Clarence ‘Bucky’ McGill honored
11/10/2022, 6 p.m.
Back in 1970, longtime Richmond resident Clarence “Bucky” McGill was among eight Black football players at Syracuse University who boycotted the season to protest the treatment they and other players were receiving.
Today, when Mr. McGill attends home games at the JMA Wireless Dome, he can see himself and his seven former teammates prominently featured in oversized murals in the stadium. The murals were recently unveiled.
“I was overwhelmed when I first saw what had been done,” he said. “I never expected that.”
The boycott in which he participated came after the eight players spent two years urging the athletic department to hire a Black assistant coach and to improve academic support and medical care for all of the football team members.
The eight were initially suspended, then reinstated, but they refused to play until their concerns were addressed. The university found that the athletic department had engaged in institutional racism against the players and recommended changes that altered the program.
