
THE RIGHT THING TO DO
The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s
Foreword by Ruffin McNeill
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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.
RAYE OF LIGHT
Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
Foreword by Tony Dungy
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DUFFY CHILDREN’S BOOK purchase links: Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here.
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