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Hey, nice guy. What's easy now? Rambo 59. Get on the ball Rambo. Welcome to the Forgotten quarterbacks, hosted by W Earl Kitchens. Our podcast is dedicated to preserving the legacies of black quarterbacks who've. Played the game of American football, and now here's your host, w Earl Kitchens. Hello again and welcome to another edition of the Forgotten Quarterbacks. I'm your host of your old kitchens, and as always, we are very excited to be with you for another exciting chapter in our ongoing legacy of stories about black quarterbacks. Many of them you've never heard about, uh, nationally. Some regionally, uh, then there are just some you. May have never heard of at all, but we are here to always bring you the information and the history and the legacy of as many black quarterbacks as we can. Whether you've heard about them or not, we want to share their stories because their legacies are what make us different from other podcasts and other historical information that comes across because. We are delving into many, many, many biographies and chapters that some just get touched on. Some are talked about in depth tonight. Well, this afternoon rather, what we'd like to do is talk about one phenomenal quarterback who held from Compton, California in the 1970s, the early 1970s. He was an outstanding football star at Compton High School out in Compton, California. And during a time when it seemed like the South with the teams in the Southeastern Conference, in the Southwestern Conference were really just opening up to having black quarterbacks just be on the team. Uh, this story kinda. Relates to that in one respect, because while you had the UCLAs and the uscs that were pretty much open to integration back, uh, fifties, sixties, and on the other teams in the PAC eight at, as it was called back then, had not caught up yet. However, our story today. Talks about this phenomenal quarterback out of Compton, California by the name of Herb Singleton. And from his time in high school being a phenomenal quarterback, he wasn't really decided as to where he wanted to go. So what he ended up doing was taking his talents to Compton Junior College in 1971 and for the next two years. He would throw at least one touchdown pass in every game he played in. He had a total of 236 completions for 3,861 yards and 33 touchdowns. So he made his mark at Compton Junior College, uh, in 1971, uh, 19 70, 19 71. Upon. Finishing those two years at Compton Junior College, herb Singleton transferred to the University of Texas El Paso, where he was going to be backing up Gary Keithley and would've become the first black quarterback in UTEP history. But he quit the team after two games, he then transferred on to. The University of Oregon, and it was at Oregon. He really got recognition for the best passer that Oregon had seen at that time. Uh, he only played one season at Oregon. That was his junior year. But in that one season, having completed 109 passes for 1,333 yards and. 10 touchdowns. His performance at that time was the fifth best, fifth best in Oregon history. And that was despite the fact that he started after the third game, missed the first two games and got a chance to start. And then from there he became the starter and he was in a. Competition with Norvell Turner at the time to see who was going to be the starting quarterback. But of course, Singleton won out after, after performing and during that 73 season, uh, he ranked fourth in the past eight in passing, was named Honorable, mentioned all coast by the UPI and they. We're looking very much forward to seeing how well he was going to lead Oregon in the next year. But as fate would have it, he was not able to make that senior season because he broke his wrist and with that injury it basically ended his collegiate. Career. You know, you, you break your risk on your throwing arm. Uh, and you know, depending on how bad the break is, you may back in those days, you are pretty much done. It is not like the medicine of the day where they can, you know, do the surgery, put some screws in, get your tightened up. The season was a, is a little longer now, uh, you got an open week, uh, you can get back in it, but. Herb was not able to recover from that injury. So he only had that one season at Oregon, but he became the first black quarterback at the University of Oregon in 1973. Following that time at Oregon, he was, as many guys are hoping to go on to play for the NFL, but that did not happen for him right away. Following his career at Oregon, he signed a contract to play with a team in the Old World Football League. And you know, the World Football League was kind of a fly by night league. It came around, um, it was around from like 74, 75, 76, somewhere in those three years. And then it was gone. Then it was gone. So he signed the contract to play with the Portland team. Uh, the Portland Thunder in 1975, however, he did not make it through training cramp camps, excuse me, and was cut after the first few workouts. Now, you would think that would be enough to discourage a guy from really pursuing a professional football career, but let me tell you, at six three, two hundred and twenty five pounds. Herb Singleton was not any small quarterback. Uh, he was a prototypical quarterback and you had to recognize, you know, his size and his talent. Uh, he had ideal football iq, exceptional, exceptional arm talent, was a fierce competitor, uh, that made him the quarterback that he was. In addition to those qualities. He was a well respected leader on the field and his determination and his just knack for making big plays when they mattered the most and having great downfield vision and able to process information quickly when he became, uh, under pressure, just helped to make him. That quality quarterback, that quality playmaker, that field general, that many coaches want in their quarterbacks. So his time at Oregon as brief as it was one season, that one season was phenomenal, and his one season at Oregon left a lasting impact on that program. For the ducks, that gives him a place among the all time greats of Oregon quarterbacks. Now, you, you might go to their media guide and you may not see his name. You'll probably see his name for 73 as the leading passer, but you may not hear a whole lot about that Singleton guy. But you know, they, they were comparing singleton to. The fact that USC had a guy by the name of Pat Hayden. Now, pat Hayden was not a big guy. Pat Hayden might have been six feet, but he led USC. But in that time period in 1973, you got a six foot 3, 225, 230 pound quarterback who had the intelligence that he had to run and throw. And in addition to that, his academic IQ was real high because he was a pre-law major. So Herb Singleton was a phenomenal quarterback, phenomenal. And he ran that Oregon team very well. Uh, they ran from a a i formation and they had a, a running back that was the. Other part of the equation for the ducks during that time and that that running back, you know, did a lot of great running. So you had Singleton and a guy by the name of Reynolds who did some extraordinary thing for Oregon and, and, and really, really put them on the map. Now, Singleton, prior to coming to Oregon, was not really sure if he was going to continue to play collegiate football, but. His coach, Joe Wade, who was an assistant at Oregon, convinced him to come to Oregon letting him know they were gonna, they were in need of a quarterback. He probably would fit in very well, and, uh, he was gonna have to probably do with Norval Turner, but it did not matter. Joe Wade convinced Herb Singleton to attend Oregon, and the history is what it is. Now here is the other part to the Herb Singleton story. After his time of not making it at the Portland Thunder in 1975, which was in the World Football League, herb Singleton signed a contract with the expansion franchise, Seattle Seahawks. In 1976 and became the first black quarterback for the Seahawks, the first black quarterback for the Seahawks by signing that contract, and ironically, he found himself in competition again with Gary Keithley. Funny how life works, unfortunately. Neither of those guys made the regular season roster, but he did sign a contract and that gives him credit for being the first black quarterback the Seahawks had ever had in their camp and, uh, potentially to be their quarterback on the team. Now, I would have to argue with a guy who they say had the acumen, the IQ and everything the size. Why was it that he did not make it in the Seahawks camp? Uh, we'll, I don't know and I haven't found any additional information to tell me so, uh, but the fact that he was able to get there and because of his abilities and because of his athletic proudness, uh, herb Singleton deserved our attention here on the forgotten quarterbacks today. So if you ever hear the name out in, uh, Oregon Country or if someone ever mentioned the name, well, who was the first black quarterback at, uh, Oregon? Who was the first black quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks? Say this name? Herb Singleton. Herb Singleton from Compton, California in the early seventies. He signed with the Seahawks in 76. Signed with Oregon in 73, 1 of their top passes, uh, by season, uh, that that program had ever had. So we wanted to bring that to you today, and we hope that adds just one more brick to the wall of quarterbacks to the foundation of forgotten quarterbacks that we don't always hear about. So. Until next time, I'm your host W Earl Kitchens, and we look forward to bringing you another edition of the Forgotten Quarterbacks. Until next time, take care of everybody. Thank you for joining us here on the Forgotten quarterbacks with Host w Earl Kitchen. Join us as we discuss more about the legacies of black quarterbacks who've played the game of American football.