B.B.C. B.B.C. . And now sporting witness in $169.00 the removal of 14 African-American players from the University of Wyoming football team sparked a national debate and saw fraught racial politics collide with college football in the small town of Laramie Robert Nicholson has been speaking to Jay Barry one of the players now known as the black 14. Other bail everybody. Ready for the car it's $969.00 and the University of Wyoming football team the Cowboys are undefeated in the season but in October of that year the team is suddenly thrown into disarray by a dramatic announcement. From the great. America Wyoming's 14 African-American players had all been kicked off the team for wearing black armbands to a meeting with the head coach ahead of a game with the Mormon Brigham Young University they had wanted to express a desire to protest the racist policies of the Mormon Church at that time which barred African-Americans from the priesthood. Jay Barry was in his 1st year playing for the team but was already emerging as a starter Fender unlike some of his teammates he was not determined from the start to make a political stand but he became concerned after other players shared their experiences of having been treated badly in a past game against Brigham Young and they told me yeah they they you know they turned on sprinklers before blacks could even get off the field to cleanse the ground I don't think and what are you talking about this is what I was hearing so this is why I wanted to say or check with the coach and say Is this true is this really true going into the game in 1016 on the team was on a high after 4 wins and 4 games the team was now ranked 12th overall in the country we started boring people out you know 37 a 3 am and you know things of that nature you know you feeling like you're invincible a big part in the success of being played by culturally. He was known as a stand disciplinary but he never had a losing season with the Cowboys you have to understand the Lord missed him he did what he wanted to do and he did it in the way he wanted to do it on the Friday morning before the game the 14 players gathered at 9 30 am put on black armbands and walked over to coach Floyd Eaton's office jay walked beside his friend fellow defensive player Tony McGee Tony said to me he turned to me and we laugh about this now he said you know this could be it and I said What do you mean this could be it he said well we might all be kicked off the team and I said What do you mean kicked off the team were undefeated We're doing great we you know we're going to go over here and talk to him and everyone knew he the coach was going to have the last say but surely we can appeal to him so when Tony told me that I was still in shock I mean I can move the big snowflakes coming down what the coach did next times the mild protest into a national firestorm we went over with armbands on. We walked in and then all hell broke loose who speaks 1st he when into this spiel of were it not for me he said all of you would be all Negro or colored relief at Grambling a margin state starving to death from this moment on you'll never play another down in football for the University of Wyoming we didn't have a chance to say anything when a player tried to say something he was say shut up shut up and just listen Fritz Sherman he was our defensive coach Hart Sargent type guy who just was tough as nails he started crying when eaten lit into us he tears just started rolling down his face but his his job was connected to eating so there wasn't much he could do they were quiet too they didn't say anything but I was 19 just could just cannot believe this was happening. And I've been in disbelief for 47 years now the news spread fast and the media descended on Wyoming nationally a backlash against Eaton began quickly but the state rallied around the country according to story line to mass in the team's hometown of Laramie football was almost a religion you have to imagine games being played in blinding blowing snow temperatures near 0 degrees and they would still bring tens of thousands of people to the stadium in Laramie for those games 10 percent of the state's population could could fit in that stadium the knee jerk reaction Wyoming was overwhelmingly in support of the coach's decision will be I fail to see why the racial issue should even be discussed in this manner local radio pundits wading in support of heated gene we all know. Better than anything that every one of many and I'm going . To get married was that you really don't think that because here to make this. The university would report. Over $20000.00 telegrams petition signatures letters sent in on on the issue and the university indicated that 98 percent of that correspondence was in favor of the coach as the town timed on the plan is Jay Barry and his team mates felt the brunt of it and then we started getting threats on the lives we would consider certainly does the bad guys and the state rallying around their football coach all kind of demonstrations on their part the rebel flag popped up the football game and the searing count of variant of but outside Laramie the national pressure made a big impact B.Y.U. Began to integrate its football team in 197-5978 the Mormon Church reversed its stance on black priests This was not the beginning of the B.Y.U. Pro. Test it this would not be the end of the B.Y.U. Protest but this was the place where it sort of flourished and I think that was a turning point in public opinion that that represented the end for B.Y.U. Unless it it began to pursue integration even though the players again were engaging it wanted to engage in a protest that was very mild by the standards of 1989 Wyoming had won the now white game against the Y U and then the following game against San Jose State but lost the rest of the games that season having lost many of his stars and struggling to recruit other black players already since Team collapse the following year and he was fined the legacy of his actions in one arm and lost it would have been one for the signs of the country became an afterthought for decades it was an unusual decline it was a decline that was clearly linked to the loss of the black players it was a program that collapsed in dramatic fashion the effect on the players was no less significant for Jay Berry finished his education elsewhere and went on to become a successful broadcaster his promising playing career was over almost as soon as it had begun Is there a lot of frustration for you that how Coach Eaton reacted put an end to your career that you don't play college football you from of competitive standpoint I wanted to measure up see where I was that no one ever knows what you know your life has in store for you down the road but say wow and for all of us who were part of that team what could have been what does it mean to you now to have been one of the black 14 honestly still. A feeling of be will do me that after all this time. It's hard to believe. We stood tall we don't feel like we did anything wrong to ask a question can of I would have changed anything. You know to go over and find out from the guy who professed to be my my search surrogate author in a way. To go over and ask a question you know hey dad is really like do they really really do those things oh wow you know I mean I really wanted to play that game Jay Perry ending next edition of sporting witness it was a whistle down production for the B.B.C. World Service this is the B.B.C. 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