Kenny Washington

CTL-E-6867 · Person · other · 1918–1971

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07739 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6867.

Kenneth S. "Kenny" Washington (1918–1971) was a Los Angeles-born tailback who starred at UCLA from 1937 through 1939, where, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, he led the nation in total offense in 1939 and became the first UCLA player named an All-American, playing alongside Jackie Robinson and Woody Strode. The National Football League had no Black player after 1933, so Washington spent the early 1940s in West Coast minor professional leagues. On March 21, 1946, the Los Angeles Rams signed Washington — the first Black player signed by an NFL team after the league's color ban, ending a 12-year ban, as the Rams' own history release and Britannica both record. The precision matters: Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall had played in the league's predecessor era before the ban, so Washington's first is a reintegration first, not the league's first Black player ever. UCLA records that he led the league at 7.4 yards per rush in 1947 despite knee injuries, and he retired in 1948.

The record

• Also known as: Kenneth S. Washington, Kenneth Stanley Washington, Kingfish

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0379. Firsts disposition: 'First Black player signed by an NFL team after the league's color ban' ASSERTED — supported by Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Los Angeles Rams (team official), with UCLA Athletics corroborating the reintegration framing. Framing is reintegration only: Black players including Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall played before the ban. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Washington's Rams career was shortened by ruined knees, yet the signing itself is the hinge of modern NFL history — it happened a year before Jackie Robinson's debut and under public pressure over a publicly owned stadium. The record keeps the claim narrow because the narrow claim is the true one. Photo: CLEARED — Kenny Washington 1946 (cropped).jpg, Public domain.

Relationships

• Los Angeles, California — from
  Kenny Washington was born in Los Angeles, California (August 31, 1918) and grew up in its Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

Referenced by

• University of California, Los Angeles — has alumnus → this record
• Woody Strode — related to → this record

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kenny Washington." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kenny-Washington (build store)
• UCLA Athletics. "Kenny Washington (1984) — Hall of Fame." UCLA Bruins. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/kenny-washington/237 (primary source · build store)
• Los Angeles Rams. "Los Angeles Rams Host 'Threaded Through History' Exhibit in Partnership with the Kinsey Collection at SoFi Stadium." Los Angeles Rams media release, February 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://media.rams.1rmg.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/15141603/RAMS-HOST-THREADED-THROUGH-HISTORY-EXHIBIT-IN-PARTNERSHIP-WITH-THE-KINSEY-COLLECTION-AT-SOFI-STADIUM.pdf (primary source · build store)

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Record CTL-E-6867 · Combined Graph record U-07739 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 3 mapped relationships.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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