Rob Oller commentary: Greene, Franklin proud they paved way
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
By Rob Oller
The Columbus Dispatch
Dispatch file photo
Cornelius Greene became Ohio State's first black starting quarterback in 1973. He still holds the school career record for quarterback rushing yards with 2,066.
The Ohio State and Michigan quarterbacks arrived at their respective schools in 1970s velour and bellbottom style.
The Buckeyes' Cornelius Greene sported a monstrosity of an afro he fit inside his helmet like a camper stuffing a sleeping bag back into its cover. He was "Flam 7," the flamboyant kid from Washington, D.C., who drove a trimmed out white Pontiac Grand Prix modified to resemble a Lincoln Continental.
Dennis Franklin showed up in Ann Arbor all smoothness and long sideburns, a king of cool in a progressive city where getting busted for smoking dope earned you only the equivalent of a parking ticket.
You couldn't miss either one of them, on campus but even more on the field, where black quarterbacks stood out with all the oddity of a Peter Maxx painting. For decades, African Americans had held other positions at Ohio State and Michigan, but not until 1972 did the Wolverines break precedent by starting Franklin at quarterback.
Greene became the Buckeyes' first black starting quarterback a year later, making the 1973 Ohio State-Michigan game historic for more than the 10-10 tie and ensuing controversial vote that sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl ahead of the Wolverines. Never before had two black quarterbacks faced off in The Game. Never before had two black quarterbacks appeared on national television.