{"id":29198,"date":"2021-02-08T00:15:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T00:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/08\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:37:15","slug":"coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/off-duty\/2021\/02\/08\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard honors Black veteran, NFL great Emlen Tunnell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates in separate incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, a Coast Guard cutter and an athletic building on the Coast Guard Academy campus are being named in honor of the former NFL defensive back, who died in 1975, as the service aims to highlight his little-known story and its own efforts to do better when it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/12\/06\/coast-guard-pioneer-race-riot-survivor-laid-to-rest\/\" target=_blank>race  and celebrating diversity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s important, because you have a teachable moment with young people when you talk about a guy like Emlen Tunnell,\u201d Coast Guard Academy football coach C.C. Grant said. \u201cThey need to understand what he did, what he went through and what kind of a person he was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tunnell was the first Black player signed by the New York Giants and later played for the Green Bay Packers. But not much was known about his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/24\/the-first-african-american-women-to-join-the-coast-guard-dies-at-103\/\" target=_blank>Coast Guard service<\/a> until 2008, when Cmdr. Bill McKinstry recognized Tunnell\u2019s name on the back of photograph showing a Coast Guard basketball team from the late 1940s.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/24\/the-first-african-american-women-to-join-the-coast-guard-dies-at-103\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hooker3.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The first African-American woman to join the Coast Guard dies at 103<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">During World War II, Olivia Hooker became the first African-American woman to join the Coast Guard as a member of the Semper Paratus program, or SPAR.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His research uncovered a remarkable service career that Tunnell, who had been a steward\u2019s mate, had downplayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April 1944, Tunnell was unloading fuel and explosives from a cargo ship in Papua New Guinea when it was hit by a Japanese torpedo. Tunnell used his bare hands to beat out flames that had engulfed a shipmate, suffering burns in the process. Two years later, while stationed in Newfoundland, Tunnell jumped into 32-degree Fahrenheit water to save another man who had fallen from the USS Tampa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given the context of what a Black steward\u2019s mate was expected or even allowed to do during that time in American history \u2014 largely restricted to duties like keeping the dishes on the ship clean \u2014 his accomplishments are all the more remarkable, McKinstry said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at the pictures of him in uniform, he is the one African American in a sea of other people,\u201d McKinstry said. \u201cIt is so important that we take a look at these trailblazers, just like Mr. Tunnell and we honor them, because of all things they faced in laying the groundwork for where we are today in making a better future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1401\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"This undated photo provided by the United States Coast Guard shows a U.S. Coast Guard cutter named for Emlen Tunnell, docked in Bollinger Shipyard, in Lockport, La.\" class=\"wp-image-59920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg?resize=300,210 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg?resize=768,538 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,717 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099344697.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1076 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This undated photo provided by the United States Coast Guard shows a U.S. Coast Guard cutter named for Emlen Tunnell, docked in Bollinger Shipyard, in Lockport, La. (United States Coast Guard via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2011, the Coast Guard posthumously awarded Tunnell the Silver Lifesaving Medal. The cutter, currently under construction in Louisiana, is tentatively scheduled to be commissioned in October. The Coast Guard Academy plans to open the $3.5 million Emlen Tunnell Strength and Conditioning Center in September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tunnell played college football at Toledo before the war and after the war \u2014 he enlisted from 1943 to 1946 \u2014 continued his collegiate career at the University of Iowa, suffering a serious neck injury. But after leaving college in 1948, he hitchhiked from his home on Pennsylvania to New York for a tryout with the Giants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He ended up playing 14 seasons in the NFL and when he retired as a player, he held league records with 79 interceptions, 1,282 interception return yards , 258 punt returns and 2,209 punt return yards. He then became a scout and one of the league\u2019s first Black assistant coaches, helping fully integrate both the Giants and the Packers, said David Lyons, an author who is writing a biography of Tunnell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He died of a heart attack at the age of somewhere between 50 and 53 \u2014 his birth records were not clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1524\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"This undated photo provided by United States Coast Guard shows Emlen Tunnell, center, second from top, in a USCG basketball team photo, the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.\" class=\"wp-image-59922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg?resize=300,229 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg?resize=768,585 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,780 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099290262.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1170 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This undated photo provided by United States Coast Guard shows Emlen Tunnell, center, second from top, in a USCG basketball team photo, the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (United States Coast Guard via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was the first Black man and the first defensive specialist to be enshrined in Canton. But he never gained the fame of contemporaries in other sports, such as Jackie Robinson, because he played at a time before football was widely televised or popular \u2014 and because of his humility, Lyons said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEmlen was a great Giant as a player, coach and scout,\u201d Giants co-owner John Mara said. \u201cMore importantly, he was a wonderful human being, which is why he was the most beloved person in our organization throughout his time with us. Vince Lombardi traded for Emlen in Green Bay because he knew Emlen would be vital in establishing a championship culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mara called Tunnell \u201can outstanding leader, teammate and competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe brought those attributes to the Coast Guard, the Giants and the Packers, so this recognition is most fitting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tunnell\u2019s cousin, Yvonne Gilmore Jordan, said Tunnell endured racism, such as not being welcomed at hotels and restaurants with his white teammates. He was forced to sit out a Giants exhibition game in 1951 in Alabama, because the organizers would not allow Black players, Lyons said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Gilmore Jordan, 82, said her cousin endured those indignities by being kind to everyone and making jokes about his situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think he was humble, because he looked very flashy and he was handsome, but he was really a very humble person,\u201d she said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t ever let it get him down, he really didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"This undated photo provided by the United States Coast Guard shows a name plate and tribute plaque for Emlen Tunnell on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter docked in Bollinger Shipyard, Lockport, La.\" class=\"wp-image-59926\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21036099331988.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This undated photo provided by the United States Coast Guard shows a name plate and tribute plaque for Emlen Tunnell on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter docked in Bollinger Shipyard, Lockport, La. (United States Coast Guard via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Coast Guard coach Grant, who is Black, said naming a cutter and a building on campus after Tunnell not only honors his memory, but also is another step in showing that the Coast Guard and its academy are committed to celebrating diversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last June, the academy was criticized in a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/01\/racial-bias-probed-at-coast-guard-academy\/\" target=_blank>the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s inspector general <\/a>for failing to properly address <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/06\/08\/coast-guard-academy-faulted-on-response-to-racial-incidents\/\" target=_blank>complaints of racial harassment on campus<\/a>. The complaints investigated included episodes in which cadets used racial epithets, posed with a Confederate flag and watched and laughed at a blackface video in a common area.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/06\/09\/coast-guard-academy-faulted-on-response-to-racial-incidents\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20160687385261.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Coast Guard Academy faulted on response to racial incidents<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Coast Guard Academy failed to properly address complaints of racial harassment, including the use of racial slurs by cadets, according to the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s inspector general.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe just need to keep taking steps to make sure that every player, every cadet, every coach, every person of color here feels like they belong and they feel like they are being included and their voice is heard here on campus,\u201d Grant said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates in separate incidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,75,25,13,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3001],"class_list":["post-29198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-sports","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CJUC4NYH6FCYDB3RV6OGX7NXQQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/02\/08\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Coast Guard honors Black veteran, NFL great Emlen Tunnell - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates in separate incidents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/02\/08\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coast Guard honors Black veteran, NFL great Emlen Tunnell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates in separate incidents.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/off-duty\/2021\/02\/08\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-08T00:15:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:37:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pat Eaton-Robb, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pat Eaton-Robb, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/off-duty\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/08\\\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/off-duty\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/08\\\/coast-guard-honors-black-veteran-nfl-great-emlen-tunnell\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t  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