Marion Motley among Forgotten Four sharing Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Ralph Hay Pioneer Award
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CANTON — The Forgotten Four will be well remembered this summer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Canton native Marion Motley joins Bill Willis, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode — four men who broke the color barrier in pro football — in being selected to share the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Ralph Hay Pioneer Award this year.
Known sometimes as the Forgotten Four, the quartet each began playing pro football in 1946, becoming the first Black players to do so since the early 1930s. Motley and Willis, who both already are enshrined in the Hall of Fame for their accomplishments as players, opened the '46 season with the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference. Washington and Strode opened that season in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
Their debut came months ahead of Jackie Robinson's April 15 ,1947 MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson spent the 1946 baseball season with Brooklyn's top minor league team, Montreal, in the International League.
Strode, Washington and Robinson were backfield teammates on the 1939 UCLA football team.
Washington signed his pro football contract with the Rams on March 21, 1946 after starring for four seasons in the semi-pro Pacific Coast Professional Football League. Strode starred in the same league on the same team, the Hollywood Bears, before signing with the Rams on May 7, 1946.
The Browns signed Willis (Aug. 6) and Motley (Aug. 9) days apart later that summer ahead of their inaugural season.
“The selection of these four men as the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award winners could not be more fitting,” Hall President Jim Porter said in a statement released by the Hall. “Individually and collectively, they made one of the most profound cultural shifts in pro football history when they broke pro football’s color barrier, thus ending years of racial segregation. Their pioneering role not only opened the door to opportunity for generations of NFL players to come, but it also changed the game forever.”
Washington played halfback for the Rams from 1946-48 before a bad knee injury forced him to retire. He averaged a remarkable 6.14 yards per carry over three seasons, leading the Rams in rushing in 1947 with 859 yards.
Strode played end for the Rams in 1946 as a 31-year-old rookie. He went on to play in Canada and won the Grey Cup in 1948 with Calgary.
After starring at Ohio State, Willis helped anchor powerful Browns teams up front from 1946-53 as guard on offense and middle guard on defense. He earned first-team all-league honors seven of his eight years for his work defensively, and was second-team all-league the other season. He was enshrined in the Hall in 1977.
Motley, who first starred in football at Canton McKinley High School, was elected to the Hall in 1968. His powerful runs as a fullback blowing through defenses on traps and draw plays are black-and-white film gems still enjoyed by football fans. He also delivered crushing blocks to help Otto Graham and the Browns passing game. He played with the Browns from 1946-53 and spent the '55 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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The Ralph Hay Pioneer Award is named for the former owner of the Canton Bulldogs who hosted the NFL’s formational meeting in Canton in 1920. It was established in 1972 and is presented in recognition of “significant innovative contributions to professional football.”
The award has been presented only nine other times. The first recipient was Fred Gehrke, the Los Angeles Rams halfback who devised the idea of a helmet logo in 1948. Longtime NFL executive Joe Browne was the most recent recipient of the award, receiving it in 2016 after more than 50 years with the NFL.
Motley, Willis, Strode and Washington were not the first Black players to integrate pro football. Two future Hall of Famers — Fritz Pollard and Duke Slater — were the first to integrate the game in 1920 and 1922, respectively. But a decade later, there were no longer Black players in the NFL.
The Forgotten Four will be honored during Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities later this summer, including the Enshrinees’ Gold Jacket Dinner on Aug. 5, and the Class of 2022 Enshrinement on Aug. 6.
Past Ralph Hay Pioneer Award winners
2016 – Joe Browne: Worked for over 50 years at the NFL, turning it into the most popular sport in the world.
2012 – Art McNally: Devoted his entire professional career to officiating and pioneered numerous innovations for the NFL including instant replay.
2007 – Steve Sabol: President of NFL Films and honored filmmaker.
2004 – City of Pottsville, Pennsylvania: Loyal support of the NFL and undying spirit and pride in the history of the defunct Pottsville Maroons of the 1920s.
2001 – George Toma: NFL’s longtime head groundskeeper known as the “God of Sod.”
1992 – David Boss: Vice President and Creative Director for NFL Properties and noted photographer.
1986 – John Facenda: Legendary voice of NFL Films.
1975 – Arch Ward: Chicago Tribune sports editor who initiated Chicago All-Star Game that featured NFL champions vs. College All-Stars.
1972 – Fred Gehrke: Los Angeles Rams halfback who devised idea of logos on helmets and painted horns on Rams helmets in 1948.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marion Motley joins three others sharing Ralph Hay Pioneer Award
