First Five: ‘Failure Was Not An Option'

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Chuck Kinnebrew didn't initially want to come play football for Georgia and be part of the first group of African-American players to sign with coach Vince Dooley and the Bulldogs. Kinnebrew already had plenty of experience integrating schools and teams in his hometown of Rome, Ga., and he wasn't too interested in doing it again.

"I was tired of being the first so I wanted to do something different," Kinnebrew said during a Zoom call Tuesday as Georgia this week is celebrating the First Five, the five African-American players — Larry West, Clarence Pope, Horace King, Richard Appleby and Kinnebrew — that 50 years ago arrived on campus as freshmen in 1971.

Tennessee already had a couple of African-American players be successful on the field, Jackie Walker was the SEC's first Black All-American, and Kinnebrew, a big and strong all-state defensive lineman at West Rome High, thought he would rather go play for the Volunteers.

But then he got a call from West, a defensive back from Albany, Ga., who talked to him about what it would mean for them along with the three young men from Athens — King, Appleby and Pope — to be the ones that were the Georgia football pioneers.

"Larry called me one night — I'm not quite sure who convinced him to do that — and he talked to me about what we could accomplish, the impact of what it would be if we would come to the university. I actually gave that some thought," Kinnebrew said.

Kinnebrew also talked with his father, who reminded him of the times when he was young and his father would on a tape recorder announce that his son had signed with the University of Georgia.

"He reminded me of that and I recognized how important it was for him, and my mother, she always talked about having high tea with Coach Dooley in her living room, which was a big deal," said Kinnebrew, who went onto a very successful business career with DuPont, Home Depot and Floor & Decor.

For West, who was also on the Zoom call Tuesday, there was not any hesitation about coming to Georgia and being a trailblazer while also getting an education and playing for the Bulldogs. He said he was the first African-American to enter into middle school in Albany, and one of the first on the football team at Albany High.

"In my childhood, growing up in a home that was filled with civil rights participants, activators and leaders, it was a natural progression for me," said West, now a pastor in the Washington, D.C. area. "And quite frankly, I never really thought about integrating; I thought about going up and being (an excellent student-athlete).

"Putting forth the best foot that we possibly could to show that we're not just athletes, we're human beings that set goals and had ambitions and wanted to show forth that there was more to these persons than just football players."

Once the First Five arrived together, it was full speed ahead with doing what they had to do on and off the field.

"There were no apprehensions, there was no reluctance. We came together," West said.

From the beginning, as they started school and practice on the freshman team, the idea that the five of them breaking the Georgia football color barrier might not work out wasn't part of their thought process.

"I never considered the fact that it wouldn't work," Kinnebrew said.

"I think that statement is true for all of us," West added.

"Failure was not an option," Kinnebrew later said.

"I don't believe any of us thought about if it would not work," West said. "We were going to make certain that it did work."

They succeeded wonderfully, all of them starters by the time they were seniors, and then they on to live productive and successful lives. And now they're back, set to be honored at Sanford Stadium on Saturday before the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs host South Carolina.

"I'm surprised it has been 50 years," West said. "It certainly sounds like a long time but it seems like it was just yesterday in some cases. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to see it as well as to feel it because it's very difficult not to be excited about this."

For Kinnebrew, who originally didn't want to be a trailblazer at Georgia, he now has a whole wall in his home office dedicated to his time playing for the Bulldogs and his ties to the program and the university in the years since. In the middle is his letter jacket, framed, he said, "because I can't wear it anymore, it doesn't fit."

"I can wear mine," West responded with a laugh.

Also on the wall are the grant-in-aid letters that he signed. "They mean a lot to me," Kinnebrew said. Another item on the wall that means a great deal is a National Football Foundation UGA Chapter's Post Graduate Achievement Award, which he received in 2013. It is given to former Georgia players who earned their degrees, distinguished themselves in business, and gave back to the community.

It's a wall of a life well lived, a wall that shows what Georgia did for Kinnebrew and what he has done for Georgia.

"When I think about my connection to the university today, I'm giving in ways that I never would have imagined," he said. "I'm giving back in ways that I hope that will create a trend that others will start to follow."

Fifty years ago, they were the First Five. Fifty years ago, they were the right five.

"We were probably the right people at the right time to come and do the things that we did at the University of Georgia," West said, "knowing that it was going to be impactful because we were the first."

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

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