Panthers that led the way

By taking his first steps onto the field, former Pitt football player Bobby Grier made history… By taking his first steps onto the field, former Pitt football player Bobby Grier made history during the Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech in 1956.

He became the first black player to ever participate in the game.

His steps then created a path now open to all black student-athletes – a fact that Pitt is proud of and celebrating during Black History Month 50 years later.

“Sports can be more than recreation and entertainment,” Pitt assistant athletic director E.J. Borghetti said. “They can be the context for great social and political change.

“This was the case with Bobby and Pitt is very proud of that fact.”

During the football season this past fall, Pitt paid tribute to Grier and his accomplishments in the Sugar Bowl. Throughout Pitt’s history, though, Grier was just one of many Pitt student-athletes who were part of milestone achievements.

The Pitt athletic department is now celebrating the acts of those black student-athletes.

“We felt Black History Month would provide the ideal backdrop for promoting these achievements,” Borghetti said.

In honor of these black athletes, the Pitt Athletic Department developed a commemorative color poster titled “Trailblazers” that can be seen hung up all over campus.

“Our intent with the commemorative poster is to educate and inspire our current generation,” Borghetti said. “It’s important to know where you’ve been in order to appreciate where you are now and where you hope to go.”

Featured on the poster are 17 black Pitt athletes who all made history in their own way, from Everett Utterback to Larry Fitzgerald and Trecia-Kaye Smith to Tony Dorsett.

Utterback, Pitt’s first black varsity captain and the University’s first black Board of Trustees member, won two collegiate national championships in the indoor broad jump during the 1930-31 seasons.

Fitzgerald, a more recent standout and 2003 unanimous All-American, became the first sophomore to win the Walter Camp Award and set an NCAA record by catching a touchdown pass in 18 straight games.

“We’ve had many pioneers,” Borghetti said. “People who broke new ground either athletically or socially, and they paved the way for future student-athletes at Pitt and beyond.”

Smith, a 2004 Olympian, boasts seven NCAA track and field titles and 14 Big East titles, laying claim as Pitt’s most decorated athlete.

Dorsett, the 1976 Heisman Trophy winner, was the first player in NCAA Division I-A history to rush for over 6,000 yards in a career.

Dorsett’s success continued beyond Pitt, and he finished his illustrious career as the first man in history to win a college national championship, Super Bowl, the Heisman and be elected to both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame.

The rest of the poster includes Pitt greats such as John Woodruff, Henry Ford, Julius Pegues, Jimmy Joe Robinson, Herb Douglas, Najuma Fletcher, Billy Knight, Grier, Lorri Johnson, Roger Kingdom, Mark May, Sam Clancy and Charles Smith.

As for the future of Pitt and its black student-athletes, Borghetti sees it continuing with success thanks to the original Trailblazers.

“Greatness has been a constant at Pitt,” he said.

“I think that’s reflected in the people on the poster who represent many different eras and sports.”