PITTSBURGH — The doors were shut. The coaches stood outside. Bobby Grier waited while his teammates came to the only conclusion they felt was right.
In the days following the 1955 regular season, Pitt's players had a choice. The Panthers were invited to play in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech. But the context around that invitation and the actions that followed served as a seminal moment.
On Jan. 2, 1956, Grier became the first Black player to participate in the Sugar Bowl, breaking college football's color barrier in the Deep South. Grier faced political pressure and even acknowledged that if it came to it, he would fake an injury if it meant the Panthers could play in the prestigious game. But Grier held firm and, as he emphasizes to this day, had the unwavering support of his teammates.
"Our team was called to a meeting in Pitt Stadium," former Pitt player Bob Rosborough said on a joint Zoom call with Grier. Rosborough recited head coach John Michelosen's speech from memory as Grier nodded in agreement: As you know, if we accept the bid, our teammate Bob would be the first Black to ever play in the game, and this could set off fairly large political problems. You fellas have to decide what you want to do.
The meeting took two, maybe three minutes.
"We decided that we would not play in the game without our teammate. We wanted Bob to play in that game with us," Rosborough added. "We knew what to do. It was the right decision. Pittsburgh stood proud."
"I was happy that the team decided to play," Grier said. "If I had to, I could've found a reason to be out. But in my mind, I knew my team was going to do the right thing."
Sixty-five years later, Grier, Rosborough and three more teammates were recognized at Heinz Field. During the first timeout of last season's Clemson game, a camera panned to Grier in the North Shore suites while another captured his teammates in the south end zone. Heinz Field's announcer labeled the milestone event as Grier and the Panthers "standing together through controversy."
To this day, Grier and his teammates still discuss the 1956 Sugar Bowl. They lament the result, a 7-0 loss to Georgia Tech. Grier shakes his head whenever asked about the controversial penalty that changed the game. But as the years have gone on, what the Panthers remember most was their resolve in the face of something greater than themselves.
To do what Grier did wasn't easy. The summer before, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy, was lynched in Mississippi. On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks ignited the Montgomery bus boycott. Until that point, Black fans couldn't sit with white fans at Tulane Stadium, the original home of the Sugar Bowl — which had been segregated since its inception in 1935. Southern segregation was a steep mountain to climb.
"Some of my students think of civil rights as inevitable, that it had to happen. They don't understand there were more defeats and losses along the way than victories," said Rob Ruck, a professor at Pitt who specializes in the history of sport. "... Emmett Till's death reached a lot of people. Montgomery reached a lot of people. But a lot of people were reached through sports."
Sugar Bowl officials extended their invitation to Pitt in November 1955 knowing full well that the team included Grier. They let Pitt do what it wanted with its tickets, allowing Blacks and whites to sit together. Grier would not only play, but also be invited to the postgame dinner held for both teams at the St. Charles Hotel, a New Orleans institution.
But Grier's involvement was met with heavy resistance by one man in particular. A day after Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, Georgia Gov. Marvin Griffin addressed the Georgia State Board of Regents by saying: "The South stands at Armageddon. The battle is joined. We cannot make the slightest concession to the enemy in this dark and lamentable hour of struggle." But Griffin wasn't talking about Parks. He had demanded that Georgia Tech not play Pitt because of Grier.
Griffin was widely criticized for his segregationist rhetoric. Students from Georgia Tech, Georgia, Emory and Mercer marched on the state capitol, burning Griffin in effigy, and protested at his mansion. Georgia Tech's president insisted his team wouldn't break the Sugar Bowl contract while Yellow Jacket players, Grier said, treated him with nothing but respect on the field.
The Panthers never wavered, either. Pitt's acting chancellor, Charles Nutting, responded to Griffin's comments succinctly: "No Grier, no game." That approach was mirrored in Pitt's locker room.
The Panthers had just wrapped a stellar season in Michelosen's first year at the helm. Pitt closed out its slate with convincing wins over No. 6 West Virginia and Penn State. During the latter, Grier, a fullback and linebacker, recorded a crucial interception. With a 7-3 record, there were rumors about a potential Sugar Bowl invite. But nothing sunk in until Michelosen informed the players of the invitation and — at the encouragement of the university's administration — allowed them to decide if Grier would join the team in New Orleans.
"We took a vote, and it was obvious," defensive and offensive end Gordy Oliver said. "Either Bobby plays, or we don't go. That was it."
Ultimately, Grier enjoyed his time in New Orleans. He became something of a celebrity despite being restricted from select events. Grier garnered applause before and during the Sugar Bowl and put on a fine performance with a game-high 51 rushing yards. But on the defensive end, a penalty called against Grier proved to be the difference.
Georgia Tech didn't complete a pass all day. But on its second possession, quarterback Wade Mitchell threw a pass from Pitt's 33-yard line to the end zone. Grier was between the receiver and the goal line, Grier ended up on the ground, and the ball sailed over both players' heads. Grier was flagged for defensive pass interference.
Ironically, the back judge that made the call was from Pittsburgh. No one ever suggested the call was racially motivated. But it is one Grier disagreed with. "It was a good game," Grier said afterward. "But believe me: I didn't push that man."
Grier maintains that he didn't commit a penalty. But these days, the 89-year-old doesn't get himself too worked up over it.
Grier, who is a retired U.S. Steel foreman and administrator at Allegheny County Community College, lives with his son and primary caregiver, Rob Jr., in Wexford. In 2017, Grier was diagnosed with stage one lung cancer and required 30 consecutive days of chemotherapy. Now, Grier is almost four years cancer-free.
Grier still gets out to Pitt games and events. The night before the Clemson game, he was recognized at Pitt's hall of fame reception along with Jackie Sherrill, Curtis Martin and other new inductees. And hours before Pat Narduzzi's Panthers kicked off against Dabo Swinney's Tigers, Grier joined his old teammates — Rosborough, Oliver and company — for a tailgate outside Heinz Field.
It was there that the old Panthers reminisced. They shook hands, took pictures. And as they've done for decades, they remembered what Grier did individually and what the team did as a collective — a stand that no one involved will forget.
