A resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the permanent integration of professional football by 4 pioneering players.

Whereas the integration of sports supported other ongoing efforts to permanently end racial segregation as an accepted practice in the United States;

Whereas, in 1946, 4 African-American football players, William Bill K. Willis and Marion Motley, who played for the Cleveland Browns, and Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, who played for the Los Angeles Rams, all signed contracts to play professional football;

Whereas, on August 7, 1946, Bill Willis was the first of this pioneering foursome to sign a contract to play professional football for the Cleveland Browns forever ending the race barrier in professional football, 1 full year before Jackie Robinson broke the race barrier in professional baseball;

Whereas, thanks to the significant contributions of Bill Willis and Marion Motley, the Cleveland Browns won the National Football League (NFL) Championship in 1950 which was the first year the Cleveland Browns played in the NFL;

Whereas, in addition to permanently ending the race barrier in professional football, Bill Willis and Marion Motley were recognized for their outstanding professional football careers by their election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and

Whereas 2006 marks the 60th anniversary of the permanent integration of professional football, and the NFL will commemorate this milestone during the 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game: Now, therefore, be it