David Willoughby Myers (1906 – March 5, 1997) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He was one of the few

black players in professional American football Details of the history of black players in professional American football depend on the professional football league considered, which includes the National Football League (NFL); the American Football League (AFL), a rival league from 1960 throu ...

prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early years

Myers was born in 1906 in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

, the son of Willoughby Owen Myers and Isabelle Letitia Myers. He attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At Stuyvesant, he starred in football and basketball, won honors as a student, and served as president of the student council.

NYU

He played college football for the

NYU Violets NYU Violets is the nickname of the sports teams and other competitive teams at New York University. The school colors are purple and white. Although officially known as the Violets, the school mascot is a bobcat. The Violets compete as a member o ...

from 1926 to 1929. He was rated as "one of the best running guards in the game."

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

selected Myers as a guard on his 1928 All-America team. 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. In October 1929, he was moved from the guard position to become NYU's starting quarterback. 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 , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. The

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

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." Gallico also wrote a column advocating that NYU play Myers. In the end, NYU agreed not to play Myers when Georgia refused to participate if Myers played. In response to the decision,

Heywood Broun Heywood Campbell Broun Jr. (; December 7, 1888 – December 18, 1939) was an American journalist. He worked as a sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and editor in New York City. He founded the American Newspaper Guild, later known as The Newspaper ...

called NYU a "gutless college with a gutless coach." The game proceeded, and, despite demands from NYU fans in the stands, Myers did not play.

Professional football

He played professional football in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and halfback for the

Staten Island Stapletons The Staten Island Stapletons also known as the Staten Island Stapes were a professional American football team founded in 1915 that played in the National Football League from 1929 to 1932. The team was based in the Stapleton section of State ...

(1930) and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1931). He appeared in 13 NFL games, 11 as a starter. He also played for the Clifton Wessingtons of the Interstate Football League in 1933 and for the Churchill Pros in 1941.

Later years

Myers worked for the New York Department of Welfare's Division of Special Investigations.World War II Draft Card for David Willoughby Myers, born August 6, 1906, in New Bedford, Mass. He died in 1997 at age 90 in

Presque Isle, Maine Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,797 at the 2020 Census. The city is home to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Northern Maine Community College, Husso ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Dave 1906 births 1997 deaths NYU Violets football players Staten Island Stapletons players Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players Players of American football from Massachusetts