Moving the Chains: The Civil Rights Protest That Saved the Saints and Transformed New Orleans
Erin Grayson Sapp
LSU Press
In January 1965, 58 Black and white teammates walked out of the AFL All-Star game to protest the New Orleans Saints’ lingering segregation practices and public abuse of Black players. In response, love of the gridiron prompted and excused something out of sync with the city’s branding: change. Less than 2 years later, the Big Easy made enough progress to pass a blitz inspection by Black and white NFL officials and receive the long-desired expansion team.
The story of those athletes whose bravery led to change quickly fell by the wayside.
Moving the Chains is the first book to reveal the ramifications of the All-Stars’ civil resistance and to detail the Saints’ true first win.