LARAMIE – On October 17, 1969, the Wyoming football team was 4-0, ranked in the Associated Press top 25 for the fourth consecutive season and was widely considered a formidable power in college football. By season’s end, the Cowboys would be 6-4 and on the verge of a two-decade exile from the top 25.

Long before Colin Kaepernick took a knee, 14 black members of the UW football team took a stand against racial injustice. Namely against Brigham Young University and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ treatment of blacks. At that point in time, the LDS church did not allow black persons to attain priesthood.

The tension and mistreatment were evident during a 1968 matchup between UW and BYU in Provo, Utah. UW’s black players were subjected to racial slurs en route to a 20-17 win, as remembered by Cowboys flanker back Guillermo Hysaw.

“There was gouging and the usual name calling, the ’N’ word, etcetc.,” recalled Hysaw during a recent visit to UW for a Black History Month panel discussion. “The question we had, ‘What did that have to do with football? Why did they use that as a platform to espouse their religious views?’ It had no place on the gridiron.”

One day before the two teams’ 1969 matchup in Laramie, 14 black players approached then UW head coach Lloyd Eaton to ask whether they could wear black armbands in protest during the game.

They were dismissed from the team by Eaton on the spot. The loss of their positions on the team, however, was not the end.

“Then he said, ‘I want to see you guys in the field house,’” recalled Tony McGee, who went on to play in two Super Bowls for the Washington Redskins, winning one. “He told us that half of us didn’t even know who our fathers were, to go to the Gramblings and the Morgan States of the world. The thing about it was, every time someone tried to speak, he screamed, ‘Shut up!’ He never even gave us consideration.

Wyoming went on to beat BYU, 40-7, without the Black 14, but the damage had been done. In the remaining five games, the Cowboys would go 1-4 while being outscored 136-66. UW had lost only five games in the previous three seasons combined.

John Griffin, who was then a flanker bank, said that Eaton’s rash decision would tarnish the program thereafter.

“It not only affected us, but it affected the University of Wyoming. In order for the University of Wyoming to be competitive across the country, you have to be able to attract blue-chip players. The incident pushed away any blue-chip player that even considered coming here. They didn’t want to come here and be part of the environment created by one man – the coach.”

Eaton would coach one more season at UW, finishing 1-9 in 1970, including a 23-3 loss to BYU.

“We never got a chance to protest against Brigham University before he just out lashed all of a sudden and said we could go back to the colored and negro leagues – the Gramblings and the Morgan States. Man, that was really a shock to me. He jumped the gun and he told us we were no longer Cowboy football players. It has been haunting me ever since.”

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“I was angry for quite a while. I was disappointed in terms of the outcome, in terms of a person who perceived us as outcasts or militants. All we wanted to do was talk to him about wearing an armband. The immediate impact was that I was a young man that became a man. My whole life was altered in about five minutes. We as a group decided a long time ago that we were not going to be defined by the incident.”

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“My objection was to how we were treated on the field. Some others were protesting other things. (Head coach Lloyd Eaton) just let us know that no matter what it was, he just didn’t care how we felt. We really had nowhere to go. If he said take (the armbands) off, we would have taken them off. When he came out, he said, ‘I am going to save you a lot of time and breath – as of this moment you are no longer a Wyoming Cowboy football player.'”

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“Well, initially we were shocked. There’s no doubt about it. We tried to interject some options and he would shut us down by saying, ‘Shut up.’ We just got punished for something we wanted to discuss. It was dehumanizing. Eaton wouldn’t give us an opportunity to discuss that. Over the years, the first 15, I could not even watch a football game – pro, high school, college, nothing. It just hurt because I knew I still had some play in me. I got angry and more angry the more I thought about it. When you are called upon to do something for your people, no matter how much it hurts, you have to do you part. I asked myself what my father would do, what my mother would do. I stuck with my guns and I made my decision. I, for one, and many of the 14, are determined to put a good spin on our experience. We want to make peace by sharing our story. Most all of us became successful. No matter how hard life is, we are going to instill that we need to stand tall. My hope is to change this racist atmosphere that we are in as a country.”

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“The effect and immediate reaction was one of being in awe. Totally unexpected. Then a feeling of sadness and regret. Then curiosity. What enraged? What infuriated him and made him feel that he had to approach us and talk to us in the manner that he did. I still don’t have the answers because obviously coach Eaton died. There’s still speculation around what provoked that whole situation from him walking in and pronouncing that he can save us a lot of time and trouble, ‘and as of now you’re all through.’ (I am) still troubled by that to the point that there won’t be any closure. I knew there was another path for me. My goal was to use football to get my education. I was fortunate enough to get my undergraduate degree at Oakland (Michigan) University. Later in life, I went back and got my Master’s degree, MBA and my advanced MBA in finance, economics and marketing. I worked at General Motors and was one of their highest ranking executives. I have been blessed. The real gift out of all of this is the other players that I have come to know.”

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“I was shocked and dumbfounded when i heard the words come out of his mouth. I would say everyone used that word one time or another. We weren’t anticipating that at all. He just completely cut us all off. It ended right there much to everyone’s surprise. I don’t think anything like that had ever happened to me. There are certain words that you hear growing up. I just couldn’t believe an adult would speak to a bunch of young men like that. To bring them to a place that you never thought would be possible. Especially by a football coach. A person you are supposed to look up to. Nobody came to our aid. It was just over with. That’s the part that bothers me. It just ended. We couldn’t have a discussion or come to an agreement. We just wanted to ask if we could wear the armbands in the game. If he had said no, we would agree with him and just play the game.”

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