University of Alabama Honors First Black Football Players

Alabama Spring Football

Wilbur Jackson, left and John Mitchell pull the drapes at the John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson Commemorative Plaque Unveiling before Alabama’s A-Day NCAA college football scrimmage, Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson already had their place in Alabama football history. Now, the Crimson Tide’s first Black players also share a prominent spot outside the stadium.

The university unveiled a plaque honoring them in a ceremony before the current team’s end-of-spring A-Day game.

The two 70-year-olds were also honored at halftime.

Jackson became the Tide’s first Black scholarship football player when he signed on Dec. 13, 1969. In 1971, defensive end Mitchell, a transfer from Eastern Arizona Junior College, became the first to play in a game.

Alabama Spring Football

Wilbur Jackson, left, and John Mitchell listen to speakers at the John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson Commemorative Plaque Unveiling before Alabama’s A-Day NCAA college football scrimmage, Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

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