LHS Football (tonight) v. Eagle Rock HS- Kenny Washington Story in L.A. Times

The Lincoln Tigers will host the Eagle Rock Eagles Friday night.

The L.A. Times this week published a story this week about Kenny Washington and the ongoing work that's being done to honor the former Lincoln student athlete who broke the NFL color barrier. "Remembering forgotten hero Kenny Washington," by Bill Plaschke, October 12, 2011, http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-20111012,0,2930677,full.column

A key part of the story tells much about the big picture for Washington,

Mark Shapiro has spent 35 years shouting out yards and numbers to Lincoln fans with a tiny microphone while standing in the seats in front of the marching band. In the most sadly perfect of ironies, on Friday night at a Kenny Washington memorial game designed to raise money to fix this field, he couldn't talk about the honored man because nobody could hear him.

"And believe me, somebody needs to talk about Kenny Washington," said the retired teacher and softball coach.
Welcome to Kenny Washington's house, the home of a man who fought for something that has not fought for him.
On March 21, 1946, Washington signed a contract with the new Los Angeles Rams, making him the first African American in an NFL that had been unofficially segregated the previous 12 seasons.

The former UCLA star, who signed when he was 28 years old and coming off five knee surgeries, lasted just three pro seasons. He retired young, and when he died at age 51 of heart and lung problems, his memory seemingly vanished with him.

"He wasn't in the NFL long enough, so he just faded out of sight," said Jim Tunney, former longtime referee and Lincoln High administrator whose father once coached Washington here. "And now nobody knows what to do with him."

Washington broke his sport's color barrier a year before his former UCLA football teammate Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, yet pro football never retired Washington's No. 13, and his Los Angeles hometown has yet to put his name on any parks or fields.

Read the rest of the story for the current status of the effort to give due notice and honor a person from Lincoln's historic past.