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Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates in separate incidents.Now, a Coast Guard cutter and an athletic building on the Coast Guard Academy campus are being named in honor of the former NFL defensive back, who died in 1975, as the service aims to highlight his little-known story and its own efforts to do better when it comes to race and celebrating diversity.

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© United States Coast Guard This undated photo provided by United States Coast Guard shows Emlen Tunnell, the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This undated photo provided by United States Coast Guard shows Emlen Tunnell, the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (United States Coast Guard/)

“I think it’s important, because you have a teachable moment with young people when you talk about a guy like Emlen Tunnell,” Coast Guard Academy football coach C.C. Grant said. “They need to understand what he did, what he went through and what kind of a person he was.”

Tunnell was the first Black player signed by the Giants and later played for the Green Bay Packers. But not much was known about his Coast Guard service until 2008, when Cmdr. Bill McKinstry recognized Tunnell’s name on the back of photograph showing a Coast Guard basketball team from the late 1940s.

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His research uncovered a remarkable service career that Tunnell, who had been a steward’s mate, had downplayed.

In April 1944, Tunnell was unloading fuel and explosives from a cargo ship in Papua New Guinea when it was hit by a Japanese torpedo. Tunnell used his bare hands to beat out flames that had engulfed a shipmate, suffering burns in the process. Two years later, while stationed in Newfoundland, Tunnell jumped into 32-degree Fahrenheit water to save another man who had fallen from the USS Tampa.

Given the context of what a Black steward’s mate was expected or even allowed to do during that time in American history — largely restricted to duties like keeping the dishes on the ship clean — his accomplishments are all the more remarkable, McKinstry said.

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This undated photo provided by United States Coast Guard shows Emlen Tunnell, center, second from top, in a Coast Guard basketball team photo. (United States Coast Guard/)

“If you look at the pictures of him in uniform, he is the one African American in a sea of other people,” McKinstry said. “It is so important that we take a look at these trailblazers, just like Mr. Tunnell and we honor them, because of all things they faced in laying the groundwork for where we are today in making a better future.”

In 2011, the Coast Guard posthumously awarded Tunnell the Silver Lifesaving Medal. The cutter, currently under construction in Louisiana, is tentatively scheduled to be commissioned in October. The Coast Guard Academy plans to open the $3.5 million Emlen Tunnell Strength and Conditioning Center in September.

Tunnell played college football at Toledo before the war and after the war — he enlisted from 1943 to 1946 — continued his collegiate career at the University.

WHO IS EMLEN TUNNELL

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Emlen Lewis Tunnell (March 29, 1924 – July 23, 1975), sometimes known by the nickname “The Gremlin”, was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants and also the first to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Tunnell played college football at the University of Toledo in 1942 and University of Iowa in 1946 and 1947. He also served in the United States Coast Guard from 1943 to 1946. He received the Silver Lifesaving Medal for heroism in rescuing a shipmate from flames during a torpedo attack in 1944 and rescuing another shipmate who fell into the sea in 1946.

He next played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a defensive halfback and safety for the New York Giants (1948–1958) and Green Bay Packers (1959–1961). He was selected as a first-team All-Pro six times and played in nine Pro Bowls. He was a member of NFL championship teams in 1956 and 1961. When he retired as a player, he held NFL career records for interceptions (79), interception return yards (1,282), punt returns (258), and punt return yards (2,209).

After retiring as a player, Tunnell served as a special assistant coach and defensive backs coach for the New York Giants from 1963 to 1974. In addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was named to the NFL’s 1950s All-Decade Team and the all-time All-Pro team, and was ranked number 70 on The Sporting News‘ list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Career accomplishments and honors

In March 1962, Tunnell announced his retirement as a player.  At that time, he held several NFL records, including the following:

• His 79 career interceptions were an NFL record and remain second most in NFL history, having been surpassed in 1979 by fellow Iowa Hawkeye Paul Krause.
• His 1,282 interception return yards were an NFL record for four decades and rank fifth in NFL history as of 2017.
• His 258 punt returns were an NFL record, but rank 19th in league history as of 2017.
• His 2,209 punt return yards were an NFL record, but rank 30th as of 2017.
• He played in 158 consecutive games which was also an NFL record when he retired as a player.

During his 14-year NFL career, Tunnell also totaled 16 fumble recoveries, 8.6 yards per punt return, and 1,215 yards on 46 kickoff returns (26.4 yards per return).

Tunnell has received numerous honors for his contributions to the sport, including the following:

• In February 1967, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first African American and the first player who played strictly as a defensive back to be inducted.
• In August 1969, he was named to the NFL’s 1950s All-Decade Team as a safety.
• In September 1969, he was one of 16 players named to the all-time All-Pro team selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• In March 1975, he was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
• In August 1999, he was ranked number 70 on The Sporting News‘ list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
• In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium.
• Also in 2010, the NFL Network ranked Tunnell 79th on its list of the 100 greatest players of all time.
• In 2014, he was ranked as the second greatest player in New York Giants history in the book, “The 50 Greatest Players in New York Giants Football History”.

On June 2, 2018, a statue of Tunnell was installed in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.