Mention the name Jackie Robinson to a sports fan or non sports fan, and there is immediate recognition. The immediate response is Jackie Robinson was the first African American to break color line in major league baseball when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15,1947 ending over fifty years of segregation in the sport. Numerous tributes have honored Robinson's pioneering role, from induction in the baseball Hall of Fame, having his number retired by major league baseball, honoring him with a day each baseball season to being the subject of countless books and movies. Jackie Robinson has become an American hero and icon. For many people he is considered the trail blazer in intergrating professional team sports in America.But he was not the first.

On March 21, 1946, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, signed Kenny Washington to a pro contract. Washington in six games NFL in the fall of 1946, becoming the first African American to break the color line in the league. 

Kenny Washington was a well known sports figure in America. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles{UCLA}, where he was a stellar football player, playing running back and defensive back. He held the total yards rushing record for 56 years at UCLA. He played there from 1939 - 1940. His teammate in the UCLA football back field was ironically Jackie Robinson. Washington and Robinson also played baseball together for UCLA. Washington was considered a better baseball player than Robinson. Washington became the first All American football for UCLA. After college,Washington played for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast Football League which was considered minor league football.

Washington played three years in the NFL on damaged knees due to his many years of football. Despite that, he averaged over 6 yards a carry. He still holds the Los Angeles Rams record for the longest run from scrimmage of 92 yards. Over 80,000 fans attended his final home game with the Rams to honor him.

Despite being a popular athletete, Kenny Washington suffered from the same racial abuse in his NFL career that Jackie Robinson received in baseball. On the field opposing players tried to injure Washington. He was spat at and racially abused by opponents. On the road, fans screamed threats and racial abuse at him. 

And just like Jackie Robinson, he took the racism and survived. He let his play on the field and his attitude off the field rise above it. Washington was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956. He has had a stadium, a street and other honors by the city of Los Angeles, recognizing his accomplshments. 

There is an exhibit in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio that mentions Kenny Washington being the first African American to break the 13 year color line the NFL in 1946. But why isn't he been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member. Washington died in 1971, but his family is around and are hoping their father and relative is inducted in the Prop Football Hall of Fame.

In this moment in time, American history is being rexamined. Many of the wrongs created by racial intolerance are being corrected.  The NFL has been working to try to correct errors of its past. The NFL is considered the number one professional team sport in America. Over 70 percent of its players are African Americans. Kenny Washington paved the way by being the first. The time is long overdue. The signers of this petition are demanding that Kenny Washington be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is the right and just thing to do.