Tennessee football’s first black player speaks to Vols

The first Tennessee football Volunteers African American addressed the team.

This year’s Tennessee football team just got a bit of a history lesson. Lester McClain, the first black player to ever see the field for the Vols, spoke to the program and gave them advice about how to pursue their time in college.

McClain, who played receiver under Doug Dickey and Bill Battle from 1968 to 1970, was introduced by current wide receivers coach Tee Martin. Obviously, Martin is an African American legend, and legend in general, in his own right by leading UT to the 1998 national championship as its quarterback.

Not only was McClain the first African American on Rocky Top, but he was one of the first in the SEC. The Vols were the second school in the league to integrate after the Kentucky Wildcats. Video highlights of McClain’s speech were posted on the Tennessee football Twitter account.

During his three years with UT, McClain caught 70 passes for 1,003 yards and 10 touchdowns. He added 10 carries for 123 yards, and he had eight kickoff returns for 168 yards, all of which came during his senior season.

Rocky Top had a three-year record of 28-5-1 with McClain on the team, winning the 1969 SEC Championship and then going 11-1 with a top five finish and Sugar Bowl win in 1970, Battle’s first year on the job. Coming out of Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., McClain was listed as a wingback on the team but would be considered a receiver by today’s standards.

In attendance for the speech was athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who was a teammate of McClain’s in 1969 and 1970. This was a period of rapid integration, and the Vols were at the forefront of it.

Not only did Tennessee football become the second team to integrate with McClain, but the Vols also had a two-time All-American and captain in the early 1970s in Jackie Walker who was black and openly gay. They then had the first black starting quarterback in the SEC in Condredge Holloway from 1972 to 1974.

Simply put, UT has been a place of breaking down barriers, and McClain broke down one of the biggest ones. His place in history on Rocky Top is cemented, and it was great for the team to be able to hear from him.