Bobby Grier, a University of Pittsburgh fullback who in 1956 became the first Black football player to take the field in the postseason Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, despite the opposition of Georgia’s segregationist governor, who sought to bar Georgia Tech, Pitt’s opponent, from playing in the game, died on June 30 in Warren, Ohio. He was 91.
His son, Robert Grier Jr., confirmed the death, at a rehabilitation facility.
The noisy run-up to Grier’s playing in the Sugar Bowl, a cherished annual tradition for the Deep South, played out early in the civil rights movement. Weeks before the game, on Dec.