The day is Saturday, Oct. 6, 1973, and the Brown Bears are traveling to then-78-year-old Franklin Field to face the Penn Quakers. Sounds like a typical day of college football. However, it was a day that not only helped set the tone for those to follow, it changed the trajectory of Ivy League football for the better.
For the first time in the history of Ivy League football, two Black starting quarterbacks faced each other: Martin Vaughn of Penn and Dennis Coleman of Brown.
Fifty years ago, this signified the ever-growing story of Black quarterbacks. The term was something of a foreign language during the '60s and '70s. While names such as Frederick Pollard, Cornelius Green, Wilburn Hollis and many more prominent figures ring bells, the Ivy League created their own narrative as they :
- Rod Plummer | Princeton ('72)
- Roderic Foster | Harvard ('73)
- Martin Vaughn | Penn ('75)
- Dennis Coleman | Brown ('75)
Faith. Family. Football
Growing up in the 1960s, both Vaughn and Coleman witnessed the effects of racial tension. Residing in different parts of Pennsylvania, the two had very similar upbringings that would guide them to that historic day.
Vaughn was born in Fort Benning, Ga. and raised in McKeesport, Pa. where his father served in the military. Being an army brat, Vaughn was exposed to different cultures from around the world, which prepared him for future interactions. He witnessed his father's reactions to racism in South Georgia and participated in the March on Washington, gaining a better understanding of the world.
"We've been living like on army bases, and you know, there were Black people, there were white people, there were Asian people all in these army bases," Vaughn told krikya18.com. "We were all American. I hadn't been exposed to that."
Coleman was raised in Darby, Pa., by a family of highly accomplished athletes. He grew up among athletic parents, an older brother who played basketball for Villanova, a younger brother who played basketball at Rice, and four athletic sisters. Additionally, his family boasts a three-star general in the Marines. As a multifaceted athlete himself, Coleman carried on this legacy of athletic excellence.
He grew up in a town where the train tracks divided the Blacks and whites. He learned to value family, community and prayer. Playing football, basketball, baseball and running track, Coleman's long-lasting relationship with athletics guided him to his historic moment at Brown.
Strength in Numbers
Before attending an Ivy League, Coleman was initially recruited by USC. Although influenced by All-Star quarterback Jimmy Jones, Coleman's decisions were soon stifled by a few factors — his weight and grades.
"I wanted to play quarterback at USC, but I weighed 149 pounds soaking wet with rocks in my pockets," Coleman said. "So they [USC] said, 'Look, we're gonna send you to this junior college in Yuma, Arizona.' "
From there, Coleman excelled at Arizona Western Junior College, winning 19 straight games after losing his first as starting quarterback and the 1972 JUCO national championship.
As USC and other universities were on Coleman's mind, a mentorship with Pueblo High head football coach served as the introduction to Brown. This turned into receiving handwritten notes with clippings from Coleman's previous football games and heartfelt checkups.
"This guy [Farber] nudged me and he says to me, 'Name is Lou Farber,'" Coleman says. "He says, 'and I understand you're a pretty good student.' I was like, wow, OK. Yeah. He didn't say anything about football and then he told me he was a high school football coach but had played at Brown."
Farber sent handwritten notes with clippings of previous football games and went to lengths of always checking up on Coleman. "How are things going in school?" Farber would ask.
With USC still in mind, the turning point came from a conversation with his philosophy professor who would sell the Brown name.
"He looks at me dead and I get goosebumps every time I tell this story. He looks at me dead in my eye and says, 'You know, if you wanna do and be all those things that we talk about in class, never mind Southern Cal or Iowa State. If you go to school here, you will go to school with the sons and daughters of kings and presidents and the very people who will someday run this country, and that's where you belong," Coleman said.
With parents who backed his decision and wanted him to do what made him happy, Coleman found his way to visit Brown with two-time All-Ivy selection and one of his lifelong friends as his guide. After the two toured campus, Coleman knew that Brown was meant to be.
Similar to Coleman, Vaughn got an early start when it came to football. Introduced to midget football, he learned valuable lessons in discipline, hard work and teamwork. Those skillsets with the McKeesport Little Tigers trickled down to junior high where he shifted toward his quarterback journey.
"I started playing football as a wide receiver, but I could throw the ball while I was a pitcher and a catcher," Vaughn said. I wanted to be a quarterback, so when I went to high school, that's what I did."
Vaughn, like Coleman, eyed different programs such as LSU and Texas. While visiting Penn, a conversation with his best friend convinced him to attend Penn.
We [Bellizeare] talked about coming to Penn and trying to change the culture and trying to change the reputation of the football team," Vaughn said.
Evidently, both Vaughn and Coleman made it to their respective universities after realizations: A chance to make history and a shock at the number of African-American students. This strength in numbers served as the ultimate push behind their triumphs as quarterbacks.
The Power of Brotherhood
If you were to ask Vaughn and Coleman about the historic day years ago, they would not have realized that their names would be etched in the Ivy League history books.
Vaughn's focus, at the time, was balancing his role at quarterback. After talking with head coach Harry Gamble, all odds were in the likes of Vaughn leading up to etching his name in Penn football history books as the first African-American starting quarterback for the Quakers.
"He looked at me and he said, 'But you and I know who the best quarterback is gonna be on that field tomorrow,' " Vaughn recalls Gamble saying. And, I looked at him and I said, yeah, I said, 'I'm not going back to the bench.' "
Gamble's motivation surely proved beneficial as Vaughn went on to become the first African-American starting quarterback at Penn during the Lafayette game before Penn's 28-20 win against Brown.
Returning home to play in front of family and friends at Franklin Field was the excitement behind the day for Coleman. He reminisced on the quaint calls of neighborhood children and family members riddled with excitement to see "Denny" come home to play.
"My excitement quite honestly was that my grandmother was coming to the game," Coleman said. "Being in front of my family, I knew I had to get like 40 tickets or something like that. My father came to the game and, I think my mom came to that game, but it was a beautiful day."
Witnessing what Vaughn said about 12,000 people and a Black section cheering both quarterbacks on, they were able to come to the realization of how impactful that could be on their performances.
"We drew strength and we drew strength on that," Vaughn said. After the game, I mean, just to see another brother standing there, like we had a couple of Black guys on our team that played behind me. We had about six quarterbacks, so I did see other Black quarterbacks, but nobody that I was playing against. And man, I just felt like I had 1,000 questions to ask him and obviously we became friends."
Their friendship turned into a long-lasting one for 50 years and counting. After the game in 1973, Coleman joined Vaughn and Bellizeare for summer workouts. Every time the three met on the field, it was a sense of brotherhood and comradery that stood out.
"Next October, it didn't matter when Martin and Adolph came on the field up at Brown before the game, we met at midfield and started hugging," Coleman said. "One of the coaches for Brown said, 'Why are you doing that? We get ready to play him.' I said, 'It's got nothing to do with it.' I wanna knock his head off when we play, I wanna win, but we're brothers and it was a warm embrace that we had before the game started."
In February, the two were honored at the Ivy Football Association Dinner in New York City and their friendship overflowed that day.
Brown alum and ESPN's Chris Berman graced the mic and painted the picture for 1,100 guests in attendance. Berman talked about the then-upcoming 2023 Super Bowl, where two Black starting quarterbacks were to face each other for the first time. He would then pivot to the monumental day.
"He tells us to stand up. And there was like a little polite, you know, pause and then all the applause, then all of a sudden it just became a roar and a thunder and people stood up in their feet," Vaughn said.
The two had the chance to share the same feeling once more after visiting Franklin Field for this year's Penn-Brown game — a testament to their efforts for Ivy League football. Both Coleman and Vaughn walked away with more to their story, influencing the youth and those behind as pioneers in a once scarce world of Black quarterbacks.
Q1 15:00 | Penn 0, Brown 0
— Penn Football (@PennFB)
Martin Vaughn and Dennis Coleman deliver the special coin toss, as Penn wins and defers to the second half! x
The two continue to walk in the likes of faith, relying on God, friends and family to move them through life and help young men reach greater heights. Vaughn and Coleman opened doors for others to follow, inspiring and guiding future generations ever since that memorable day in 1973.
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