Breaking Barriers, Building Brotherhood

Nov. 1, 2025

After making history in the NFL, LeRoy Jackson has forged a legacy through faith and service

By Zoey Maraist

Nov. 1, 2025

LeRoy Jackson makes a catch for an 85-yard touchdown against the Baltimore Colts on Dec. 8, 1962. — Jackson makes a catch for an 85-yard touchdown against the Baltimore Colts on Dec. 8, 1962 — his 23rd birthday. (Washington Star Photo Collection / Courtesy of DC Public Library archive)

One of LeRoy Jackson’s most memorable birthdays came on Dec. 8, 1962, when the rookie Washington Redskins running back scored on an 85-yard touchdown reception against the Baltimore Colts. At just 23, Jackson was already known for his exceptional speed; the team’s media guide called him the “fastest Redskin player of all time,” noting he had run the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds and could consistently do so in 9.5. A couple months earlier, in the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, he made NFL history as the first Black player to take the field for the Redskins — known today as the Commanders.

Decades later, in the mid-1990s, Jackson was recognized in an entirely different setting. By then, he had been a member of Immaculate Conception Shrine Council 4944 in Washington, D.C., for more than 15 years and was helping to mentor a new Knight named Arthur Robinson — showing him how to participate in meetings and assist with charitable events such as their neighborhood free-throw contest. Robinson would go on to serve multiple terms as grand knight, but at the time, he had no idea of Jackson’s past.

“You know who that is?” Robinson’s brother-in-law asked one day, gesturing at Jackson. “That’s the one who played with the Redskins.”

At first, Robinson thought he was joking. “I actually saw him play back in the ’60s,” he said.

Today, at age 85, Jackson is still known as a team player — as a barrier-breaking athlete, a faithful Knight, and a daily presence at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where he works as a security guard.

“He pioneered the way,” Robinson affirmed. “He’s a very prime example of what a Knight should be.”

PLAYING BALL

LeRoy Jackson stands in the Our Mother of Africa Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. — LeRoy Jackson stands in the Our Mother of Africa Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., where he serves as a security guard. (Photo by Matthew Barrick)

Though a longtime Washingtonian, Jackson grew up in Chicago Heights, Illinois, in a family of steelworkers. As a child, he loved watching the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). A track and football standout in high school, Jackson earned All-American honors in both sports at Western Illinois University, where a new football coach helped the team excel.

“Coach Lou Saban started recruiting from all parts of Illinois and built a team around two or three players,” Jackson recalled. “We became a top, great football team.” (Saban would later coach several NFL teams, including the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills.)

Jackson’s college career culminated with the College All-Star Game, where top seniors faced off against the reigning NFL champions. In 1962, that was the Green Bay Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi, a Fourth Degree Knight.

“It was a big, big experience, because you got to meet some of the best players in the United States, and you felt like you were one of them,” Jackson recalled. Though the Packers won 42-20, the All-Stars put up a good fight. “They didn’t expect that much out of us,” Jackson said, “but they definitely found out once we got on the field.”

Jackson had been selected in the first round of the 1962 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. “I didn’t think I’d be drafted by a team that good — and not that high in the draft,” he recalled. But a few months later, he and fellow running back Bobby Mitchell were traded to Washington — then the southernmost team in the league and the last to integrate, due to the refusal of team owner George Preston Marshall.

“It was kind of a shock,” Jackson said. “I was leery about that trade.”

The Redskins only began accepting Black players after pressure from the Kennedy administration, which barred discrimination on federal land — including the site of the team’s new stadium.

Still, Jackson kept his focus. “As long as you go out and get your job done, they were all fine with you,” he said of his teammates.

Jackson, Mitchell and guard John Nisby — all African American — officially integrated the Redskins when they played in the 1962 season opener in Dallas. Of the three, Jackson was the first on the field: The Redskins lost the coin toss, and he was part of the kickoff team.

“My legacy to the NFL will be that I was the first Black guy to play for the Washington Redskins,” Jackson said.

Mitchell would go on to play six seasons in Washington and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On the field, Mitchell was all business, Jackson recalled, but otherwise he was down-to-earth.

“When you stepped on the field with Bobby, you better be ready to play ball — or else you were going to hear it when you got in the huddle,” he said. “Off the field, he was just a regular guy. I’ll tell you something else most people don’t know — he loved to dance. And he was a real good dancer, too.”

Jackson was abruptly cut from the team in 1963. Saban, now coaching the Buffalo Bills, encouraged him to try playing in Buffalo or in the Canadian Football League — but Jackson’s heart was no longer in the game. That birthday touchdown would remain the only one of his career.

“It was a hard experience, being cut,” Jackson said. “I felt let down.”

JOINING NEW TEAMS

LeRoy Jackson is pictured during his senior year at Western Illinois University. — LeRoy Jackson is pictured during his senior year at Western Illinois University, where he earned All-American honors and was acclaimed as the nation’s fastest back. (Photo courtesy of *Sequel*, the yearbook of Western Illinois University)

Fortunately, Jackson had already built a new foundation. The year before his release, he had married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy, and she helped him move forward.

“My wife said, ‘Don’t let it get to you. Just take it in stride — things work out on their own,’” he recalled. “So, I did what she said.”

In 1964, Jackson became a bus driver, a job he held for 30 years. “You got to meet all kinds of people — from Embassy Row down to the housekeeping workers,” he said.

Jackson and Dorothy had two children, Mia and LeRoy III, and informally adopted a daughter, Rosita. Jackson also had an older son, Rodney, from a previous relationship. It was Dorothy who introduced him to Catholicism. “When we moved here to D.C., we went about checking different churches,” he said. “My wife met a priest, and I guess he made a good impression on us. We both agreed we’d become Catholics.”

Though his football career was behind him, Jackson stayed involved in athletics — playing intramurals and coaching basketball for the Catholic Youth Organization for about 16 years. “I enjoyed being around young men, trying to teach them some skills and point them in the right direction,” he said.

His daughter Mia said he became a father figure to many of his players. “It doesn’t matter whose child it was,” she said. “If they needed help, he would help.”

Jackson joined the Knights of Columbus in 1979 at the invitation of Ben Thompson, Mia’s godfather. He has been active in Immaculate Conception Shrine Council 4944 ever since.

“It’s a great organization because you work with your brother Knights to help people in your community,” Jackson said.

Reginald Tobias, a longtime member and current grand knight of Council 4944, fondly recalled going to preseason football games with Jackson and a priest friend. “I told him, ‘Mr. Jackson, you’ve got to tell these people you used to play with the Redskins,’” Tobias said. “And he would laugh and say, ‘Well, that’s in the past, you know.’”

Jackson is especially grateful for the fraternal bond he shares with Knights throughout the Order.

“You are always running into a brother Knight somewhere in your life,” he said. “And when I do, I feel better for the rest of the day.”

After retiring from public transportation, Jackson took a job as a security guard at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Most days, he arrives at 5 a.m. to turn off the alarms and turn on the lights in the largest Catholic church in North America. He greets pilgrims from around the world and makes a point to pray the rosary and read Scripture daily.

“It makes you feel better,” he said.

Over the years, Jackson has seen both triumph and loss. One of the hardest times came when he lost both his wife and his son LeRoy in the same year. More recently, he nearly died on the operating table during surgery.

“I saw a bright light. It got brighter and brighter — and then all of a sudden, it started to fade,” he recounted. “My doctor told me they had to resuscitate me. I was dead for about 45 seconds — close to a minute.”

Through it all, Jackson says, his faith has sustained him.

“I put a lot of trust in the Lord,” he said. “He’s still bringing me through.”

*****

ZOEY MARAIST writes from northern Virginia.

Gordon Schottlander, who turned 100 on Jan. 10, 2025, is pictured at his residence in Burlington, Ontario.

Breaking Barriers, Building Brotherhood

PLAYING BALL

JOINING NEW TEAMS

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