Ray Nagel - Iowa Coaching Career - The Black Boycott

The Black Boycott

1969 was a volatile year, with Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement gaining full steam. In the spring of 1969, Nagel dismissed Greg Allison and Charles Bolden, both black football players, from the team for "personal problems". He did not, however, rule out reinstating them in the fall. Although Nagel never specified what the personal problems were, it was widely rumored that Allison was having grade problems and that Bolden had had a brush with the law. Six weeks later, Bolden pleaded guilty to a bad check charge and was ordered to make restitution on a number of bad checks.

Jerry Stevens, the president of the Afro-American Student Association of Iowa, had earlier called for negotiations to end what he termed "an intolerable situation" for black athletes at Iowa. Led by Stevens and other members of his group, some black members of the Iowa football team objected to the manner in which Allison and Bolden were dismissed and demanded an apology from Nagel, which he gave. Still, rumors flew that Stevens' group was organizing a "black boycott" of the football team's upcoming spring practice.

Nagel reiterated his longstanding policy with regard to unexcused absences from practice. He had set a precedent on the matter in his first season in 1966 when he dismissed star end Rich O'Hara from the squad when O'Hara failed to appear for practice. That afternoon, sixteen black players boycotted spring practice, and Nagel immediately dismissed them from the team. Only four black players broke the boycott and appeared for spring practice: Mel Morris, Ray Manning, William "Zoom Zoom" Powell, and Don Osby.

Two days later, the newly formed Black Athletes Union presented a letter to several Iowa newspapers. It read, in part, "Brought into focus here is the slave-master relationship. The black athlete, for example, is the gladiator who performs in the arena for the pleasure of the white masses. He is brought from the black colony, typically called high school, which is predominantly black...The black gladiator brought into this oppressive environment, representing approximately one percent of the populous, is trained to razor athletic sharpness and used to thrill the white spectator masses...The requirements of eligibility do not meet those of graduation. Why? Simply because it was not intended that the black athlete graduate. At the end of four years, the black gladiator is tossed back into the colony exhausted from his toil and exploitation in the mother country. It is intended that he be physically exhausted because he potentially represents the greatest threat to this society, politically and revolutionary."

Three days later, it was reported that the seven freshmen who were among the sixteen dismissed black players had disassociated themselves from the Black Athletes Union and wanted to return to the team. That same day, the Black Athletes Union released a list of five demands to the Iowa Athletic Board. All of the demands were minor in scope. The following day, the chairman of the athletic board said that Iowa would grant their demands. Further, he stated that he was presented with these demands by a group of black athletes two days before the boycott of practice and had told them then that their requests would be granted. The athletes had been persuaded to boycott anyway.

Spring practice ended with the situation unresolved, and it remained that way until the day before fall practice. Nagel announced that those boycotting players that wanted to be reinstated could make an individual appeal to the team for reinstatement, and that the team would conduct a vote on whether or not to allow them to rejoin the team. Twelve of the sixteen boycotting players appealed for reinstatement, and the team voted to allow seven of them to rejoin the squad. The seven players allowed back on the team included five of the sophomores who had broken from the Black Athletes Union and just two veterans. One of the two veterans allowed back was Denny Green, who would later make a name for himself as a college and NFL head coach.

It was announced the following day that one of the black players voted back onto the team would need a season-ending hernia operation. In addition, two white players would also miss the season, one from injuries stemming from a motorcycle accident and one due to academics. These three players, plus the nine black players who were not reinstated, plus Allison and Bolden, made it a total of fourteen players who were expected to play after the 1968 season who would not return in 1969.

The "Black Boycott" left some scars on both sides and may have been the first push toward the ouster of Nagel, who seemed to have turned the corner the previous season. Iowa finished the 1969 season with a 5–5 record. The season was both disappointing and encouraging. The Hawkeyes had failed to post a winning record, much less contend for the Big Ten title, so that was disappointing. However, considering all of the off-season turmoil caused by the Black Boycott, the record could have been worse. Optimism was high for the 1970 season, as there were a lot of young players returning from the 1969 squad.