Hoosiers to Honor George Taliaferro in Many Ways After His Passing on Monday

Indiana Athletics

IU Athletics Release

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Indiana University Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass today announced a variety of ways in which IU Athletics would be paying tribute to George Taliaferro as a part of the upcoming Homecoming weekend. The legendary Hoosier football player, who was also a trailblazer for African-Americans at Indiana University, in professional football and the local community, passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

“Indiana University Athletics and the entire Indiana University family are deeply saddened by the passing of George Taliaferro,” Glass said. “George’s association with Indiana University has always made me even prouder to be a part of this institution. He was a mentor to me, and, like all great mentors, was often one who was appropriately challenging me.  Simply put, he was a great man and will be greatly missed.” 

“Indiana Football’s thoughts and prayers are with George Taliaferro’s family,” said IU Football Coach Tom Allen. “Our hearts are heavy as we appreciate all that he has done for this university and for the sport of football. He was a trailblazer as the first African-American ever selected by the National Football League. He was a great part of our community and he made this world a better place.” 

In recognition of the enormous impact Taliaferro had on IU Athletics and the Indiana University and Bloomington communities, at the direction of President Michael A. McRobbie all flags on the Bloomington campus have been lowered to half-staff through this weekend’s Homecoming football game against Iowa. In addition, Taliaferro’s number “44” will replace the traditional logo on the IU football players’ helmets for Saturday’s game. The game program will feature Taliaferro on the cover. Finally, before Saturday’s kickoff, a special tribute video will be played in Taliaferro’s honor and a moment of silence will be observed.

A 1981 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, Taliaferro was a three-time All-American at IU who was the leading rusher on IU’s 1945 Big Ten Championship team that went 9-0-1, the only undefeated team in school history. During his four years in Bloomington he led IU in rushing twice and passing once, and after the conclusion of the 1948 season, he was selected in the 13th round of the 1949 NFL Draft by the NFL’s Chicago Bears, making him the first African-American drafted by an NFL team. 

While that was a landmark event for professional football at the national level, Taliaferro also had an enormous impact locally both as an undergraduate student and later as a long-time university staff member.  Nothing that he did was more significant, though, than the role he played in desegregating the IU campus and the Bloomington community.

During 1940s - an era when both the campus and the city of Bloomington were segregated - Talifaferro was not allowed to eat at many local restaurants. When Indiana University President Herman B Wells found out Taliaferro had to run home between classes on most days to eat lunch because no nearby restaurants would serve him, Wells phoned a restaurant he could see from his Bryan Hall office – The Gables - and informed its manager that he and Taliaferro would be eating lunch there that day. 

When the manager originally balked at the idea, Wells informed him that if that was the case, then he would make the South Indiana Avenue restaurant off limits to the entire school body. The manager relented, Wells and Taliaferro ate lunch, and IU and the Bloomington community took one giant step toward desegregation. 

After his Hall of Fame collegiate career concluded, Taliaferro had visions of continuing as a professional. He didn’t expect that opportunity to come in the NFL, which had never had a team draft an African-American. 

That changed in 1949, when the Chicago Bears selected Taliaferro with the 129th overall pick, making him the first African-American ever drafted by an NFL team.

His NFL selection came as a complete surprise to many – Taliaferro included. He learned about it over lunch in downtown Chicago, when friend and former University of Iowa football standout Earl Banks showed him an edition of the Chicago Defender newspaper, whose headline read, "Taliaferro Drafted by Bears."

A native of Gary, Ind., Taliaferro had followed the Bears his entire life, and considered it a dream come true to play for the neighboring Windy City franchise. He had also considered it an impossibility since no NFL team had ever drafted a black player, and there were only a handful currently playing in the league. Those realties had prompted Taliaferro to sign with the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All America Football Conference one week prior to the NFL Draft. The AAFC had welcomed black players since debuting in 1946, and Taliaferro considered it his only avenue to pursue a professional football career.

Taliaferro told the Dayton Daily News in 2017 that after his selection by the Bears, he initially thought about returning his $4,000 signing bonus to the Dons in the hopes they would allow him tear up his contract and pursue his NFL dream. But after discussing the situation with his mother, he remembered a promise he'd made to his since-deceased father, which ended any possibility of walking away from the AAFC. 

"She said, 'What did you promise your father?'" Taliaferro told the Dayton Daily News. "I knew right away. I had to be a man of my word, so I never even bothered getting back to George Halas and the Bears."

Taliaferro rushed for 472 yards and five touchdowns and passed for another 790 yards and four scores in his rookie season with the Dons in 1949.

His opportunity to play in the NFL came the following season, when the AAFC merged with the NFL.  The subsequent franchise and player shuffling resulted in Taliaferro joining the short-lived New York Yanks NFL squad for the 1950 season. Taliaferro rushed for 411 yards and four touchdowns and caught another 21 passes for 299 yards and five scores for the Yanks, leading the team in touchdowns and helping them to a 7-5 record.

Taliaferro spent five more years in the NFL and earned Pro Bowl honors in 1951-53. He totaled 2,266 rushing yards, 1,300 receiving yards, 1,633 passing yards and accounted for 37 touchdowns while playing for franchises in New York, Dallas, Baltimore and Philadelphia. He played seven different positions during his pro career, lining up at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, punter, kick returner, punt returner and defensive back. 

After his playing days ended, Taliaferro returned to school and earned a Master’s degree at Howard University. After teaching at the University of Maryland and serving as the Dean of Students at Morgan State University, Taliaferro and his wife, Viola (Vi), returned to Bloomington, where George spent two decades serving his alma mater in a number of capacities, including as a special assistant to the President, the IUPUI chancellor, and the dean of School of Social Work.

Taliaferro is survived by his wife of 67 years Viola, and daughters Linda, Renee’, Donna and Terri.