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Grambling Establishes Historic Center Named For Doug Williams To Study Race And Politics In Sports
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
Doug Williams is a MVP. To sports fans and the Black com- munity worldwide and especially in Louisiana, Tampa and Wash- ington, D. C., it’s what most peo- ple remember, especially after his heroics led the Redskins to an historic Super Bowl victory in 1988.
Williams has always had a great presence in the Tampa Bay, giving back to the community and working with kids, so much so that a lot of people consider him a home-grown son. His face and name are synonymous with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In actuality, Williams was born and raised in Louisiana and played football for the mighty Grambling State University Tigers under the tutelage of leg- endary coach Eddie Robinson.
During his college career,
DOUG WILLIAMS
...Super Bowl MVP, and first Black QB to win a Super
sports and activities. It is a fact that race and politics have a large part of what we view on the courts, fields, and arenas. The Doug Williams Center for the Study of Race & Politics in Sports will be the ideal space for audi- ences to examine the history of American sports, build holistic perspectives on the impact of race in sports, and develop viable so- lutions to ongoing issues. Work- ing with Doug Williams brings the cache and seriousness needed for such an important endeavor.”
Some of the issues the center will review are the persistence of racial disparities in collegiate sports. Should collegiate players be free to express political and/or racial opinions? Should sports journalists discuss controversial opinions or should interviews be strictly around the playing field? Should college administrations and government leaders be able to influence and possibly silence student athletes?
In the future, Newman ex- pects to see real dialogue to have turned into actionable items and scoreboards, where progress can be tracked. The Center will also be a repository for historical in- formation and events from all sports from NASCAR to tennis to football. In five years, he expects the center to be a hub for infor- mation gathering and tracking to continually assess and repair is- sues concerning race and politics.
The Center just opened in this month and is busy creating its board and partners. Already on the board are Dr. Richard Lapchick, the Director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the Univer- sity of Central Florida, and Cyn- thia Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks.
Also joining are HBCU Divi- sion I and Division II commis- sioners in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Southwestern Athletic Confer- ence (SWAC), Southern Intercol- legiate Athletic Association (SIAA), Central In- tercollegiate Athletic Associa- tion (CIAA), and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Confer- ence (SIAC). The president of the University of Louisiana system, Dr. James Henderson has also given it his full support.
The center has also entered and partnered with the NFL. People that want to be engaged in the development and support of the center are urged to join the huddle at https://raceandpolitic- sinsports.com/#join-the-huddle.
Newman states, “There is no greater place to do this than Grambling with its strong athletic history and coach Eddie Robin- son and our academic excel- lence, this program is a perfect fit.”
Williams guided the Grambling Tigers to a 36–7 record as a four- year starter, as well as leading them to three Southwestern Ath- letic Conference (SWAC) champi- onships. Williams was named Black College Player of the Year twice before being drafted in the
first round in the NFL in 1977. In his professional football career, Williams led the Bucs to the playoffs three times in five seasons, including the 1979 NFC Championship game. He went to play in Washington after a con- tract dispute with the Bucs and as
fate would have it, led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXII, be- coming the first Black quarter- back to win a Super Bowl championship.
After his retirement, Williams coached at several HBCUs, including Grambling be- fore becoming an executive for the Bucs and the Redskins. In February 2014, Washington hired Williams. He was pro- moted to the position of Vice President of Player Personnel in June 2017. In 2020, following a front office restructure, Williams was named the team’s Senior Vice President of Player Development, another milestone in his career.
To add to the many honors, Grambling University has now created the Doug Williams Cen- ter for the Study of Race and Pol- itics in Sports. The center will be a space for people of all walks of life to explore the interaction of race and politics in sports.
Williams was profoundly humbled to have his name asso- ciated with such an important center. When we spoke to him, he said, “Race, sports, and politics are so intertwined. People of color who play sports often have political decisions made for them. As we have seen in the past few months, race and politics have forced student athletes into deci- sions that they may not agree with. The lack of study in these areas is the reason I agreed to do it. When I was approached, I thought about how race and pol- itics weave together to affect sports. This is especially impor- tant, particularly for those going to HBCUs. I am so humbled to be honored in this way.”
According to Marc New- man, Vice President for Ad- vancement, Research, & Economic Development at Gram- bling, integration had a tremen- dous effect on sports and Blacks in sports.
“As large predominately white institutions use Black ath- letes to build football and basket- ball teams, the revenue they bring in supports many other unrelated
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