| By Michael Lee The Oakland Raiders team bus was almost to its destination, Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., when it stopped. Eldridge Dickey, the team's third-string quarterback, could see the commotion up front, where police officers were huddling with team officials. Eventually, word trickled through the aisles: There were fears of a potential gunman on the premises. This was 1969, a year after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, two years before the University of Alabama decided to integrate its football program. From his seat in the back of the bus, Dickey could surmise that not all 21,000 in attendance supported the idea of a Black quarterback making his professional debut in this state, in this exhibition game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Outside the window, a "No N----- QB in Alabama" sign made that clear. Read more » More from The Post |
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