Hosting Jackson State-Grambling State game reflects Raiders’ history of recognizing talent from Black colleges

When Jackson State and Grambling State take the field at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday for the inaugural Las Vegas HBCU Classic, it will be the latest chapter in the Las Vegas Raiders franchise’s history of recognizing football talent from historically Black colleges and universities.

For the Raiders, who drafted the first Black quarterback taken in the first round and hired the first Black head coach of the Super Bowl era (both HBCU products), hosting the Classic was an opportunity that they couldn’t overlook.

“The connection between the Raiders and HBCU football is ingrained in the history of our franchise,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said. “Some of the greatest players to have worn the Silver and Black came from HBCU schools and found an opportunity in professional football during a time when many of them were being overlooked.

“It is a great honor to host these two storied programs at our home, Allegiant Stadium, and bring the passion and pageantry of HBCU football to Las Vegas.”

Davis’ father, former Oakland Raiders head coach and general manager Al Davis, selected Tennessee State quarterback Eldridge Dickey as the 25th overall pick in the 1968 NFL draft, making him the first Black quarterback picked in the first round of the AFL or NFL drafts. 

“You go back to Al Davis, Mark’s father, and kind of his trailblazing ways with recruiting HBCU athletes at a time where … it was celebrated, I think, within our own community, but maybe not on a larger scale – especially not for the NFL,” Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan said.

Many HBCU athletes have found a home with the Raiders’ franchise. Since the team’s founding in 1960, 75 players and eight coaches from HBCUs have represented the Silver and Black, such as Pro Football Hall of Famers Willie Brown (Grambling State), Jackie Slater (Jackson State) and Art Shell (Maryland State, now Maryland Eastern Shore).

The Raiders drafted Shell, an offensive lineman, in the third round in 1968, the same year Dickey made history by joining the team. Shell, an eight-time Pro Bowler, broke barriers in 1989 when Al Davis, then team owner, hired Shell as the first Black head coach in the modern NFL era. He led the Raiders until 1994 and rejoined the franchise as head coach in 2006.

Overall, six Grambling State alums and two Jackson State products have played for the Raiders. Andrew Glover, who will attend the Las Vegas HBCU Classic, is a former three-sport athlete at Grambling (football, basketball and track and field) who was drafted by the then-Los Angeles Raiders in 1991 as a tight end. He noticed the Raiders’ organization was a place where Black athletes could thrive.

“The Raiders and the former owner, Al Davis, gave us an opportunity to come in and showcase our talent, and it didn’t matter what your background was,” Glover said. “He was looking for somebody that can come in and do a job. … I know HBCUs from around the country are well represented in that organization.”

Glover recalls learning from accomplished HBCU alumni throughout his career, whether it was at Grambling under the leadership of the great longtime head football coach Eddie Robinson or with the Raiders under Shell.

Brown, the Hall of Fame cornerback and Grambling alumnus, also made an impact on Glover during their shared time with the Raiders.

“He [Brown] was the team captain, and he’s a Hall of Famer,” Glover said. “So he taught me the ropes. … I think he was with the Raiders’ organization probably 35 or 40 years total, as a coach, as an adviser, every single job that you probably could do in an organization – you know, he was right there, and he was representing Grambling.”

Now the Raiders will continue to support HBCU talent by hosting the high-profile Southwestern Athletic Conference matchup between Jackson State (5-1 overall, 3-0 SWAC) and Grambling State (4-3 overall, 1-2 SWAC). The game has the potential to reach a new demographic as the only HBCU football classic that will be played on the West Coast this season.

“It’s huge for HBCU football to go out on the West Coast,” Jackson State head coach T.C. Taylor said. “For us as a program, we’ve got a huge alumni base out that way and a lot of them can’t get to Mississippi for some of these games.”

In September 2024, the teams’ last matchup, Grambling beat Jackson State 41-20. Grambling has lost to Jackson State only twice in the past decade, in 2021 and 2022.

“They beat us pretty good [last season], almost by about three touchdowns, so we got to come out and play,” Taylor said. “But this pays dividends. A lot of our players are excited about the opportunity of playing in an NFL stadium.”

The weekend festivities will include a pep rally featuring Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South and Grambling State’s “World Famed” Tiger Marching band; an HBCU alumni mixer hosted by both universities’ alumni organizations; a pre-game tailgate; and a gospel brunch featuring performers from HBCUs. 

“In this state of significant change when it comes to college sports and recruiting that everyone is trying to navigate right now, I’m just hoping [the Las Vegas HBCU Classic] gives these players and these coaches additional opportunities for people that maybe would have never seen them to be able to see them,” Douglass Morgan said.

“So that’s our goal. It is to celebrate HBCUs, to celebrate our stadium, to have this incredible weekend of activities in our home city.”

The post Hosting Jackson State-Grambling State game reflects Raiders’ history of recognizing talent from Black colleges appeared first on Andscape.