From www.CheckOutMyCards.com , a 1962 football card of Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell. On this card Mitchell is listed as a Washington Redskin but is still wearing his Cleveland Browns uniform, having just been traded. He was a respected 1,000 rusher as a back with the Browns, but his being added to the Redskin roster was more than just your standard run-of-the-mill trade. He became the first African-American player on the last NFL team to integrate, and faced heavy prejudice when he arrived in Washington. The Redskins owner at the time, George Preston Marshall, was a staunch segregationist, and only added Mitchell to his roster after the government threatened to revoke his lease on the team’s stadium, which had been built with government money. Needless to say, Mitchell wasn’t welcomed with open arms. To his credit, he persevered as a Redskin player, and was one of many of that era to switch from the “halfback” to the “flankerback” position, essentially becoming a wide receiver rather than a runner.
