University of Alabama Honors First Black Football Players

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.

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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