"Every African-American in the NFL today owes a debt of gratitude to George, and I am thrilled that his story is now finally being told." -- from the Foreword, by Tony Dungy, Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts George Taliaferro was a star player on Indiana University's first great football team of 1945, two years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's racial barrier. Four years later, in 1949, he became the first African American drafted by the NFL when the Chicago Bears expressed their interest in him. Rather than play for his childhood dream team, Taliaferro opted to honor the contract he had previously signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the All American Football Conference. However, Taliaferro would eventually go on to play in the NFL for teams such as the New York Yanks, Dallas Texans, Baltimore Colts, and the Philadelphia Eagles. To prepare this book, Dawn Knight combed NCAA and NFL records and conducted numerous interviews with George Taliaferro, his family, former teammates, and Colts coach Tony Dungy. More than a biography of one individual, this is a story of historic achievement and inspiration.