Lowell Wesley Perry (December 5, 1931 – January 7, 2001) 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 ...
player and coach, government official, businessman, and broadcaster. He was the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
assistant coach 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), the first African American to broadcast an NFL game to a national audience, and
Chrysler's first African-American plant manager. He was appointed as Commissioner of the federal
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...
(EEOC) by President
Gerald Ford, holding that position from 1975 to 1976. He later served as the director of the
Michigan Department of Labor
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
from 1990 to 1996. He also served on the board of the NFL Board of Charities.
Early years
Perry was born in
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.
As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, an ...
. His father, Lawrence C. Perry, was a dentist who graduated from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1920. Perry was the youngest of four children. He grew up in Ypsilanti, where his father maintained a dental practice and was a respected civic leader.
University of Michigan
![Lowell Perry running](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Lowell_Perry_running.png)
Perry attended the University of Michigan where he studied history.
[ He played at the ]end
End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to:
End
*In mathematics:
** End (category theory)
** End (topology)
**End (graph theory)
** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous)
**End (endomorphism)
*In sports and games
**End (gridiron footbal ...
position for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1950 to 1952. Perry was a two-way player who was a safety on defense and also handled punt returns for the Wolverines.[ After the 1951 season, he was selected as a second-team All-American by the Central Press Association and a third-team All-American by the ]United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...
. He was also rated as the best defensive back in college football during the 1951 season. He was also selected by the Associated Press as a first-team All-Big Ten Player and by the United Press as a first-team player on its All-Midwest team.
In three seasons for Michigan, Perry had 71 receptions for 1,261 yards and nine touchdowns. Perry's three-year career total of 1,261 receiving yards was not exceeded by another Michigan player for a decade until Jack Clancy
Jack David Clancy (born June 18, 1944) is a former American football wide receiver who played for the Miami Dolphins in 1967 and 1969 and for the Green Bay Packers in 1970. He also played in college for the University of Michigan Wolverines f ...
totaled 1,917 yards in four years from 1963 to 1966.[ (statistics may be retrieved by entering "Career" "Receiving" and "Yards" in the menu selections for "Individual Statistical Leaders")]
Perry's highest single-game total came against Indiana in 1951, with five catches for 165 yards. He had two additional touchdown catches against Indiana in 1952. His 165-yard game against Indiana was the Michigan single-game receiving record for 15 years, until Clancy had 197 yards against Oregon State in 1966.[
Perry also returned 42 punts at Michigan for 351 yards, an average of 10.9 yards per return.][
]
Pittsburgh Steelers and military service
Perry was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the eighth round (90th overall pick) of the 1953 NFL Draft
The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts.
This was the seventh year that the first o ...
.[ His professional football career was deferred due to ]Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
(ROTC) obligations. Perry joined the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
, where he achieved the rank of second lieutenant. While serving in the Air Force, Perry played on the Bolling Air Force Team that included Al Dorow
Albert Richard Dorow (November 15, 1929 – December 7, 2009) was an American gridiron football quarterback. He played college football at Michigan State University and professionally in the National Football League (NFL), the American Footb ...
, Tommy O'Connell, and Johnny Lattner
John Joseph Lattner (October 24, 1932 – February 12, 2016) was an American football player. While playing college football for the University of Notre Dame, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1953. He also won the Maxwell Award twice, in 1952 and ...
. Perry was named the outstanding football player in the military.[
In 1956, Perry joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as an end. On his first play for the Steelers, Perry ran 93 yards for a touchdown in a pre-season game against the Detroit Lions.] In his first six NFL games, Perry totaled 14 catches for 334 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard touchdown catch against the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
. Perry also returned 11 punts for 127 yards and nine kickoffs for 219 yards.[
In his sixth regular season game, Perry sustained a fractured pelvis and dislocated hip that forced his retirement. Football writer Mark A. Latterman later wrote about witnessing Perry's career-ending injury:
]A skinny 15 year-old boy and his dad were cheering the Pittsburgh Steelers new rookie star, Lowell Perry as he roared whippet-like around the New York Giants' fabled 1956 defensive line and headed full-throttle for the open field. The boy's cheers turned to tears when Giants' star, Roosevelt Grier
Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier (born July 14, 1932) is an American actor, singer, Protestant minister, and former professional football player. He was a notable college football player for Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective plac ...
crunched Perry from behind and linebacker Bill Svoboda
William Ray Svoboda (July 12, 1928 – June 20, 1980) was an American football linebacker who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Tulane University ...
hit him from the side simultaneously, filling the stadium with a sickening 'crack' which silenced the Steelers' faithful. I will never forget my sadness as the stretcher carried my new hero from the field. Perry's pelvis was fractured, his hip dislocated and he never played pro football again.
Perry was hospitalized at Pittsburgh's Mercy Hospital for 13 weeks after the injury.[ In June 1957, the Steelers hired Perry as the team's ends coach,][ making him the NFL's first African American coach since Fritz Pollard in the 1920s. He worked as a scout for the Steelers in 1958. While working for the Steelers, Perry went to the ]Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit
, image = Holy Gh ...
law school.
Government, broadcast, and business career
Perry received a law degree from Detroit College of Law
The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the ...
in 1960. That same year, he became a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Frank A. Picard (the Michigan Wolverines' quarterback from 1909 to 1910). In 1961, he accepted a job with the Chevrolet Division of General Motors in the personnel department of the gear and axle division. In 1962, he left Chevrolet to prosecute unfair labor practice charges for the National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Na ...
, a position he held until 1963.
In 1963, Perry began a 17-year career with Chrysler. He started as a personnel specialist.
In April 1966, Perry was hired as a color analyst for CBS Television to broadcast Steelers games alongside play-by-play man Joe Tucker.[ He was the first African-American to broadcast an NFL game to a national audience.][
After his stint as a television broadcaster, Perry returned to Chrysler where he became a personnel manager in 1970.][ In 1973, he was appointed the plant manager of Chrysler's Eldon Avenue Axle Plant in Detroit. He was the first African American to hold the plant manager position at a U.S. automobile company.
In 1975, Perry was appointed by President Gerald Ford to be commissioner of the U.S. ]Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...
. At the ceremony in which Perry was sworn in, President Ford spoke and made the following comments:
He first came to my attention when I saw his prowess on the gridiron at the University of Michigan. He made it and I didn't. He was really good and played not only exceptionally well at Ann Arbor but very well for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have known Lowell over a period of time since then. I have always looked at his career, both in Government and with private employment, as an example of what a person can do who has got ability and the desire and the dedication. I think it's, in this instance, Government's gain to have Lowell with us, and Lynn Townsend
Lynn may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Lynn (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Lynn (surname)
* The Lynns, a 1990s American country music duo consisting of twin sisters Peggy and Patsy Lynn
* Lynn ...
probably is losing one of his very finest young people in his Chrysler organization.
He served as EEOC commissioner until 1976. Perry resigned from the EEOC after one year and returned to Chrysler.
Perry returned to government service in 1990 as director of the Michigan Department of Labor
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, a position he held for six years. In March 1996, Governor John Engler
John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he later worked for Business Roundtable, where ''The Hill'' c ...
appointed him as the director of the Office of Urban Programs, a position that he held until his retirement in April 1999.
Family and death
Perry was married in January 1954 and had a daughter and two sons, one of whom is current New York Knicks basketball executive and former University of Michigan coach Scott Perry.[
Perry died of cancer at a hospital in ]Southfield, Michigan
Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618.
As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was original ...
, in January 2001.
See also
* University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs.
References
External links
Perry Bio at Answers.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Lowell
1931 births
2001 deaths
African-American coaches of American football
African-American players of American football
Chairs of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Chrysler executives
Michigan Wolverines football players
National Football League announcers
Sportspeople from Ypsilanti, Michigan
Pittsburgh Steelers announcers
Pittsburgh Steelers coaches
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Players of American football from Michigan
United States Air Force officers
State cabinet secretaries of Michigan
African-American state cabinet secretaries
Detroit College of Law alumni
20th-century African-American sportspeople
Military personnel from Michigan