Erica Ahmed, Founder of Negro League Football, LLC | A Historical Excursion
By David Jordan Jr
History is forever. History can never be changed, nor can it be erased. The history of sports in the United States of America is profound in the impact race has had on the participation of sports played in this country. The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1963, freed Black Americans from the shackles of slavery, but they were still denied the opportunity to participate in organizations and sports with fellow white Americans due to segregation and Jim Crow laws. The reality of segregation and separation forced Black Americans to create their own organizations, clubs, and sports leagues. One sports league that Black Americans created was Negro League Football. Like Negro League Baseball, which was founded in 1920 by Andrew “Rube” Foster to provide an opportunity for Black Americans to play professional baseball, Negro League Football was founded after Black Americans were excluded from the National Football League in 1927. With teams playing in various regions across the United States of America, Negro League Football provided Black Men the opportunity to play the game of football on a professional level. Erica Ahmed, founder of Negro League Football, LLC has embarked upon a journey to share the history of the league and to educate the world about its impact on the game of football and how its inception led to the reintegration of the NFL. Erica recently spoke to ESHE about Negro League Football, the history of the league, and the importance of the legacy of Negro League Football.
David Jordan Jr: You have a deep connection to Negro League Football. Could you share with us how your life is connected to Negro League Football?
Erica Ahmed: Negro League Football is a part of my family’s story. My grandfather was a quarterback for the Harrisburg Trojans in 1941, the year they won the Negro World Championship against the Brown Bombers in Harrisburg, PA. I was shocked when I heard this. My grandfather was one of the first African Americans to become a licensed Certified Public Account in the state of Pennsylvania, a jazz musician who started his own band, a WWII veteran, Commander of the local legion, an HBCU (Bluefield State University) and Ivy League (University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School) alum and so much more. I’d only heard fragments of his football history — quiet mentions of men who played for the love of the game when the world refused to see their greatness. Those fragments became my calling.
Founding Negro League Football, LLC was my way of honoring my grandfather, his brothers who played with the Trojans as well countless others whose stories have been forgotten, erased or buried. This project isn’t just a historical pursuit; it’s deeply personal. It’s about restoring dignity and recognition to men who built opportunity from exclusion. For me, it’s an act of remembrance, restoration, and truth-telling.
David Jordan Jr: As you’ve explored your grandfather’s history as a player in the Negro League Football and the history of the league, what has surprised you in your research?
Erica Ahmed: Several things have really surprised me.
The first is how much was lost to time—and how deeply that loss affects our understanding of this history. Team names, game scores, player rosters, oral histories: many of these were never recorded or preserved. I’ve uncovered stories of teams whose existence is barely noted in archives; I’ve found inconsistencies in dates and names. Even finding photos is rare. What’s also surprising and uplifting is how resilient the memory in Black communities remains. Oral histories from elders, small newspapers, family documents; these are often the only sources. That mix of fragility and resilience has taught me how important this work is.
Also noteworthy is just how expansive Negro League Football actually was. People often assume it was small or localized, and in some ways it was. Still, it also stretched across the country from the East Coast to the West Coast and many places in between, such as Knoxville, Tennessee (Black Vols) with formal teams, community sponsorships, and legitimate fan bases.
The professionalism and pride of these teams displayed despite facing constant barriers is inspirational. Teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, founded by Fritz Pollard and Dr. Albert C. Johnson, and the Harrisburg Trojans were not makeshift operations; they were strategically run, well-coached, and fiercely competitive.
And then there are the stories that humanize it all — like those of Sammy Bruce from Seattle, who went from being a community football star with the Ubangi Blackhawks, then on to North Carolina A & T, a historically black university in Greensboro, NC, to becoming one of the first Black pilots to die in combat as a Tuskegee Airman. Those are the intersections that stunned me, where sport, academia, courage, and civil rights all collide in the life of one man, and for sure, Mr. Bruce was not the only one.
David Jordan Jr: One of the intriguing facts is the location of teams on the west coast. What were some of the teams that were in the league outside of the initial region?
Erica Ahmed: The West Coast had a vibrant and under-documented presence in Negro League Football. Teams like the Los Angeles Wildcats, a semi-pro Negro Football team produced outstanding players like Jolting Joe Perry who would go on to play for the San Franciso 49ers. The Ubangi Blackhawks in Seattle were perhaps the most sensational team of their time, emerging from a rich local sports culture that included the Italian Club Lions, Uptown Athletic Club, and West Seattle Yellowjackets.
The Ubangi Blackhawks, managed by Bruce Rowell and sponsored by nightclub owner E. Russell “Noodles” Smith, were made up of outstanding athletes like Brennan King, Dan Allen, John Burton, and of course, Sammy Bruce. They were so dominant that they went six straight games without allowing a single score.
Out west, these teams often carried multiple identities; they were athletic clubs, community builders, and symbols of Black excellence in the face of exclusion. Their impact extended beyond football; they were hubs of empowerment for the Black community in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest.
David Jordan Jr:. What has the journey to retrieve and share Negro League football taught you?
Erica Ahmed: It’s taught me that history doesn’t hide, it waits for someone to care enough to look. The journey has been one of patience, discovery, profound gratitude, and an occasional tear. Every clipping, every faded photograph, every forgotten name I’ve uncovered has reminded me that this story matters.
It’s also taught me that this work is bigger than sports. It’s cultural preservation. It’s about restoring rightful place and pride. It has made me more determined than ever to ensure that young people, especially young Black athletes, know that their lineage of strength, resilience, and brilliance didn’t begin with the modern NFL. It began here.
David Jordan Jr: How do you feel Negro League Football impacted the National Football League (NFL) and opportunities for Black players?
Erica Ahmed: Negro League Football laid the groundwork for integration and professional opportunity. Before the NFL began reintegrating Black players in 1946, these leagues demonstrated that Black athletes could not only compete but excel strategically, athletically, and organizationally.
The existence of Negro League teams put pressure on the NFL to recognize talent that could no longer be ignored. Athletes like Fritz Pollard and Charles Follis set powerful precedents, proving that the exclusion of Black players wasn’t about ability; it was about access.
So, in many ways, Negro League Football forced a national reckoning. The NFL’s diversity today — though imperfect — stands on the shoulders of those men who refused to accept invisibility.
David Jordan Jr: What is the everlasting legacy of Negro League Football?
Erica Ahmed: The legacy is perseverance. It’s innovation born from exclusion. Negro League Football was about carving out space where none existed and doing it with style, courage, and excellence. Negro League Football was the blueprint. Its legacy lives in every athlete who plays with purpose, every coach who leads with vision, and every community that rallies around sport as a means of transformation. But it also lives in the stories we tell, because stories sustain memory. Through Negro League Football, LLC, I want to ensure that these athletes are remembered not as footnotes, but as forefathers and pioneers, visionaries who changed the landscape of American sports long before they were ever acknowledged.
About Negro League Football, LLC
Negro League Football, LLC is a historical and educational initiative founded by Erica Ahmed to research, preserve, and promote the untold story of Black professional and semi-professional football between the 1930s and 1940s. Through community engagement, archival preservation, and storytelling, the organization brings long-overdue recognition to the trailblazing athletes and teams who redefined American sports history. Visit: www.thenegroleaguefootball.com
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