Money woes, declining talent plague HBCU football

CB Qua Cox, 2014 Indianapolis Colts Free Agent Signee
 Jackson State Tigers
Courtesy: JSU Athletics 

JACKSON, Mississippi — Years before Jackie Slater was a Hall of Fame offensive lineman, he was playing for Wingfield High School in Jackson, Mississippi, and hoping to attract the attention of college scouts.

This was in the early 1970s — about the time Southeastern Conference football teams were just beginning to recruit black players — so this massive teenager was mostly ignored by the big schools. But Jackson State welcomed him.

"It was where I was wanted," Slater recalled. "And it's where I could excel."

Slater was one of many players who thrived at the nation's historically black colleges and universities, particularly from the '60s through the '80s. NFL superstars Jerry Rice and Walter Payton were part of that wave.

But HBCUs have slowly turned into an afterthought on the college football landscape.

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