Darryl Hill
Another milepost in the struggle for equality didn’t garner the same attention that year, yet it carried as much social and cultural significance as anything else: Darryl Hill, a wide receiver for the University of Maryland, became the first African-American athlete to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“College football in the South was god,” says Hill, who was honored at several events marking the 50th anniversary of the breakthrough. “The stadiums where those teams played were like temples where fans worshipped this god. When a Black man came on the field, it was like desecrating the temple, and they hated that.”
Hill, 69, was no stranger to being a pioneer when he enrolled at Maryland. The native Washingtonian previously was the first Black student to play football at D.C.’s famed Gonzaga High School and the first to play for the Naval Academy’s freshman team (where he caught passes from Roger Staubach).
But after Hill decided that military life wasn’t for him, Maryland assistant coach Lee Corso asked him about signing with the Terrapins.
“I asked Corso if he was aware what conference Maryland was in,” Hill says. “I thought he was joking. They were barely letting Blacks into the school, let alone play sports.”
Hill had mixed feelings about accepting the invitation, but not because he feared hostility. “I didn’t want to be under the microscope,” he says. “I didn’t mind being a groundbreaker, and I knew I could do the job. It was the effect it would have on my lifestyle; my reticence was based on my desire to party.”
