On National Black Voter Day, more than 50 HBCU legends and football trailblazers
joined the long list of athletes who have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and
Governor Tim Walz, highlighting their “integrity, values and demonstrated commitment
to justice and equality of opportunity” for motivating their support. These trailblazing
Black athletes’ and coaches’ endorsement comes as the Harris-Walz campaign utilizes
high male-viewership events such as major college football matchups, NFL games and
soccer matches to reach voters where they are.
More than 50 former football players and coaches, including several Pro Football Hall of
Famers and Super Bowl MVP’s, announced their endorsement of Vice President Kamala
Harris and Governor Tim Walz in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The group
represents 25 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) and consists of 10
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, two Super Bowl champions and MVPs, former No.
1 overall picks and some of the first Black athletes and coaches to break the color barrier.
The announcement was rolled out on National Black Voter Day, an initiative aimed at
getting Black Americans registered to vote by November. The initiative is led by Black
Entertainment Television (BET), a division of Paramount, which partnered with 40 civic
organizations, including the NAACP and National Urban League.
It also follows Harris’ appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists in
Philadelphia, where she was asked about her standing among Black men. A recent poll
conducted by the NAACP found roughly a quarter of young African American men
under 50 support former President Donald Trump, while about half back Harris.
Nate Burleson of CBS Mornings said, “Me and my friends have group chats. And one of my group chats is friends I grew up with — all Black men. And we have this evolution that has happened that I was really proud of. When the debate was going on between
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump, we were all texting about the debate. And I would not have thought 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago, that a group chat that usually texts about football games and basketball games would be talking about the debate and who we were going to vote for, so I love what BET is doing.”
On ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith said, “You know something— you know something, they call this the Mecca. They call this the Mecca. This is where Thurgood Marshall attended school, where Chadwick Boseman attended school. This is where the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, attended school.”
In their letter provided exclusively to Forbes, the athletes emphasized the importance of
having an HBCU graduate occupy the White House. However, they urged other voters
not to have blind faith in the candidates.
“We encourage all citizens to study the candidates and issues and make their own
judgments. We have done so and are inspired and proud of the leadership that President
Harris and Vice President Walz will provide,” the letter said. “But throughout our
careers, we have competed on the merits, and we respect the rights of others to compete
now and reach their own conclusions about candidates.”
The signatories include Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Richard Dent, Super Bowl
XX MVP, who attended Tennessee State University; Art Shell, a Maryland Eastern
Shore alum who was the NFL’s first Black head coach in modern history; former Green
Bay Packer and Super Bowl champion Donald Driver, who attended Alcorn State; and
NFL coach and Super Bowl champion Leslie Frazier, another Alcorn State alum, Greg
Coleman, the first Black punter in the NFL; James “Shack” Harris, the first Black full-
time starting NFL quarterback; Willie Lanier, the first Black starting MLB in the NFL;
Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to start, win and also be named MVP of a
Super Bowl; and so many more.
