In 1971, the University of Georgia (UGA) signed its first five Black players to football scholarships. When Richard Appleby, Horace King, Chuck Kinnebrew, Clarence Pope, and Larry West inked their letters of intent to play for the Georgia Bulldogs, it made the perennial football power the last member of the Southeastern Conference to integrate.
Now known as “The Bulldogs Original Five”, these young men stepped into an environment that was both racially and culturally void. All of them had played on integrated teams in high school and dealt with some degree of racism. But nothing in their past prepared them for what awaited them at the state’s flagship university.
To start, it had only been 10 years since UGA enrolled its first Black students – Hamilton Holmes and Charlanye Hunter. The university was still in its neonatal stages of accepting Black people in any role other than cooks and custodians.
In that period of time, the Black student population had only reached 200 on a campus of 20,000. Across the street from the admissions building was a frat house flying a huge Confederate flag. White students relished the celebration of Confederate Memorial Day, adorned in antebellum dresses and the uniforms of those who fought to maintain slavery.
There was only one Black professor, and there were department heads who had no problem referring to Black males as “Boy.” Despite meeting all the academic requirements to attend UGA, the mindset existed that Black students were admitted only because of the color of their skin.
During the 1971 football season, the year before “The Five” would be able to play on the varsity squad, the marching band was known as the “Dixie Redcoat Band.” They performed the song “Dixie”, and fans waved Confederate flags with the same vigor as they wave red and black pom-poms today.
Additionally, “The Five” endured the isolation that came with living in the exclusive athletic dormitory, McWhorter Hall. They were subjected to racist comments and white “teammates” donning Ku Klux Klan robes and hoods. To overcome these challenges, Appleby, King, Kinnebrew, Pope, and West turned to three sources.
First was UGA Head Football Coach Vince Dooley. When recruiting the players, Coach Dooley promised to treat them like his own sons. True to his word, Dooley was infuriated when he learned they were being mistreated. He called a team meeting to address the matter and made it clear Black players were going to be part of BullDawg Nation from then on out.
Second, they turned to each other. “We became a family,” said Pope. “We held each other accountable, gave encouragement, and provided support in times of doubt.”
Third, they had the support of Black students and of the Black Athens community, which was not hard to get since King, Appleby, and Pope grew up in the town. Everyone knew that the success of the Black football players was success for the entire race. And, successful they were.
Pope (linebacker), Kinnebrew (defensive line), and West (defensive back) were cornerstones of a defense which became so famous that, in 1975, soul singer James Brown released a song entitled “Dooley’s Junkyard Dogs.” Appleby (tightend) etched his name into BullDawg football lore with his 80-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Gene Washington that led to a 10-7 defeat of hated rival the University of Florida, and prevented the Gators from clinching the 1975 SEC football championship.
Running back Horace King may have enjoyed the most success while wearing the red and black. His career numbers were 5 of 10 passing for 144 yards and one touchdown, and 27 receptions for 386 yards and one touchdown. He carried the ball 285 times for 1,287 yards and 19 touchdown. Twelve of those running TD’s came in his final year as a Bulldog, and he lead the team in scoring.
King spent eight years in the NFL all with the Detroit Lions. After football he worked 28 years as an engineer for General Motors. Appleby played with Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in the Canadian Football League. He abandoned the cold of Canada for the warmth of Hawaii where he became an entreperuer.
Kinnebrew, a native of Rome, GA, had no visions of playing pro football, but did want to coach. Dooley made him a grad assist, but an offer to work for DuPont changed his course. He enjoyed a productive career not only with DuPont, but with Home Depot and Floor and Decor where he headed the corporations diversity and inclusion efforts.
West, who hails from Albany, GA, and Pope are both ministers. West is Senior Pastor at Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Pope, after retiring from the Athens-Clarke County Fire Department, is Associate Pastor of New Freedom Christian Center in Athens.
Putting their accomplishments as the first five football players into perspective, Pastor West said, “To see the number of African-American men that are on the team, now; that are on the coaching staff, now. And, to see the number of African-American students that are walking on the campus and are part of every school on the UGA spectrum, I’d like to think we had a bit to do with that.”
Fifty-five years later, through “The Bulldogs Original Five Foundation” they are still contributing to the University of Georgia. The foundation is dedicated to increasing student leadership development and providing financial support. At a recently held coming out event at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta they presented a $1,000 scholarship to Natalina Daniel, a second-year honor student from Tucker, GA.
Among the hundreds who attended the event, which included former football players and Black students who attended UGA with “The Five” during those stressful 70’s, was Athens native and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Michael Thurmond. He summed up their past and present contributions by saying, “They didn’t just play the game, they paved the way, and continue to pave it, for every Bulldog who follows.”