Duke Slater, a pioneer for black linemen on the Chicago Cardinals, is finally selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
CHICAGO - Fred W. "Duke" Slater finally received a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday. The selection thrilled football experts familiar with the hidden history of African Americans in the earliest days of the sport.
Slater, a lineman for the Chicago Cardinals from 1926 to 1931 after stints with the Milwaukee Badgers and Rock Island Independents, was one of 10 players selected as part of the Hall of Fame's "Centennial Slate." Former Bears Jim Covert and Ed Sprinkle were among the players who will be inducted Aug. 8 with Slater, who died in 1966.
Slater dominated as a collegian at Iowa before becoming the NFL's first black lineman, and he often was the only nonwhite player on the field in the 1920s. He was named All-NFL four times as a two-way player, blocking for Hall of Famers such as Ernie Nevers, Jim Thorpe and Jimmy Conzelman and terrorizing offensive backfields as a defensive end.
After his football career, Slater became an attorney on the
