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NFL keeping watch on return of HBCUs to national prominence

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Willie Davis, center, is flanked by Bart Starr, left, and Chicago Bears' Mike Pyle, right, at an awards dinner in Chicago, July 9, 1967. There are 33 players from HBCUs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but many of them played during their halcyon days in the 1960s and ‘70s. That's when Eddie Robinson's juggernaut at Grambling State was producing future Packers star Willie Davis, Bears offensive tackle Ernie Ladd and Buck Buchanan, whom the Chiefs picked first overall in the 1963 AFL draft. (AP Photo/Charles Harrity, File) FILE - Junious "Buck" Buchanan lifts Dallas Texans coach Hank Stram as they engaged in a bit of horseplay after the big tackle from Grambling College in Louisiana signed a contract with the American Football League club, Dec. 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs and their visionary coach, Hank Stram, realized more quickly than perhaps any team in the AFL or NFL that players from historically black colleges and universities were good.(AP Photo/FK) FILE - Los Angeles Rams cornerback Decobie Durant (14), who played at South Carolina State, warms up before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. Four HBCU players were drafted this year, three more than the previous two years combined. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File) FILE - Junious "Buck" Buchanan smiles during induction ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 1990. During the 1960s, the Kansas City Chiefs realized quicker than any team in the AFL or NFL that players coming out of historically black colleges and universities were really good. So they drafted them, and Buck Buchanan and Emmitt Thomas and the many others helped to form the backbone of two Super Bowl teams. (AP Photo/File) FILE - Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams smiles after a preseason NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, in Chicago. Kansas City used a fourth-round pick last April on defensive back Joshua Williams. It was the highest pick of any team in several years used on an HBCU player. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)
NFL keeping watch on return of HBCUs to national prominence