THE ACT OF BROTHERHOOD

In celebration and the ending of February, it has come upon me to read a story that relates to the historical significance of Black History Month. This is set in 1958, just after the University of the Buffalo Bulls football team concluded their season 8-1 season.

During this time, January was an especially important month for college football, active for sponsoring 33 bowl games and a national championship along the way. Even though the 1950s weren’t major for promoting scales for sporting events, only eight games for the bowls to be forged. To be selected for these opportunities was a one-of-a-kind acknowledgment for the chosen athletes. And because of the successful year the Bulls led, the team was personally invited to play in a bowl themselves.

It was held in Orlando, Florida, this is the reason for the name, Tangerine Bowl. To say the least, the team was above satisfied. However the only circumstance to continue was to leave behind two players that happened to be African American, Willie Evans and Mike Wilson. Ironically, the stadium that the team was selected to play at was also directed by the Orlando High School Athletic Association.

This institution set its grounds on excluding non-segregated football teams to be able to take foot on its premises. These here were young men, and even younger teenagers who had spent large amounts of time putting in long, hard practice for days at a time. They extended their maximum effort within themselves to achieve this end only for their purpose to be shut down and their work considered useless. And if this letdown could even worsen, this was the school’s first invitation to a high honor bowl game, though they could not attend as a team. Granted the fact that the team was surrounded by a loss and rejection, there was no moment of hesitation for them when it was decided that they chose to not appear at the big occasion.

Later on after the decision, Evans states that his fellow teammates “drew a line in the sand that I have never forgotten.” The sacrifice that his team made was felt on both sides of the interracial group, and it forged a strong bond with both the two African Americans and the remaining Caucasian football players that they played alongside.  The 1950s was a decade in which racism was quite high, and because of this school’s major sacrifice for merely two players of a whole football team was both unusual and encouraging to some. A Caucasian teammate of Evans’ said to a reporter “It was important for us not to go. These were our friends.  There was no way we were going to leave them behind.” 

This bowl for the young athletes might later on hold them for regrets or maybe anger about the circumstances they were held within, but this racial act of discrimination against the University of the Buffalo Bills will be remembered.

The loyalty that was kept within the team is a factor of brotherhood and proves that no matter your race, you are still important, and you matter just as equally as anyone else who participates as well. The loss of the Bulls is saddening just as much as it is a true devotion.

Now, those same men who were denied playing a sport in the arena now rest peacefully. Willie Evans, currently 71, and Mike Wilson who has passed walked away to remember their teammates to be shown with pride.