Racism kept Nevada from playing SEC team in 1946

Mississippi State didn't allow black players at their games because "an unfortunate commotion would ensue if the colored stars were allowed on the Starkville field."

While a paper in Mississippi wrote having two blacks players on the field could be "accompanied by murder threats," Nevada pushed to play the game with Gillom and Bass so the Southern school could see "what kind of unfortunate commotion Mississippi State wants to start" with the Wolf Pack.

Gillom was born in Alabama and raised in Massillon, Ohio, where he played high school football for Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown.

After Gillom earned three Bronze Star Medals in World War II, he returned to football and was going to play for the Cleveland Browns.

Gillom played 10 seasons with the Browns and won three AAFC titles and three NFL titles and led the NFL in punting three times.

In 1948, Nevada was scheduled to play at Tulsa, but the state's governor and university president wanted to cancel the game unless the Pack barred its black players.

Nevada held firm and the game was played, with Nevada's Sherman Howard and Alva Tabor becoming the first blacks to play a college football game in the state of Oklahoma.