Duke Slater, pioneer Chicago Cardinal and city judge, was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Centennial Class in 2020.
The selection thrilled football experts familiar with the hidden history of African Americans in the earliest days of the sport.
Frederick Wayman “Duke” Slater (December 9, 1898 – August 14, 1966) was an American football player and judge. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.
Slater played college football at the University of Iowa 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 NFL the following year, becoming the first black lineman in league history. He played ten seasons in the NFL for the Rock Island Independents and the Chicago Cardinals, garnering seven all-pro selections.
Slater earned his law degree in 1928, began to practice law as a Chicago attorney. In 1948, he was elected to the Cook County Municipal Court, the second African-American judge in Chicago history. Slater served as a Chicago judge for nearly two decades until his death in 1966.
Slater dominated as a collegian at Iowa before becoming the NFL’s first black lineman, and he often was the only nonwhite player on the field in the 1920s. He was named All-NFL four times as a two-way player, blocking for Hall of Famers such as Ernie Nevers, Jim Thorpe and Jimmy Conzelman and terrorizing offensive backfields as a defensive end.
Milwaukee Badgers (1922)
Rock Island Independents (1922–1926)
Chicago Cardinals (1926–1931)
