“Breaking Through the Line” by Terry McConnell (Nodin Press, 230 pages, $19.95)
Most Americans have heard of Jackie Robinson’s integration into professional baseball. Few are familiar with Bobby Marshall (1880-1958), his football counterpart.
Despite being a sports fan and teacher, Shelburne Falls author Terry McConnell didn’t know a lot about Marshall until he found a photograph in his grandfather’s collection that included Marshall. McConnell’s grandfather coached Marshall — and the photograph spurred the author to do some research.
The result was the biography “Breaking Through the Line,” in which McConnell makes the case that all sports fans and most Americans should be aware of this athlete.
McConnell argues that Marshall was the first African-American player in the National Football League. He played in the league’s first game at the age of 40.
An amazing athlete during a time in which athletic seasons were more strictly delineated than they are today, he also played professional baseball for many years and tried his hand at ice hockey.
Marshall attended the University of Minnesota and got a degree in law while playing full time. His legal career was less illustrious than his sports career — in part, McConnell seems to believe, because of prejudice against attorneys of color.
Marshall ended up spending almost four decades at a full-time job as a grain inspector, playing ball on weekends into his 50s. He also managed to coach and raise a family.
In some ways, the book was clearly hard to write. There is no repository of papers belonging to Bobby Marshall. His biographer relies on newspaper accounts and on oral history from Marshall’s grandchildren to fill in the blanks about the athlete’s life.
Those accounts and statements are enthusiastic. Despite the racial prejudice that infused Minnesota as well as the rest of the nation, Marshall seems to have commanded respect and praise from almost everyone he met.
As a non-football fan, I was unable to follow some of the descriptions of games in the book, and clearly the game has changed since Marshall played it.
Nevertheless, it was clear even to me that he possessed extraordinary athletic talent and determination.
McConnell’s book doesn’t whitewash the racism encountered by his protagonist. The author notes that while many whites made a good living from their athletic endeavors, Marshall could never give up his day job.
McConnell also delineates the rise of the Ku Klux Klan during Marshall’s career, noting that the NFL banned Black players (Marshall had been one of a very few) in the 1930s.
Overall, the book makes an eloquent plea for history and the football establishment to pay more attention to this remarkable athlete.
“Breaking Through the Line” may be purchased at the World Eye Book Store in Greenfield, Boswell Books in Shelburne Falls, Barnes and Noble in Hadley, and on Amazon.com.
Terry McConnell will host a virtual book event sponsored by the Arms Library in Shelburne Falls on Zoom on Friday, Feb. 25, to celebrate Bobby Marshall and Black History Month. Anyone who wishes to participate should contact the author at runnerwithasthma@gmail.com and provide an email address.
Tinky Weisblat is the award-winning author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.” Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.