(upbeat music) - Marion Motley had some hurt in his heart.

- To me as a kid, Marion Motley was the biggest black man I had ever seen.

- Marion Motley was, at 245, was bigger than most of the linemen.

(upbeat music) - Dude was a beast.

(upbeat music) - I'm a what, guess who just ran over you.

- I admired Marion Motley because he was very, very fierce.

- He was probably the most dominating big back in NFL history.

- My dad, meant it when he said he was the best back he ever had.

(piano and rhythm) - [Narrator] In the early decades of the 20th century Canton, Ohio was a growing industrial city.

It was a destination for many Southern African-American families which became known as the Great Northern Migration.

In 1923, at the age of three, Marion Motley made the trek with his family, from Leesburg, Georgia to Canton, when his father secured work at a foundry.

Canton was nationally known for its ties to president William McKinley.

But in the sports world, it was known as the home of the Canton Bull Dogs and featured Jim Thorpe, the most well-known athlete of the day.

In 1920, Canton would play host to the formation of an association of professional football teams.

Eventually known as the National Football League.

Canton's love for football wasn't limited to the burgeoning pro-game.

Initially, without his parents knowledge the game caught Motley's attention as a junior high student.

- Marion tries out for football in Junior High at Canton.

He was not welcomed with open arms.

- When I first went to Junior High School, they didn't want to give me a uniform.

I had an uncle who was in the World War One and he had these khaki pants, with the laced boots.

I took these khaki pants and the rolled them up and went out and tried out for the team.

- After a couple of days of Marion not playing with pads, his teammates asked that he be padded to protect them from him.

So, that should tell you what kind of physical presence he was, even in junior high school - [Narrator] Motley went on to play for powerhouse Canton McKinley High School in 1936.

- McKinley's coach at the time was a guy named John Reed.

He had an athlete, a specimen like Marion Motley and his sophomore year, he plays him on the line, although he was a spectacular blocker.

That wasn't the issue.

The issue was his teammates behind him weren't able to match his level of play.

- [Narrator] Reed's Bull Dogs won all but one game that season.

A 21 to nothing loss to the reigning state champion, Massillon Tigers led by a legend in the making, Paul Brown.

The following season Motley was moved to full back.

- Finally, his junior year he gets to play running back.

Has incredible stats, over 17 yards a carry, scoring, throwing, he's clearly the best player as a junior.

Canton McKinley smashes everybody until the season finale.

John Reed takes his star player, puts him back on the line.

Of course, Canton McKinley loses 19 to six and their big gun is back in the trenches.

- [Narrator] Perhaps a lesson was learned.

Motley returned to the back field.

- He has a monster senior year and they get to the finale again.

- [Paul Brown] Their offense was built about him and we spent a lot of time trying to just play one man.

He was extremely big as a high school boy with a tremendous speed then.

We did gang on Marion a bit.

We had to, if we were gonna get out alive.

- Massillon rolls to a 12, nothing halftime lead.

It looks like things are gonna unveil as they always have.

McKinley starts the third quarter with a big drive gets inside the Massillon 10 and Motley is hammered by Lin Houston.

Knocks him out of the game, McKinley goes on to lose again.

He loses three games in his high school career.

All of them to Paul Brown, all of them to Massilon when they're at their peak of their powers.

But he was clearly the best player in the state.

- [Narrator] Despite all the scholastic accolades, Motley was overlooked by the major college programs of the day.

- He should have been an elite national recruit, and he wasn't.

- [Narrator] One school however did show interest.

- He gets a recruiting letter from Clemson.

They're interested and yet when word comes back that Marion Motley is a black athlete, now they're not interested.

- [Narrator] South Carolina State a historically black college gave Motley a shot.

- Motley was there for three months and came home.

South Carolina State was not his cup of tea.

- [Narrator] Word that Motley had left school made its way to the University of Nevada coach, Jimmy Aiken.

A former Canton McKinley coach, soon Motley would head West and joined the Wolf Pack.

But just as a new opportunity arose, tragedy struck.

- In 1940, before his first season at Nevada he was involved in a fatal car accident.

- He was driving to California from Reno, Nevada and tried to pass a car.

It was a two lane highway head on collision and a gentleman suffered a fractured skull and eventually died, and Motley was convicted of negligent homicide.

- At that time, the penalty could have ranged anywhere from a fine to hard time in San Quentin.

- And he's sitting in jail waiting for his sentencing.

- This was a black man in the court system, things could have gone way wrong for him.

- The community at the University of Nevada rallied around him.

They had a fundraiser on campus, where so many different people contributed to help pay his fine.

They raised the money and Marion Motley is able to walk away from that situation with three years probation and a $500 fine and $500 in restitution to the family.

It's an incredible story, but had something like that occurred in South Carolina, there's no telling, we probably wouldn't have ever heard of Marion Motley.

- [Narrator] Thanks to the support from the Nevada community, Motley was given a second chance at life.

However, not everyone wanted to give him the opportunity to play football.

- Nevada gets off to a strong start that season.

They begin 4-0-1, they come to Idaho and Idaho coach Ted Bank says, "you're not allowed to play Marion Motley."

Supposedly there's a borderline physical confrontation that Motley keeps his coach from attacking Bank, but a compromise was reached so that Motley is allowed to play in the second half.

That was enough for Idaho to beat Nevada, and then that began a string of four straight losses.

So, almost sidetracked the entire season, just that episode.

- [Narrator] As Motley excelled on the Gridiron, young men were being called to the battlefield.

Paul Brown, then the Ohio state coach, was commissioned as a Navy Lieutenant.

- My father was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, and they had a football team.

My father became the head coach of the football team.

- [Narrator] Soon, Motley would join up.

- He ends up in a line of potential future soldiers.

They say, if you wanna go to the army, you go this way.

If you wanna go to the navy, you go this way.

- [Motley] I heard that the Navy was much cleaner.

As far as eating, you got your best food with the Navy.

They asked me and I said, "Navy."

And he said, "okay, go."

- It's a stroke of fate because he ends up in Chicago at Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

There's Paul Brown and there's his future.

- [Motley] I found out that Paul Brown was there, so I made a phone call.

He said, "Yes, I remember you Marion."

- He insisted that Marion be a part of his Great Lakes team, he knew his abilities.

- [Narrator] Fate, once again, may have played a role in Motley's future.

- [Motley] All of a sudden, the commandant gave a command that all sailors that had been in the camp a certain amount of time, they had to go.

- He's gonna be called into active duty.

- [Motley] I called Paul Brown and told him that I was on the train.

Paul told me, "don't you move.

You stay right by that phone."

- Paul Brown moves heaven and earth to get Marion Motley off of that train.

- [Motley] So he called the commandant and told the commandant, "if you want me to coach this football team, you better stop this player and any other player that comes through here.

- [Narrator] Under Brown, Great Lakes won some big games against collegiate and military teams, but perhaps none could top their final game.

- In 1945, the very last game that the Great Lakes Naval Training Station team played was against Notre Dame.

Marion was more than Notre Dame could handle.

- He has a monster game.

They pound Notre Dame, 39 to seven.

Motley has a big touchdown run in the second half of that game.

- He ran right over the top of Notre Dame.

(drum beat) - [Narrator] With the war over, service men were able to resume their previous lives.

For some, that meant returning to college or professional football, but turning pro wasn't an option for Motley.

Although he was good enough to serve his country, the NFL was off limits.

For Motley and other black veterans returning home met segregation and inequality.

- It was really two societies to the point where if you are a talented baseball player or a talented football player, you couldn't play with white athletes.

- [Narrator] Pro-football had grown in popularity and the NFL faced a new challenger in the form of the All-America Football Conference.

The new league's first big coup was signing Paul Brown to run its Cleveland franchise.

- Was the brainchild of Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune.

He actually started signing players for the AAFC teams in 1945, while many of them were still in the military serving during world war II, and when they came out of the service immediately reported to those teams.

They outmaneuvered the NFL in this regard because the NFL was assuming that the players would either come back to the teams that they had played for, or would go into a draft.

- [Narrator] With the popular Paul Brown and a roster full of Ohio grown players coming to town, Cleveland Ram's owner Dan Reeves moved his reigning NFL champions to Los Angeles after the '45 season.

The pro-football landscape was about to change dramatically.

- In the NFL between 1920 and 1933, there were 13 black players, and after that in 1934, there were none.

There was supposedly a gentleman's agreement that the last two players, Joe Lillard and Ray Kemp, when they finished that 1933 season, they were not invited back in 1934.

- [Narrator] In effect, a racial barrier was established, but in '46 the status quo was challenged.

- Black sports writers out in Los Angeles said that, "if you're gonna put a pro football team in the Los Angeles Coliseum, a taxpayer supported facility, you're going to have to integrate your team."

- [Narrator] Reeves reluctantly agreed and the Rams signed former UCLA star, Kenny Washington.

- Kenny Washington, was this outstanding player yet he wasn't drafted.

He played in the Pacific Coast League and his body and his knees were battered, by the time he got to the NFL he was just a shell of himself.

- You couldn't have one black player.

You would need two, you would need roommates.

So they invited Woody Strode who'd been out of college football even longer.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, Paul Brown was building the team that bore his name.

- He would have been totally unaware of what was going on in Los Angeles.

What he was aware of was that Marion, Bill Willis, they were great players.

- [Narrator] Paul Brown signed Willis, an All-American middle guard from Brown's 1942 Ohio State national championship team.

- That presented somewhat of a dilemma for him.

In the league he realized that he was going to have to have an African-American roommate for his star player, Bill Willis.

- [Narrator] The story of how Motley joined the Browns differs depending on who tells it.

- There's always three sides to the story.

- He was brought to the Cleveland Browns to basically be a roommate for Bill Willis.

- I don't think that's so.

I think he was brought on because my dad knew he was a tremendous player.

- Paul Brown was a sharp guy.

He didn't make like snap decisions, he made steady decisions.

- He knew Marion was a great player, but he told him, "I have to start your way back here at the back of the line, you're gonna have to work your way up."

- Marion Motley would start running over people, and the players said, "hey, either you put him on our team or we're leaving."

I think Paul knew how to kind of orchestrate the reactions of his players so that, A, they develop respect for each one of them, for their abilities, and that they would accept him into the team.

- [Narrator] Regardless of how he joined the team, Motley was a Cleveland Brown and pro-football was no longer a whites-only game.

(upbeat music) When the Browns traveled to other cities, Jim Crow laws attempted to keep the black players in their place.

- It was a segregated situation and that's why that Bill Willis, Marion Motley tandem was important.

They were roommates and they would stay in the black hotel.

They would eat in restaurants that served black players.

- Coming from a HBCU and being black and knowing what I had to go through in order to be there.

You think about guys like that.

What was he going through during a time when he came out, it had to be really tough.

- But Paul Brown was pretty adamant when they went on the road, that we always eat together, we stay together.

- [Narrator] Brown's insistence that the team's black players be treated equally came as a surprise to some in the southern hospitality business.

- They had a hotel for the team and the hotel manager met them and welcomed them and said they had made special arrangements for them elsewhere.

My dad said, "well, I guess that's fine, but you better know that if they go, we all go."

The manager thought for a moment and said, "well, maybe we can set these guys up after all."

- [Narrator] However integration was sometimes met with vehement resistance.

- In 1946, the Cleveland Browns were scheduled to play the Miami Seahawks in Miami.

Jim Crow laws were in existence in the stadium, and the city was very racially divided.

So much so, that Bill Willis and Marion Motley were given death threats.

- Basically said, that if they set foot on the field, they would be killed.

- Paul Brown took it seriously enough that he went to Bill and Marion and he said, "listen, I am not going to you go to Miami, it's up to you.

But I want you to know this is what we know, that this is a credible threat."

- He never let him know that, they were actual death threats.

He paid him 500 bucks to stay in Cleveland.

- They both had to address the idea that they were going to face racism.

- Because it was them against the world, so to speak.

They said look, "somebody does something to you, on the next play you just come at him, run over him, we don't start fights."

- Both of them agreed and understood that they couldn't lose their temper.

- If there were situations where opposing players said things that were out of line they had teammates who saw this as well who came to their defense.

- [Narrator] The attacks were often brutal.

- Players would step on his hands, twist their cleats.

He said, until he literally bled.

- He was elbowed in the face during an attempted kick.

- Sometimes the officials would see it and they'd do nothing.

Motley always felt that especially early in his career before they had proven themselves that it was almost like they were kind of fair game.

- The first time a penalty was actually called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

It made such an impression on Marion, he actually remembered the official's name.

- The toughness to kind of overcome that.

Everybody remembers all of the travails that Jackie Robinson had to go through, but you hear very little about what Willis and Motley went through and their punishment was physical, as well as mental.

(piano music) - My counterpart, Joe Horrigan and I always said that all due respect to Jackie Robinson, but it happened first in pro-football.

- [Narrator] Brooklyn Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey had contemplated integrating Major League Baseball for quite some time.

He was constantly sizing up race relations and found a good barometer in Cleveland.

- He had watched Bill Willis and Marion Motley in 1946, play pro-football, a contact sport, successfully, and that the fans responded well, and there wasn't on the field incidents.

That gave him the courage as he put it, to invite Jackie Robinson to play in the Major Leagues in 1947.

So, Marion Motley and Bill Willis broke the color barrier in pro-football in 1946, one year before Jackie Robinson.

- [Narrator] Marion Motley and Bill Willis gradually earned the respect of referees, fans, and opponents.

They conducted themselves with remarkable dignity and commendable restraint.

- But the restraint they had to show in playing this wonderful sport had a loophole.

They could run over people.

- [Narrator] Motley once quipped.

They found out that while they were calling us the 'N' word and Gator Bait, I was running for touchdowns and Willis was knocking the snot out of them.

- Call me whatever you want, but I win on this day, and at the end of the day you've got to call me Marion Motley.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Motley, Willis and Robinson not only came to play, they came to win.

The Dodgers took the pennant in '47 while the newly integrated Cleveland Indians with Larry Doby and Satchel Paige, won the world series in '48.

Meanwhile, their fellow Cleveland Stadium Tenants were creating a dynasty in pro-football.

The Browns simply dominated the All-America Conference, winning the championship in each of the leagues four seasons.

But to many in the senior league, AAFC teams didn't play at the same level as the NFL.

The Browns would prove otherwise.

Cleveland joined NFL in 1950 and shocked the football world by defeating the reigning NFL champion, Philadelphia Eagles, in their season opener, and then beat the LA Rams for the league crown.

That year, Motley led the league in rushing.

He and the Browns went on to play in the title game each of the next eight seasons.

Willis and Motley's West coast counterparts did not enjoy the same level of success.

Kenny Washington should have been a superstar but he lasted only three years in the league.

- He had two really good years, but really the injuries had mounted up against him.

- [Narrator] Woody Strode lasted only one year with the Rams.

He came to realize they didn't want him.

"If I have to integrate heaven", Strode lamented years later, "I don't wanna go."

Marion Motley was an integral part of the Cleveland Browns dynasty but his impact extended well beyond football.

- He did so much from a civil standpoint, from a social standpoint, a cultural standpoint.

Taking on the racism and the things that, he and Bill Willis went through.

I think that he knew what he was doing, but at the same time, he was just being himself, playing the game he loved.

But you know, driving forward, making a big stamp on history.

- The Cleveland Browns, they gave African-American youth in particular, heroes.

- Not only was I a tremendous follower of my hometown team but certainly of Marion Motley.

A superlative player who made great plays for the Cleveland Browns, who was an integral part of their winning, and he looked like me.

- Willis and Motley, they had a lot of support in the black community.

The Browns would play at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium and there would be a ton of black people in the stands pulling for Motley and Willis.

- Tens of thousands of black people started attending the games then.

The owners took note of this as the turnstiles are turning a little bit faster.

So, not only did they have excellent players that could help them win, but they also saw the economic benefit as well.

And so other teams I think, began to emulate the Browns.

- [Narrator] In 1955, Motley hung up his cleats for good.

His trailblazing had led to the top of the mountain in professional football.

At just 35 years old, he was not ready to completely walk away.

- When football was over for him he wanted to still be involved in the game.

He really wanted to coach.

- He had the type of personality that maybe, the players would have gravitated to.

- He always thought that he'd be an excellent assistant coach for the Browns, but he never did, he never got the opportunity.

- It was not only Paul Brown who didn't give him a chance.

He tried to get a job with his former teammate Otto Graham with the Washington Redskins of all team, and that didn't fly.

- [Narrator] Eager to prove himself, in 1967, Motley began coaching a women's semi-pro team but that was still not enough for the NFL to give him a shot.

- That hurt Marion.

He knew what he went through to be a player and really felt that not only could he coach but maybe be an inspiration again on another level.

- [Narrator] Motley had broken down barriers for black players only to find many in powerful positions were not ready for a professional black coach.

(upbeat music) In 1968, Motley was awarded the game's highest honor, with his enshrinement into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame, in his hometown of Canton.

True to his character, he remained humble.

- Having been here at the Hall of Fame for many years, I got to know Marion pretty well.

We became friends and spent time together in different social events, usually football related.

- Marion when he was retired, he used to get a lot of his mail sent to the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

- He was bigger than life, he walked into the hall and he always had that big cigar.

- He led with his cigar.

He would come in on Saturdays and he was just talking about what's going on.

It could be politics, it could be how are the Browns gonna be.

Just being around Marion to me was special.

- Seeing films of him on the Gridiron it was amazing.

He was a monster.

But to me, he's just grandfather, real laid back, real chill.

- Everybody in Canton who was black, knew who he was.

He was like our Elvis, I don't know.

Of course people were proud and they should have been.

- [Narrator] Motley was not one to boast about his accomplishments.

His family and friends tended to live with him in the moment and not in his storied past.

- He became so familiar with everybody that they tended to forget who he was in a sense.

This is a guy that did so much for pro-football, that if he was, if he did it in New York, there'd be a building named after him.

There'd be a highway named after him.

But in Canton, Ohio, he was just Marion.

- [Narrator] In 1998, the Hall of Fame honored Motley's '68 enshrinement class.

- He was gonna be introduced to the crowd and he was moving real slow, but he was a real trooper.

We got him up to the field.

He walked out to the field.

He waved to everyone.

But when he came back, I kinda seen he was hurting and I says, "well, it's great that you're here, and man I'll be waiting to see you next year."

And he says, "well, son, I don't know."

He says, "we'll see."

He said, "this is going to be a tough one."

I just knew I wouldn't see him next year.

- [Narrator] After an extended bout with prostate cancer, Marion Motley passed away on June 27th, 1999, at the age of 79.

- He passed in '99 when I was graduating college.

I didn't get enough time with him.

I really wanted to have him see me graduate.

I think very proud of the lineage I have and you know, all he accomplished and I do respect his legacy and you know, honor him.

I have a legacy to uphold.

- [ Narrator] Unfortunately, that legacy seems to be fading into obscurity, even in Canton.

- Well, I think it's important for a community to remember someone like Marion Motley simply because he was the guy who broke the color barriers for the National Football League.

- When Marion was still alive, and he was just such a part of the community, I don't think anybody really thought about what they should do to recognize what he's done for the game and for the city of Canton.

- I had an opportunity to meet him but I never realized he was from Canton.

- I'm now 77 years old.

I wish every day that I could be what Marion Motley was when he was 77 when I met him.

There should be something here for Motley, some way that a youngster in eighth, ninth, 10th grade can look up to and say, "that's what I wanna be like when I grow up."

- If you don't go to the hall to see his likeness you're not gonna see it anywhere here in Canton.

- Recognizing Marion Motley should be kind of a civic duty.

- I mean, this is hometown kid.

- He really needs to be remembered in a really physical way.

- It would be great to have a memorial of my grandfather here in the city of Canton, to represent him and all he accomplished.

- If you grow up in Canton, Ohio, you ought to know who Marion Motley was, and what he did not only as a player, but what he did as a human being.

He should be celebrated far more than he has been.