Willie Roy Evans (December 1, 1937 – January 4, 2017) was a running back for the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

in the late 1950s. In 1958, the Buffalo Bulls refused an offer to play

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in the Tangerine Bowl because Evans and backup defensive end Mike Wilson were not welcome to play in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

because they were black. After graduation, Evans was drafted by

Ralph Wilson Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the fo ...

for the inaugural season of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. After his football career, Willie Evans taught in Buffalo area schools for more than 30 years. He coached football, and tennis and swimming, and ran a city parks program for most of that time as well. He served as an adviser for the university's alumni association. Evans died in Buffalo on January 4, 2017, aged 79.

References

External links

Willie Evans, UB Football - University at Buffalo Libraries Digital Collections

"All or Nothing"

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When Buffalo Declined the 1958 Tangerine Bowl Because of Racism
New York Times, November 15, 2008
University at Buffalo Alumni Association 2008-09 Board of Directors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Willie R. 1937 births 2017 deaths African-American players of American football American football halfbacks Buffalo Bulls football players Players of American football from Buffalo, New York Buffalo Bills players

See also

References

External links