Duke Slater

Frederick Wayman "Duke" Slater (December 9, 1898 – August 14, 1966) was an American professional football player and judge. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Centennial Class in 2020.

Slater played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1918 to 1921. Playing the tackle position on the line, he was a first-team All-American in 1921 and a member of the Hawkeyes 1921 national championship team. Slater joined the National Football League (NFL) the following year, becoming the first black lineman in league history. He played ten seasons in the NFL for the Milwaukee Badgers, the Rock Island Independents and the Chicago Cardinals, garnering six all-pro selections.

Slater earned his law degree in 1928 and began to practice law as a Chicago attorney. In 1948, he was elected to the Cook County Municipal Court, becoming just the second black judge in Chicago history. Slater served as a Chicago judge for nearly two decades until his death in 1966.

Early life Fred Slater was born in Illinois in 1898, the son of George Slater, a Methodist minister. As a boy, Fred somehow picked up the name of the family dog, Duke, as a personal nickname, and he would carry it with him all his life. When Duke Slater was 13 years old, he moved to Clinton, Iowa, after George became pastor of the A.M.E. church there.

Fearing injury, George Slater initially forbade Duke from trying out for football at Clinton High School, believing it to be a sport played by "roughnecks." A brokenhearted Duke went on a hunger strike for several days, and George finally acquiesced on the condition that Duke must be careful to avoid injury. As a result, Slater always took care not to complain or show signs of his football injuries.

Every high school player needed to provide their own shoes and helmet. George could not afford both, so he asked Duke to choose. Slater decided he needed shoes more, and he played every game at Clinton High School without a helmet. Clinton claimed two Iowa state championships in 1913 and 1914, and the school compiled a 22-3-1 record in Duke's three years there. Despite playing primarily at tackle, Slater led Clinton in scoring as a senior in 1915, rushing for six touchdowns from the fullback position.

College career When Slater arrived at Iowa in 1918, eligibility rules had been suspended due to World War I. Therefore, Slater was able to play football as a freshman and earned four letters for the Hawkeye football team from 1918 to 1921. The Hawkeyes compiled a record of 23–6–1 during Slater's four years in uniform. As a sophomore, Slater earned unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honors.

In Slater's senior year in 1921, Iowa claimed a share of the 1921 national championship, posting a perfect 7–0 record and never trailing at any point during the season.

That season, Iowa upset Notre Dame, 10–7, handing them their first defeat in three years. A photo taken during the game by university photographer F. W. Kent showed a helmetless Slater clearing a hole for teammate Gordon Locke by blocking three Notre Dame defenders.

Slater was named first-team All-Big Ten for the third straight year in 1921.

Slater also earned three varsity letters for the Hawkeye track team, participating in field events. Slater placed third in the hammer throw and fourth in the discus throw while helping Iowa to a third-place finish at the inaugural 1921 NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Professional career Rock Island Independents (first stint) Duke Slater joined the NFL's Rock Island Independents in 1922, becoming the first black lineman in NFL history.

Milwaukee Badgers After Rock Island completed their 1922 season schedule, Slater joined Fritz Pollard and Paul Robeson on the Milwaukee Badgers for two games at the end of the 1922 season.

Rock Island Independents (second stint) In 1923, he returned to Rock Island and played his next four seasons – five in all – with the Independents.

Chicago Cardinals Duke Slater signed a contract with the NFL's Chicago Cardinals near the end of the 1926 season and appeared in their final two games that season. By signing with the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals in 1926, Slater became the first black player to play for a current NFL franchise. However, Bradley's NFL career lasted just two games. With the exception of those two games by Bradley, Duke Slater was the only black player in the NFL from 1927 to 1929.

Star fullback Ernie Nevers joined the Cardinals in 1929. On November 28, 1929, Nevers set an NFL record by scoring all 40 points in the Cardinals' 40–6 win over their intra-city rivals, the Chicago Bears. Nevers' mark of 40 points in a single game is the oldest untied individual record in the NFL's record books, having stood since 1929.

Duke Slater played all sixty minutes in that game, the only Cardinal lineman to do so.

Bears head coach and owner George Halas later said, "I can't say too much about Duke Slater as a football player and as a gentleman. In the old Cardinal-Bears games, I learned it was absolutely useless to run against Slater's side of the Cardinal line. They talked about Fordham's famous Seven Blocks of Granite in the mid-1930s and what a line that was. Well, Slater was a One Man Line a decade before that. Seven Blocks of Granite? He was the Rock of Gibraltar."

In 1927 and 1929, Duke Slater was the only black player in the NFL, yet he was an all-pro selection both seasons. Slater helped give black football players a place to play by assembling and coaching several all-star teams of black players. Slater served as head coach of the Chicago Negro All-Stars (1933), the Chicago Brown Bombers (1937), the Chicago Comets (1939), and the Chicago Panthers (1940). Duke Slater was the second black judge in Chicago history, following Wendell E. Green, who was elected in 1942.

Slater served two six-year terms on the Municipal Court. In 1960, he was the first black individual elevated to the Cook County Superior Court, the highest court in Chicago at the time. Four years later, Slater moved to the Circuit Court of Cook County following that institution's formation. Duke Slater died in 1966 at age 67 of stomach cancer, and was buried in Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens South near Chicago.

Honors

For his playing career at Clinton High School, Duke Slater was elected to the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Slater was one of just five football players inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in the Hall's inaugural year in 1951, joining Nile Kinnick, Aubrey Devine, Jay Berwanger, and Elmer Layden.

In 1946, Slater was one of 11 players selected to an all-time college football All-American team by a nationwide poll of 600 sportswriters and coaches.

Hawkeye fans voted for an all-time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football in 1989, and Slater was selected as a tackle.

In 2013, the University of Iowa placed Duke Slater's name and jersey number (#15) on the Kinnick Stadium Wall of Honor. Slater was one of nine Hawkeyes recognized on the Wall of Honor.

In 2019, the University of Iowa unveiled a sculpture of Duke Slater on the north end of Kinnick Stadium. The relief depicts Slater's famous block against Notre Dame in 1921, captured in the photograph by Kent. A plaque next to the relief reads, "Slater drives the opposition back in calm determination. His life in football and beyond was defined by triumph and relentless breaking of boundaries."

An apartment complex in Chicago, Judge Slater Apartments, is named in his honor.

The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) elected Duke Slater to their second Hall of Very Good class in 2004. Slater was also one of four players the PFRA officially endorsed for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, along with LaVern Dilweg, Mac Speedie, and Al Wistert.

Before the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in 1963, Duke Slater was mentioned by United Press International as one of nine candidates that had been nominated for election to the new Hall. Duke was also listed as one of six "strong candidates" for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame by the Associated Press in 1964. In 1972, the Hall created a Seniors Committee, which would provide the exclusive nominations for players who retired over 25 years ago. From 1972 to 2019, the Seniors Committee declined to nominate Slater as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On January 15, 2020, Duke Slater was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Centennial Class.

In July 2021 it was announced that the field of Kinnick Stadium would be named Slater Field in his honor.