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Tennessee Football: Former Gay Vol Jackie Walker Belongs in CFB Hall of Fame

The Tennessee Vols have 23 people in the College Football Hall of Fame. This year, three more are up: Larry Seivers, who played for the Vols in the late 1970s, Peyton Manning, which is an unprecedented move given how recently he played for the Vols, and a player who should have been in long ago, who broke down barriers long before they were even considered barriers.

Long before Michael Sam, there was Jackie Walker.

A gay man playing for the Vols in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was hard enough for Walker to deal with being a black player in the SEC as it was still struggling to accept integration at the time, let alone dealing with the prejudice of his sexuality.