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The Lead Walter Highsmith s football career may not have truly taken off until after he left the Broncos and entered the Canadian Football League, but the former offensive lineman still remembers the memorable 1968 season he was part of in Denver. That year, two Broncos broke two pro football color barriers. The most notable was that of Marlin Briscoe, who became the first Black player to start at quarterback, but Highsmith also made history in his own right as the first Black player to start at center. The way that modern pro football integrated after the dissolution of an informal ban on Black players that lasted from 1933-46, African-Americans broke the color barriers at certain positions but not at others, like quarterback, inside linebacker and center. Those positions were considered the most cerebral, and racist stereotypes of the time dictated that African-Americans weren t qualified to play those positions. ....