John Edward Nisby (September 9, 1936 – February 6, 2011) 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 wi ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, and was one of the first African American players to play for the Washington Redskins.

Early life

Nisby was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and attended Edison High School in Stockton, California. He played college football at

San Joaquin Delta College San Joaquin Delta College (Delta College) is a public community college in Stockton, California. It was founded in 1935 as Stockton Junior College. The college serves a district area that includes all of San Joaquin County and parts of Alameda, ...

and at the University of the Pacific. He earned his master's degree from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Professional career

Nisby was drafted in the sixth round (70th pick overall) of the

1957 NFL Draft The 1957 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on November 26, 1956, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia and its final twenty-six rounds on January 31, 1957 at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel also in Philadelphia. This wa ...

by the Green Bay Packers. He played for eight seasons in the NFL, and was named to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1959, 1961, and 1962. While playing for the Steelers, Nisby worked with the

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

to work for equal employment policies in companies that did business with the Steelers. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, Nisby became one of the first African American players (along with Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Jackson) to play for the

, the last team in the NFL to integrate. That year, Nisby and Mitchell became the first black Washington Redskins players to be named to the Pro Bowl.

Life after the NFL

When the Redskins released Nisby in 1964, he retired from football and became Director of the "College Readiness Program" at San Joaquin Delta College. He was also a City Councilman in Stockton, California. In 1987, Nisby was made a member of the Stockton Black Sports Hall of Fame. Nisby died on February 6, 2011 in Stockton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nisby, John 1936 births 2011 deaths American football offensive guards Pacific Tigers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Washington Redskins players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Deaths from pneumonia in California Delta College Mustangs football players