Today on Stateside, we’re presenting a documentary about Michigan State University’s history-making football team from the mid-1960s.
A couple weeks ago the MSU football teams that changed the face of college football were inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. It’s the first time an entire team or teams have been honored this way.
The 1965 and 1966 teams were really good, yes — they were voted No. 1 in some national polls at the time. But more importantly, they were the first major college football teams to be fully integrated. Half the teams' rosters and half their starting players were Black. This was at a time where when most major Southern teams were all-white and some would not integrate until 1970.
Documentary producers Elizabeth Meister and Dan Collison of Long Haul Productions set out to tell the story of these historic MSU teams, and today we’re going to share the story with you. Their documentary is called “Teams of the Century.” And it begins with one of the men who was at the center of the monumental shift in collegiate football.
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GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
- Elizabeth Meister, Documentary Producer, Long Haul Productions
- Dan Collison, Documentary Producer, Long Haul Productions
