Ken Whitlock

Kenneth E. Whitlock Sr. (March 23, 1920 – January 31, 2012) Following his father, Ken Whitlock also played football at Sewickley High.

Whitlock attended Virginia State College, where he played football with the Trojans. He earned Negro All-American honors as a junior in 1940. He left college to work, later returning to Sewickley to join the United States Marine Corps during World War II. The first Black marine from Allegheny County, he served in an all-Black combat unit, the 51st Defense Battalion based in North Carolina. According to Whitlock, professional football in the United States was mostly segregated at the time, which led him to view Canada as his opportunity for a career in sports. At age 28, the passing and kicking halfback became the first Black player for the Argonauts. In his regular-season debut, he scored on a punt for a rouge in a 20–7 win over Montreal. In the following game against Hamilton, Whitlock scored six points in the fourth quarter, including a five-yard touchdown run, helping lead Toronto to a 14–7 win. He played a total of four games for the Argonauts before being released. He was a principal at five schools before he retired in 1980. After beginning research for his autobiography in 1986, Breaking Barriers: The Ken Whitlock Story was published in 2001.

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