Dave Myers (American football)

David Willoughby Myers (1906[1] – March 5, 1997) was an American football player. He was one of the few black players in professional American football prior to World War II.

Dave Myers
Personal information
Born:1906
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Died:March 5, 1997(1997-03-05) (aged 90)
Presque Isle, Maine
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:177 lb (80 kg)
Career information
High school:Stuyvesant (NY)
College:NYU
Position:Guard, halfback
Career history

Early years

Myers was born in 1906 in New Bedford, Massachusetts,[2] the son of Willoughby Owen Myers and Isabelle Letitia Myers. He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City.[2] At Stuyvesant, he starred in football and basketball, won honors as a student, and served as president of the student council.[3]

NYU

He played college football for the NYU Violets from 1926 to 1929.[4][5] He was rated as "one of the best running guards in the game."[3] Paul Gallico selected Myers as a guard on his 1928 All-America team.[6] Myers also threw the javelin for NYU's track team and set a metropolitan New York record with a distance of 202 feet, 11 inches.[7]

In October 1929, he was moved from the guard position to become NYU's starting quarterback.[8] One week later, reports surfaced that NYU had reached a "gentleman's agreement" to bench Myers for a scheduled game with the University of Georgia. The NAACP sent a letter of protest, and the chairman of NYU's athletic control board followed with a statement denying any such agreement and stating, "If we thought Georgia would show such poor sportsmanship as to demand Myers' removal from the lineup we would cancel our contract with the southern school."[9] Gallico also wrote a column advocating that NYU play Myers.[10] In the end, NYU agreed not to play Myers when Georgia refused to participate if Myers played.[3][11] In response to the decision, Heywood Broun called NYU a "gutless college with a gutless coach."[12] The game proceeded, and, despite demands from NYU fans in the stands, Myers did not play.[13]

Professional football

He played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) as a guard and halfback for the Staten Island Stapletons (1930) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1931). He appeared in 13 NFL games, 11 as a starter.[2] He also played for the Clifton Wessingtons of the Interstate Football League in 1933 and for the Churchill Pros in 1941.[4]

Later years

Myers worked for the New York Department of Welfare's Division of Special Investigations.[14]

He died in 1997 at age 90 in Presque Isle, Maine.

References
  1. Sources are in conflict as to Myers' date of birth. Myers' World War II draft card shows a date of August 6, 1906. Pro-Football-Reference.com shows a date of September 7, 1906. Pro Football Archives shows a date of November 11, 1906.
  2. "Dave Myers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  3. "N.Y.U. Football Officials Bow To Southern Prejudice, Dropping Myers". The New York Age. October 26, 1929. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Dave Myers". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  5. "Myers May Occupy N.Y.U. Guard Berth: Former Stuyvesant Star Likely to Fill One Vacant Position on Violet Varsity". The New York Times. September 8, 1927. p. 32.
  6. "The First All America". New York Daily News. November 27, 1928. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "3 Negroes Break Records At Met. Championships". New York Age. August 16, 1930. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Myers, N.Y.U. Guard, Used in Back Field: Replaces O'Herin at Quarter in Latest Shake-Up on the Violet Eleven". The New York Times. October 17, 1929. p. 41.
  9. "Color Line Worries N.Y.U." New York Daily News. October 23, 1929. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Champion: Same Ole Story". New York Daily News. October 23, 1929. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Meehan Will Not Use Myers Against Georgia; N.Y.U. Coach Will Assign Another Quarterback in GameWith Southerners Nov. 9". The New York Times. October 24, 1929. p. 40.
  12. "Petition Hits N.Y.U. Myers Policy". New York Daily News. October 30, 1929. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "N.Y.U. Tops Georgia, 27-19". New York Daily News. November 10, 1929. p. 75 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. World War II Draft Card for David Willoughby Myers, born August 6, 1906, in New Bedford, Mass.
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