Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers from the NFL Draft to the Ivory Tower (Quarry Books) - Hardcover

"Knight paints a portrait of a young man who overcame the obstacles of racism, the military draft, and the death of his father. His vehicle for climbing over obstacles was athletic prowess and inner strength." Jim Baumgartner, College Football Hall of Fame

George Taliaferro was a star quarterback on Indiana University's first great football team of 1945, two years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's racial barrier. Four years later, in 1949, he became the first African American drafted by the NFL when the Chicago Bears expressed their interest in him. Rather than play for his childhood dream team, Taliaferro opted to honour the contract he had previously signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the All American Football Conference. However, Taliaferro would eventually go on to play in the NFL for teams such as the New York Yanks, Dallas Texans, Baltimore Colts, and the Philadelphia Eagles. To prepare this book, Dawn Knight combed NCAA and NFL records and conducted numerous interviews with George Taliaferro, his family, former team-mates, and Colts coach Tony Dungy. More than a biography of one individual, this is a story of historic achievement and inspiration.