We remember the 1966 birth of the New Orle ans Saints as a shady quid pro quo between the NFL commissioner and a Loui siana congressman. \;Moving the Chains \;is the untold st ory of the athlete protest that necessitated this backroom deal\, as New O rleans scrambled to respond to a very public repudiation of the racist pol icies that governed the city.
\nIn the decade that preceded the 1965 athlete walkout\, a reactionary backlash had swept through Louisiana\, br inging with it a host of new segregation laws and enough social strong-arm ing to quash any complaints\, even from suffering sports promoters. Nation wide protests had assailed the Tulane Green Wave\, the Sugar Bowl\, and th e AFL&rsquo\;s preseason stop-offs\, and only legal loopholes and a lot of luck kept football alive in the city.
\nStill\, live it did\, and i n January 1965\, locals believed they were just a week away from landing t heir own pro franchise. All they had to do was pack Tulane Stadium for the city&rsquo\;s biggest audition yet\, the AFL All-Star game. Ultimately\, all fifty-eight Black and white teammates walked out of the game to protes t the town&rsquo\;s lingering segregation practices and public abuse of Bl ack players. Following that\, love of the gridiron prompted change. In les s than two years\, the Big Easy made enough progress to pass a blitz inspe ction by Black and white NFL officials and receive the long-desired expans ion team.
\nThe story of the athletes whose bravery led to change qu ickly fell by the wayside. Locals framed desegregation efforts as proof th at the town had been progressive and tolerant all along. Furthermore\, whe n a handshake between Pete Rozelle and Hale Boggs gave America its first S uper Bowl and New Orleans its own club\, the city proudly clung to that ve rsion of events\, never admitting the cleanup even took place. As a result \, \;Moving the Chains \;is the first book to reveal the ramifications of the All-Stars&rsquo\; civil resistance and to detail the Saints&rsquo\; true first win.
\n\nErin Grayson Sapp \;ho lds a PhD in English and American history from Tulane University. She has served as a scholar-in-residence for the Historic New Orleans Collection\, writing for their magazine\, giving talks on local athletics\, and resear ching the Sugar Bowl and Saints-related topics.
\nSponsored by F riends of Hubbell Library
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