Johnny Bright

At 53 years old, Johnny Bright has this physical status:

Johnny D. Bright (June 11, 1930 – December 14, 1983) was a professional Canadian football player in the Canadian Football League.

He played college football at Drake University.

He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame. Bright was named as a First Team College Football All-American in 1951 and received the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award.

Bright was named Drake University's best football player of all time in 1969.

Bright is the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (No. 1).

43) was resigned by the academy, but ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel named him as one of the best college football players to ever wear No. 93. 43.

In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, was named in his honor.

Bright was named one of the Top 50 players in CFL in November 2006 (No. 10)!

19) of the league's modern history by Canadian sports network TSN. Bright is perhaps best known for his role as the perpetrator of an intentionally planned and Pulitzer Prize winning photo sequence on October 20, 1951, which was later identified as the "Johnny Bright case."

Early life

Bright was the second oldest of five brothers at birth in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on June 11, 1930. In a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Bright lived with his mother and stepfather Daniel Bates, as well as brothers Homer Bright, the eldest, Alfred, Milton, and Nate Bates.

: 13–14, 52

Bright at Fort Wayne's Central High School was a three-sport (football, basketball, track and field) athlete. Bright, a veteran softball pitcher and boxer, helped Central High's football team win a City championship in 1945 and helped the basketball team advance to two state tournament Final Four appearances.

Source

Beginning of college football career

Following his graduation from Central High in 1947, Bright first accepted a football scholarship at Michigan State University, but then, evidently dissatisfie with the Spartans' football program, he transferred to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was granted a track and field scholarship that enabled him to try out for the football and basketball teams. During his collegiate career at Drake, 52 Bright was eventually drafted in football, track, and basketball.

Bright began his collegiate football career in 1949, rushing for 975 yards and throwing for another 975 to lead the nation in total offense during his sophomore year, where the Drake Bulldogs finished their season 6–2–1. The halfback/quarterback rushed for 1,232 yards and passed for 1,168 yards in Bright's junior year, a NCAA record for total offense (2,400 yards) in 1950 and then led the Bulldogs to a 6–2–1 record.

Bright's senior year started with a lot of promise. When the Drake Bulldogs, winners of their previous five games, met Missouri Valley Conference opponents Oklahoma A&M at Lewis Field (now Boone Pickens Stadium) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on October 20, 1951, he was considered a pre-season Heisman Trophy winner and led the nation in both rushing and total offense with 821 and 1,349 yards.

The post-injury and the conclusion of college football careers have caused a lot of frustration.

Bright's jaw injury limited his availability for the remainder of his senior season at Drake, but he finished his college career with 5,983 yards in total offense, averaging better than 236 yards per game, and scored 384 points in 25 games. Despite missing the majority of the Bulldogs' points as a senior, Bright earned 70% of the offense and scored 70% of the Bulldogs' points.

Bright was named a First Team College Football All-American and placed fifth in the 1951 Heisman Trophy voting after his final football season at Drake (1951). Bright received the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award as a result of the season's travels and the Hula Bowl, as well as playing in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl.

Bright was named Drake University's Best Football Player of All Time in 1969. He is also the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (No. 1). By the time, 43 percent of the students had been out of work. Bright received a coveted nomination from ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel as one of the top college football players to ever wear No. 28. 43 years old.

Professional football career

In the first round of the 1952 National Football League draft, Bright was the first pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. Bright lit the football team by opting to compete for the Western Interprovincial Football Union's Calgary Stampeders, the precursor to the Canadian Football Union's West Division.

Bright later commented:

Bright was a fullback/linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders in 1952, leading the Stampeders and the WIFU in rushing with 815 yards in his rookie season. During the 1952, 1953, 1954, and part of the 1954 season, Bright served as a fullback/linebacker with the Stampeders. In 1954, the Calgary Stampeders traded him to the Edmonton Eskimos in mid-season. As a member of the Eskimos, he will have the most success of his professional football career.

Despite the fact that Bright played solely defense as a linebacker in his first year with the Eskimos, he played both offense (as a fullback) and defense for two seasons (1955-1956) and defense for two seasons (1955–1964). He, alongside teammates Rollie Miles, Normie Kwong, and Jackie Parker, all helped the Eskimos win their second Grey Cup title in 1954, 1955, and 1956 (where Bright rushed for a record of 169 yards over the Montreal Alouettes). In 1957, he rushed for eight straight 100-yard games, the season's highest score of 1,679 yards. He rushed for 1,722 yards in 1958. Bright received the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 1959, the first black athlete to be honoured in that position.

During his Canadian career, Brandon was approached by NFL companies about playing in the United States, but it was normal for CFL players like him to have jobs in addition to football, and he had already begun teaching in Edmonton in 1957, the year he moved his family's first season.

Bright retired in 1964 as the CFL's all-time leading rusher (Mike Pringle and George Reed have since surpassed him). Bright played for 10,909 yards in 13 seasons, five seasons in a row, and led the CFL in rushing four times. Although Bright is currently 15th on the all-pro rushing list, his career average of 5.5 yards per carry is the highest among more than 100,000 rushers (Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown is second at 5.2 yards per carry). Bright had a then-CFL record of thirty-six 100-yard games, carrying the ball 200 or more times in five seasons at the time of his retirement. Bright led the CFL Western Conference in rushing four times, winning the Eddie James Memorial Trophy along the way, and was a CFL Western Conference All-Star five seasons from 1957 to 1961. Bright was a fullback/linebacker in 197 consecutive CFL games. Bright's No. 1 is No. 1. At the Eskimos' Commonwealth Stadium in 1983, 24 jerseys were added to the Edmonton Eskimos' Wall of Honour. On November 26, 1970, Bright was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Bright was named one of the Top 50 players in the CFL in November 2006. (No. 1 is a footballer who plays with a helmet). TSN's 19) of the league's modern age.

Post-football career and death

Bright earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education at Drake University in 1952, teaching, tutoring, and school administrator, all during and after his professional football career, with him eventually rising to principal of D.C. Mackenzie Junior High School and Hillcrest Junior High School in Edmonton, Alberta, are two separate schools. He was head coach at Bonnie Doon High School in Edmonton in the 1960s, when the Lancers were a champion football team. From 1978 to 1981, he was also the head coach of the Edmonton Wildcats in the Canadian Junior Football League.

In 1962, he became a citizen of Canada.

On December 14, 1983, Bright died of a massive heart attack at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, while undergoing elective surgery to fix a knee injury suffered during his football career. He was supported by his wife and four children.

Bright is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Edmonton.

Source