Black College Football Hall of Famers Greg Coleman, Charlie Neal team up for HBCU Go

CANTON — As the momentum of historically Black colleges and universities continues to head in a positive direction, so have the media platforms.

NFL Network will not be the only media outlet broadcasting the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic on Sunday afternoon at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

A newly launched media outlet also will be on the call.

HBCU Go will broadcast live the BCFHOF Classic, which features Central State vs. Winston-Salem State, at 4 p.m., Sunday.

HBCU Go is a broadcast network dedicating its entire channel to broadcasting the HBCU experience. The network is led by co-founders Curtis Symonds and Clint Evans, and is currently owned by the Allen Media Group.

“I think that the exposure, doing a game like that with the HBCUs at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the biggest platform to be for an HBCU,” Symonds said. “When you look at the greats who have come through the NFL, including many HBCU grads who are at the Hall of Fame. So to be able to walk in that same turf as a young man being 18 to 21, I think it’s a great honor."

Not only is Symonds excited to broadcast the BCFHOF Classic, but he is also excited to see his alma mater, Central State, play inside Benson Stadium. Symonds, who grew up near the CSU campus, graduated as a Marauder in 1978.

“To be able to look into the school that you graduated from and see it on this platform playing Winston-Salem is nothing but showtime to me,” Symonds said.

Symonds spoke from the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday where he was joined by the broadcast team for HBCU Go game coverage — Black College Football Hall of Famers Charlie Neal and Greg Coleman, and Ashly Holder.

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Neal, enshrined in the Black College Hall for his decades of work broadcasting HBCU sports, worked with Symonds for more than 15 years at BET, back when it was BET broadcasting HBCU games. Neal saw the same potential in the HBCU Go as Symonds did.

“After BET, he had a vision for HBCU Go,” Neal said about Symonds.” It took a little while to get it where it is today, but it’s on the rise. It’s one of those roller coaster rides, but it’s still climbing and it’s going to continue to climb.

“I am very fortunate that the people recognized what I’ve done over the years. I started broadcasting Black college sports many years ago even before BET came into existence. BET is what really brought it to the top as far as I am concerned because we’ve been doing games every week not only for football, but we were doing basketball as well. The fact they recognized my contribution to the historically Black colleges and universities and sports in general I am grateful for. “

For Coleman, it was a no-brainer. He sees it as a golden opportunity to showcase HBCU schools today while the audience will learn about its history from former players.

“If we don’t tell our stories, who will,” Coleman said. “But who better than us to tell our stories about us.”

It will be the first time Coleman and Neal work together, but they have known each other for decades. While Neal is called the “The Voice of HBCU Sports,” Coleman considered Neal more as the godfather of Black college football.

“This is the voice that many of us grew up with, idolizing the voice,” Coleman said. “When you heard Charlie Neal call your name, it was kind of like John Facenda (of NFL Films). You go google that. When Charlie puts an adjective by your name, you know you made it to Black college spots. That’s the godfather of Black college sports.”

Coleman is a Florida A&M grad who enjoyed a 12-year NFL career (1976-88) as a punter. He was one of the first Black NFL players to play that position.

Coleman spent nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where he made their 25th and 40th anniversary teams. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1976 and made his NFL debut a year later with the Cleveland Browns. After a season in Cleveland he went on to star with Minnesota before finishing his career with one season in Washington.

Wherever Coleman played, he built relationships, including in Washington in 1988 where he played with quarterback Doug Williams, co-founder of the BCFHOF.

“Some of those relationships that you build, games and scores will come and go, but it’s relationships that you build with those men," Coleman said. "Regardless if it’s Cleveland, the time I spent in Minnesota and obviously with Doug (Williams) in last year with Washington, those are the things that live on forever."

Holder is excited not only to be part of the HBCU Go team, but to learn about HBCUs. She is a TV sports anchor/reporter in Buffalo who has covered the Bills the last two years. A Tennessee graduate, Holder was not familiar with the network until she was introduced to it by her agent. She took it as an opportunity to learn more about the history of HBCUs while continuing in her profession.

“A lot of my family have gone to an HBCU school, and I may have been to one or two games, but I didn’t know much about it, and I thought this could be a cool challenge,” Holder said. "It’s kind of cool because as I am reporting, I’m honestly learning at the same time, so I can’t tell you everything about it. The very pregame show we’re doing, I’m learning about historically Black colleges.”

The long-term goal is to educate by sharing the history of HBCUs in hopes of also attracting students, especially athletes. And viewers across the country can enjoy the games without spending a single cent.

“Once we are able to educate people, the beauty of our network being involved with the Allen Media Group is that we are free, and we are putting on broadcast televisions at the same time,” Symonds said.

The network can be found online at HBCUGo.Tv, or on Roku, Firestick and Apple TV, and by downloading apps from Sports.TV and Local Now.

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: HBCU Go to broadcast Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic