TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A new documentary is telling the incredible story of a Jesuit high school student who integrated the football field, helped lead them to their first state title and go on to break more racial barriers across the state of Florida.
“When I started it was only three Blacks, period, in all of Jesuit at that time,” Leonard George said.
In 1965, Leonard George walked into Jesuit High School as the fourth Black student on campus. He was the first and only Black player on the school’s football team.
“The main thing was trying to win, but we had to deal with social issues and the integration,” he said. “I had to go through it and so did my teammates. They had never been around any Black persons themselves.”
During the height of the Civil Rights Movement and months after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, George led the school and the county to its first state championship in 1968.
“We’re Black and White, Protestant and Jew, Catholic, but we all came together to make this thing happen,” George said.
After that state championship, George made more history. He was the first Black football player to sign a football scholarship and play at the University of Florida.
“The racism didn’t stop just because I was at Florida,” he said. “We went to Alabama, Mississippi and I’ve never seen so many Confederate flags in my life and you look around the stadium there’s no Blacks in that stadium, period. These people were not happy seeing me come into the stadium being the first Black.”
George faced racism on and off the field. However, he says it never came from his coaches or his teammates. He said that was the key to the team succeeding.
The new documentary “Leonard George and the Tigers” tells this incredible story of George’s life and his team’s success. In honor of Black History Month, Jesuit High School has partnered with the Tampa Theater to premier the documentary on Tuesday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. Click here for tickets.