African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault, eventually leading to changes in NCAA football rules that mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards.

College football

College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States.

Johnny Bright

Gridiron football player (1930–1983)

John Dee Bright was an American professional football player in the Canadian Football League (CFL). A troubling racist incident he endured as a college football player in the U.S. caused rule changes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. After his emigration to…

Johnny Bright incident

1951 on-field assault during an American college football game

The Johnny Bright incident was a violent on-field assault against African-American player Johnny Bright by Wilbanks Smith, a white opposing player during an American college football game held on October 20, 1951, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game was significant in itself as it…

National Collegiate Athletic Association

North American athletic organization

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps over 500,000 college student athletes…

Football helmet

Protective equipment

A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more…