In a 2023 interview, Grier said he wasn't
thinking about breaking a color barrier when he played in the
1956 Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2, his 23rd birthday.
"I didn't think anything of it," Grier said.
Pitt's Sugar Bowl opponent was Georgia Tech, and then-Georgia
governor Marvin Griffin tried to keep Grier from playing in the
game at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans during a time of racial
segregation. But Grier's teammates refused to travel without him
and Georgia Tech also supported him.
"They said we're not going down without him. No Grier, no game,"
Grier said.
Though he wasn't allowed to stay in the team hotel, Grier would
not be denied.
"I'm very proud of what I did," he said.
Grier, a fullback, linebacker and defensive back, was inducted
into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. He was inducted
into the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame two years prior.
"Bobby Grier is the epitome of the Pitt student-athlete,"
chancellor Joan Gabel said in a statement. "Striving to compete
alongside his teammates at the highest level possible, he played
with courage, grace and conviction, and he helped drive the
national conversation toward justice at a pivotal time in
American history.
"The University of Pittsburgh is enormously proud to call Bobby
an alum. We express our deepest condolences to his family and
friends at the loss of a great man."
Pitt's football team will wear a commemorative helmet sticker
for the 2024 season to honor Grier.
"Bobby Grier lived a truly remarkable and impactful life that
inspires in so many ways," Pitt director of athletics Heather
Lyke said in a statement. "The courage and dignity he showed in
desegregating the Sugar Bowl stands as one of the most important
moments not only in the history of the University of Pittsburgh
but also the game of college football."
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