Charles W. Follis, also known as “The Black Cyclone,” was the first black professional football player. He played for the Shelby Blues of the “Ohio League” from 1902 to 1906. On September 16, 1904, Follis, a six-foot, 200 pound athlete in both football and baseball, signed a contract with Shelby making him the first black contracted to play professional football. He was also the first black catcher to move from college baseball onto a black professional baseball team.
Like other players who integrated sport teams, Follis faced discrimination. Players on other teams targeted Follis with rough play that resulted in unnecessary injuries. At a game in Toledo in 1905, fans taunted him with racial slurs until the Toledo team captain addressed the crowd and asked them to stop. In Shelby, Follis joined his teammates at a local tavern after a game; the owner denied him entry. At the Thanksgiving Day game of the 1906 season, Follis suffered a career-ending injury.
Background
Follis was born February 3, 1879, in Cloverdale, Virginia and later moved to Wooster, Ohio, with his family where he attended Wooster High School and participated in organizing and establishing the first varsity football team. He played right halfback and served as team captain on a squad that had no losses that year. In 1901 Follis began his Freshman year at Wooster College but decided to play for the amateur Wooster Athletic Association, rather than the college squad. It was as a member of the Wooster Athletic Association that he earned the nickname, “The Black Cyclone.”
At the end of the 1901 season, Wooster played the Shelby Blues in a two game series. Follis’ performance brought him to the attention of the Shelby team manager, Frank C. Schiffer, who decided he wanted Follis to play with his team, not against them. He secured Follis for his team and set him up with a job at a local hardware store. Charles’ working hours were arranged so that he could both practice and play football. During the 1902 and 1903 football seasons, Follis played for Shelby. During a 58-0 win over a team from Fremont, Follis ran for a 60-yard touchdown.
Follis was also the first black catcher to move from college baseball into the Negro Leagues. During the 1901 and 1902 seasons, while playing for Wooster University, Follis became well known in the Ohio college circuit. In 1902, he left Wooster University and by 1909 he was catching for the Cuban Giants. He became the Giants’ star catcher, their leading slugger and their most popular player. Follis was credited with many stolen bases, double plays, and even two triple plays in his career but had a better reputation as a power hitter. On May 16, 1906, Buttons Briggs, a pitcher formerly of the National League’s Chicago Cubs, was brought in to pitch against the Giants. This moved was intended to intimate the team, since Briggs won 20 games in 1905. However Follis, as the lead-off batter in the first inning, first ball hit a home run off the former major league star’s first pitch. He completed the day with four-for-six against Buttons.
Tragically, in 1910, Follis died at the age of 31, from pneumonia. After Follis, only five black men appeared in the play-for-pay version of football during the pre-NFL years. The next to emerge was Charles (Doc) Baker. Baker, who earned his nickname while serving as an aide to an Akron, Ohio, physician, played half back for the Akron Indians from 1906 until 1908, and a final season in 1911.
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