MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Veryl Switzer, the trailblazing former Green Bay Packers halfback who traded a career in the NFL for service as a lieutenant in the Air Force, died Saturday. He was 89.
Before his professional career, Switzer starred on the gridiron and in track and field at Kansas State before returning as an administrator. Citing his family, the school announced his death in a statement Sunday. Additional details weren’t provided.
“Veryl was one of the most influential and impactful K-Staters in our lifetime and helped pave the way for so many others to follow in his footsteps,” Wildcats athletic director Gene Taylor said of the first Black scholarship player to graduate from the land-grant institution.