The Black 14's Bleachers

The 1969 Wyoming football team started their season strong. Undefeated in the WAC conference and standing 6-0, the Cowboys appeared poised for a championship run. That trajectory changed quickly on October 17, when fourteen Black players approached Coach Lloyd Eaton with the idea of wearing black armbands to protest Brigham Young University and racial discrimination associated with the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Church. The request was peaceful and symbolic, part of a national movement of student-led activism.   

Coach Eaton led the players to the bleachers, a space enclosed by a railing that wraps tightly around the seating area. This physical layout created a sense of confinement, making the players literally and symbolically contained. Standing at the railing, Eaton positioned himself as a barrier, asserting authority over the space and the men. He dismissed all fourteen players from the team. His decision was immediate, absolute, and there was no space given for dialogue. John Griffin, a starting slot receiver, said, “He wouldn’t even let us talk. He just said ‘forget it; your scholarships and all’.” The scene communicated a powerful rhetorical message that Black athletes were not permitted to exist in an equal relationship to institutional authority. What began as a request for a simple act of solidarity turned into a defining moment in UWyo history. 

Contributed by Alyssa King