Born in Fort Wayne June 11, 1930, he died December 14, 1983 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Johnny was a three-sport football, basketball, track and field star at Central High School. He graduated in 1947, accepted a track and field scholarship from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa allowing him to play football. His senior year he was the pre-season favorite for the Heisman Trophy, but was the victim of the mostly forgotten Johnny Bright Incident.
Central High Class of 1948. Several Fort Wayne athletes were champions in the All-American Football Conference (1946-1949) with the Cleveland Browns discussed
Johnny Bright at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia states he was a professional Canadian football player, member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
The Edmonton Journal first presented the John Bright Memorial Award in 1984 to recognize exceptional high school students who excelled in three integral areas of John Bright's life: academics, athletics, and citizenship. Discussed September 23, 2017 on the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook.
NEWS: Today Drake University announced the founding of a new college that will make the exceptional Drake University education more accessible to more students. The John Dee Bright College at Drake University will grant two-year associate’s degrees in the integrated arts, sciences, and humanities, as well as in business, organization, and professional studies. The college will welcome its first students in the fall 2021 semester.
Craig Owens, a Drake University English professor and director of the University’s Center for Teaching Excellence, will serve as dean of John Dee Bright College.
Students in the John Dee Bright College will take classes as part of a learning cohort. We created this college for students that share Bright’s qualities: Grit. Resilience. Dedication. Drive. Passion for civic and professional engagement.
The Bright Path - The Johnny Bright Story on IMDbPro. The Bright Path: The Johnny Bright Story chronicles the life of Johnny Bright a record-breaking trailblazer who changed College football forever.
In 1951, while playing for Drake, Johnny Bright is knocked out by a dirty play against Oklahoma A&M.
A product of Central High School, Bright took a scholarship at Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa, to run track, with the condition that he could try out for the football and basketball teams. After sitting out the mandatory year of freshman ineligibility, Bright tried out for the football team and made the squad after two days. A few days after that, he became the focus of the offense.
As a sophomore, Bright rushed for 975 yards and threw for 975 yards to lead the nation in total offense as the Bulldogs went 6-2-1. He followed that with 1,232 yards rushing and 1,168 yards passing as a junior to set an NCAA record for total offense. The next season he was leading the nation in rushing and total offense with 821 and 1,349 yards, respectively when the Bulldogs played at Oklahoma A&M on Oct. 20, 1951.
As a sophomore in 1949, Bright became the first African-American player to play at Stillwater, but this game would be much rougher. After taking two late hits early in the game, Bright was well away from the play when he was blasted by Aggies defensive lineman Wilbanks Smith, who hit Bright so hard he was lifted off his feet. Despite suffering a broken jaw, Bright picked himself off the turf and came back the next play to throw a touchdown pass, but another hit knocked him out of the game a few plays later.
Immediately after the game, Drake officials accused Oklahoma A&M of dirty play and being out to "get" Bright, but the Oklahoma A&M president said he saw nothing unusual with the play. Photos from the game by John Robinson and Don Ultang of the Des Moines Register showed the severity and won a Pulitzer Prize.
Bright came back to play one more game two weeks later, rushing for 204 yards against Great Lakes Naval Station, to finish with more than 6,000 yards in career total offense. He averaged 236 yards per game and scored 384 points in 25 games. He finished fifth in the Heisman voting.
But the incident scarred Bright and Drake. When the Missouri Valley Conference took no action against Oklahoma A&M, Drake eventually left the league.
Also, in 1997, South Side's Derek Carpenter wins the state tennis championship.
The South Side senior succeeded in reaching his goal when he beat Dalton Albertin of Lawrence Central 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to win the IHSAA state singles title in Indianapolis. Carpenter finished his season 26-2 and his career 99-13 before continuing his career at Ball State.
Johnny Bright holds a legacy of changing a culture not only in football, but in education, starting at Drake University. We were proud to partner with McGill Junge Wealth Management to pay an ode to Bright’s legacy as well as how his values reflect community betterment. We strive to do so as well. This commercial will air during a special about Johnny Bright’s incredible story on CBS Sports Network. Thank you for watching!
