Atlanta’s West Midtown will once again serve as a hub for connection, conversation, and celebration as Tee It Up for Women hosts its 3rd Annual Tee Up Meet Up on Thursday, March 26.
The event, scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at The Back Nine Golf, blends golf, networking, and Women’s History Month recognition into a single evening designed to bring professionals and enthusiasts together.
Organizers say the annual gathering has grown into more than a social event. It has become a platform where corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and community members meet, exchange ideas, and build relationships in a relaxed but intentional setting.
“This is about creating access and opportunity in spaces where relationships matter,” organizers noted in the event release. “Golf has long been a place where business gets done — this event ensures women are fully part of that conversation.”
A Featured Voice Behind Atlanta’s Global Stage
This year’s featured guest speaker, Bev Carey, brings a global perspective rooted in decades of high-level event strategy and execution.
Currently serving as Atlanta’s FIFA World Cup Host City Director, Carey plays a central role in preparing the city for one of the largest sporting events in the world. Her work spans operational readiness, logistics coordination, and stakeholder integration all critical to ensuring Atlanta delivers on the global stage.
Through her firm, Carey Communications, she has spent more than 20 years managing complex projects across sports, entertainment, nonprofit, and technology sectors. Her experience includes Olympic and Paralympic planning, large-scale live event production, and crisis management strategy.
Her recent appearance as a lead panelist at Mercedes-Benz Stadium underscores her leadership in shaping Atlanta’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
At Tee Up Meet Up, attendees will hear firsthand how those experiences translate into leadership, innovation, and opportunity particularly for women navigating traditionally male-dominated industries.
Networking, Play, and a Unique Atlanta Twist
The evening includes a mix of structured and casual engagement. Attendees will enjoy golf bay play, a putting challenge, appetizers, and drinks while connecting with fellow professionals and sponsors.
But the experience doesn’t end when the golf clubs are put away.
Participants are invited to continue the evening just steps away at American Axes, where a one-hour bonus axe-throwing session will extend the networking experience.
The event’s design reflects a broader trend in Atlanta’s professional scene — blending business development with experiential environments that encourage authentic interaction.
How to Attend
For registration details, sponsorship opportunities, or additional information, readers are encouraged to contact the event organizer directly:
Bill Pickett Rodeo leader Margo Wade-LaDrew launches Soul Country Music Stars, creating national opportunities for Black country artists and reshaping the genre’s cultural narrative.
THE ARCHITECT OF SOUL COUNTRY MUSIC STAR
How Margo Wade‑LaDrew Helped Reimagine the Black West
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA| March 17, 2026
When cable technician Shannon Whitaker stepped into Margo Wade‑LaDrew’s living room in Baldwin Hills, California he didn’t pause for the television or the equipment he’d come to repair. His eyes locked onto a jacket draped across a chair, unmistakably embroidered with the crest of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.
“I went when I was nine,” he said, suddenly grinning like a child. He was forty‑eight now. The memory had lived inside him for nearly four decades.
Moments like this follow Margo everywhere. They are reminders — unplanned, unscripted of the impact she has helped shape. For nearly thirty years, she has been one of the quiet architects behind the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR), the nation’s only touring Black rodeo association and the spiritual home of Black Western culture. And in recent years, she has become the visionary behind its newest cultural branch: Soul Country Music Star, a platform designed to restore Black presence in a genre Black people helped create.
To understand how she arrived at the intersection of rodeo, music, fashion, and philanthropy, you have to start long before the arena lights, long before the crowds, long before the sound of a banjo or the thunder of hooves.
You have to start in Richmond, Virginia.
Photo courtesy BPIR – Margo Wade-LeDrew
A Childhood of Work and Responsibility
Born in 1961, Margo Wade grew up in a household shaped by both love and hardship. When she was twelve, her mother began cycling in and out of hospitals with schizophrenia. The responsibility of raising two younger brothers fell to Margo and her sister while their father worked long hours to keep the family afloat.
“I’ve worked all my life,” she says, not as complaint but as fact.
By fourteen, she had a job in a Richmond hospital. By ten, she had already been knocking on doors selling flower seeds and Christmas cards. She didn’t know it then, but she was learning the skills that would define her adult life: how to connect with people, how to read a room, how to sell, and how to build trust.
Her first dream was to become a flight attendant. But life had other plans — plans that would take her into the heart of Black beauty culture, Black media, and eventually, Black Western history.
The Black Institutions That Formed Her
In her twenties, Margo entered the beauty industry, modeling in Richmond before moving to Chicago then the epicenter of Black haircare. She worked temp jobs until she landed at Johnson Publishing Company, the powerhouse behind Ebony and Jet. There, she became a merchandiser, then a sales rep, then a national sales manager.
Johnson Publishing didn’t outsource creativity. They held internal think tanks where Black professionals brainstormed campaigns, promotions, and strategies. It was a training ground in cultural authorship – a place where Black people shaped how Black people were seen.
From there, she moved through World of Curls, Dark & Lovely, Magic Shave, Bronner Brothers — a constellation of Black-owned companies that defined Black aesthetics for generations. She learned event planning, sponsorships, branding, and community outreach. She learned how to build programs from scratch.
And then she stepped into the NAACP Image Awards, where she wrote her first bid for services without ever having written one before and won. For six years, she helped produce one of the most important cultural events in Black America.
She didn’t know it yet, but all of this was preparing her for the moment she would walk into the Burbank Equestrian Center in 1996 and see something that would change her life.
The Revelation: Discovering Black Cowboys
She had gone to volunteer for a friend. She expected a community event. She did not expect to see Black cowboys and cowgirls — not in California, not in the 1990s, not in a world where Westerns had erased them.
“I had never seen Black cowboys before,” she says. “I didn’t even know there was a traveling rodeo this.”
The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo was celebrating its tenth anniversary that year. Founded by promoter Lou Vason in 1984, it was the first and only touring Black rodeo in the country. It had been built from scratch, city by city, without internet, without mainstream support, without recognition.
Margo was stunned. She was also hooked.
When her friend left for a job at BET, she asked Margo and another colleague to take over her role. They didn’t know rodeo culture. They didn’t know sponsorship strategy for Western sports. They didn’t know the logistics of animals, arenas, or ticketing.
But they learned. And Margo stayed.
For the next twenty years, she worked alongside Lou Vason, traveling from city to city, counting tickets in hotel rooms until 3 a.m., building relationships with cowboys, cowgirls, families, and communities. She watched the rodeo grow from a grassroots operation into a cultural institution.
And she watched Lou a legendary Black music promoter tie entertainment to the rodeo because he understood something essential: Black people would come for the culture, not just the competition.
That insight would later become the seed of Soul Country Music Star.
Sidebar – What Is Soul Country Music?
Soul Country Music, as envisioned through the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo’s Soul Country Music Star competition, blends the storytelling structure of country music with the emotional force, vocal texture, and lived experience long rooted in Black musical traditions. The concept pushes back against the narrow way country music has often been marketed and remembered. It creates room for artists who may sound country, soul, gospel, blues, or genre-crossing, but who still carry the themes of struggle, family, faith, place, love, and resilience that define country storytelling. For Margo Wade-LaDrew, the idea is not about inventing something new from scratch. It is about naming, elevating, and investing in a tradition that has always existed.
The Leadership Era: Black Women Take the Reins
When Lou Vason became ill in the early 2010s, his wife, Valeria Howard Vason, began traveling more, learning the books, the logistics, the operations. When Lou passed in 2015, she stepped fully into leadership becoming the first Black woman to run a national rodeo.
Margo became her right hand.
Together, they modernized the organization:
Expanded the tour
Secured major sponsors
Built the BPIR Foundation
Created grant programs
Partnered with Crown Royal, Toyota
Brought BPIR to television for the first time in 2021
Returned to Fort Worth’s historic Cowtown Coliseum
Grew the Fort Worth stop to ten sold‑out performances
Became Hollywood’s go‑to rodeo for authenticity
They did all this with a tiny staff. No salaries for leadership. No corporate infrastructure. Just commitment, cross‑training, and a belief that the rodeo mattered.
And then came the idea Margo had been carrying for a decade.
The Birth of Soul Country Music Star
For years, Margo had watched Black country artists show up at BPIR with guitars in hand, hoping for a chance to perform. They had no platform. No industry support. No place to belong.
She and her husband, Lawrence LeDrew, talked often about creating something for them — a showcase, a competition, a cultural home.
After Lou’s passing, she kept bringing it up.
Finally, Valeria said, “Stop talking about it and just do it.”
And she did.
In June 2024, during BPIR’s 40th anniversary, Soul Country Music Star launched. It was a tribute to Lou Vason’s entertainment legacy, to Valeria’s belief in the idea, and to the artists who had been waiting for a door to open.
The program quickly grew:
60–70 artists have come through
six finalists per city
two winners so far
$10,000 prize
winners travel with the rodeo
artists perform halftime and pre‑show
BPIR promotes their music
artists sell merch at the rodeo
mentorship in branding, booking, and performance
Suddenly, the world was paying attention to Black country music. Soul Country Music Star was no longer a niche idea it was part of a national cultural moment.
Photo courtesy BPIR – Soul Country Music Star
The Cultural Lineage: Restoring What Was Always Ours
Margo is clear about the history:
The banjo is African.
The harmonica was central to early Black country and blues.
DeFord Bailey was the first Black star of the Grand Ole Opry — and they hid his race.
Linda Martell was the first commercially successful Black female country artist — and the industry pushed her out.
Charley Pride broke barriers but was treated as an exception.
Ray Charles reshaped country music by adding soul.
“Country music is ours,” she says.
Soul Country Music Stars is not a novelty. It is a restoration.
The Rodeo as a Cultural Homeplace
Ask Margo why BPIR matters, and she won’t talk about prize money or logistics. She’ll talk about:
the seven‑year‑old boy who whispered, “I see Black cowboys”
the woman who begged for tickets with a childhood photo
the families who plan reunions around the rodeo
the fourth and fifth generation children growing up in the stands
the music, the clowns, the announcers, the rope tricks
Howard Johnson singing Lift Every Voice in the dirt
the Black flag flying beside the American flag
BPIR is a place where people reconnect with history, community, and each other.
The Legacy She Wants to Leave
When asked what she wants future generations to remember, Margo doesn’t hesitate.
“That the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo cared,” she says. “That we opened doors. That we loved our community enough to keep going.”
She wants BPIR in museums. She wants the traveling museum to become permanent. She wants the documentary finished. She wants the nighttime drama about a Black family running a rodeo to be televised.
And she wants The Greatest Show on Dirt — the story of BPIR — on the big screen.
She has already begun the work.
A Cultural Architect for the Next Generation
Margo Wade‑LaDrew’s life is a blueprint of Black cultural stewardship:
a childhood of responsibility
a career in Black-owned institutions
two decades shaping the rodeo under Lou Vason
a leadership era defined by Black women
a foundation built on grants, scholarships, and community
a music platform restoring Black country’s rightful place
a commitment to legacy, memory, and cultural truth
She is not simply preserving history. She is expanding it.
And somewhere in Greater Los Angeles, California, cable technician Shannon Whitaker is telling someone about the day he walked into a house, saw a jacket, and remembered the first time he saw a Black cowboy. That is the legacy she continues to build – one memory at a time.
Country Roots, Diverse Beats: Celebrating the Rich Tapestry of Soul in Country Music.
Agricenter International Showplace Theater – 7777 Walnut Grove Rd, Memphis, TN
Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Music Competition – Friday, April 10, 2026 | 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Competition
BPIR Rodeo – Saturday, April 11, 2026 | 1:30 pm or 7:30 pm
Upcoming in the TSJ series – Inside the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Part 3 — Kirk Jay: The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 4 — Nathaniel Dansby (Mr. Bowleggs) : The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 5 — Rodeo for Kids’ Sake and the Next Generation
This column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next.
– players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Last week’s Shadowball Significa Question of the Week: What manager has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame for Negro League performance?
Since no one submitted the correct answer, everyone gets credit for being correct since there, in the 55 years since the Baseball Hall of Fame began inducting Negro Leaguers no Negro Leaguer has been inducted as a manager. Hence, this week’s topic. Last week I opined that there should be between 58 (i.e., 30 additional) and 80 (or 52 more than at present) Negro League players in the Hall. This week, as a follow up I thought I should suggest who a few of those players – and others – should be. Below I list two candidates (and their overall rank in the 42 for ’21 poll) for each category:
3rd Baseman John Beckwith (4) Oliver Marcelle (18)
Shortstop Dick Lundy (7) Home Run Johnson (8)
Outfielder Rap Dixon (1) Wild Bill Wright (23)
The Shadowball Significa Question of the Week: What Negro League player was Barry Bonds Godfather? Send your answer and any comments on Negro League topics to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
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Atlanta launches ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, outlining worker protections, housing initiatives, and community safeguards tied to the global tournament.
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 11, 2026
Atlanta leaders say hosting the world’s largest sporting event must reflect the city’s long tradition of civil and human rights leadership.
This week, the City of Atlanta publicly launched the ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan, a framework designed to protect workers, safeguard vulnerable communities, and ensure that the global spotlight of the World Cup leaves lasting benefits for Atlanta residents.
The initiative, led by the Mayor’s Office of One Atlanta, was formally adopted by the Atlanta City Council through Resolution 26-R-3106. City officials say the plan will guide how Atlanta prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when matches will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Atlanta has a legacy of leading the conscience of the nation for civil and human rights,” said Andre Dickens. “The ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan reflects the city’s values and decades of the unforgotten voices of the greatest civil rights leaders in history who called Atlanta home.”
City leaders say the plan is built on a simple principle: the World Cup should happen “with Atlanta, not to Atlanta.”
Officials say that philosophy guided months of planning and community engagement aimed at making sure the event strengthens neighborhoods rather than placing additional burdens on them.
Community Voices Help Shape the Plan
The Human Rights Action Plan was developed through an extensive public process that included more than 75 hours of community engagement and participation from more than 25 organizations.
Those discussions included labor leaders, disability advocates, immigrant-serving nonprofits, faith groups, youth organizations, anti-human-trafficking coalitions, and residents across the city.
Multiple city departments participated in the effort, including the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, the Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs, the Department of Emergency Preparedness, the Department of Innovation and Performance, and the Atlanta Department of Labor and Employment Services.
Candace Stanciel, Atlanta’s Chief Impact Officer who led the effort, said community voices were central to the plan’s development.
“This Action Plan was built through partnership,” Stanciel said. “Their voices shaped every section of this document, and their continued partnership will be essential to its success.”
Four Pillars of the Plan
The framework addresses a wide range of issues that can arise when cities host major global events.
Officials organized the plan around four major pillars.
The first pillar, Inclusion and Safeguarding, focuses on protecting vulnerable populations. Initiatives include preventing human trafficking, supporting unsheltered residents, expanding language access, protecting children, and ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities.
The second pillar, Workers’ Rights, establishes labor standards for World Cup-related jobs coordinated by the city. Officials say a $17.50 hourly minimum wage will serve as the baseline for those positions, alongside protections for safe workplaces and wage theft prevention.
The third pillar, Access to Remedy, creates a unified grievance reporting portal in partnership with FIFA and strengthens the Atlanta Human Relations Commission as the city’s primary anti-discrimination mechanism.
The fourth pillar, Accountability and Monitoring, commits the city to quarterly public progress reports and a comprehensive human rights impact report within six months after the tournament concludes.
Why Cities Now Create Human Rights Plans
Human rights action plans have become increasingly common as cities prepare to host global sporting events.
In recent years, international sports governing bodies have encouraged host cities to adopt formal frameworks designed to prevent problems that have emerged around previous mega-events, including worker exploitation, displacement of residents, trafficking risks, and limits on civil liberties.
By identifying risks early and establishing safeguards in advance, cities aim to ensure that global sporting celebrations benefit local communities rather than harming them.
Atlanta officials say the ATL26 plan reflects those lessons while building on the city’s longstanding role in the American civil rights movement.
A Legacy Beyond the Final Match
Beyond event preparation, the plan outlines eight “Legacy Impact Initiatives” designed to deliver long-term benefits to Atlanta residents.
Among them:
• A human rights resource network connecting more than 15 partner organizations • Youth leadership programs expected to serve more than 200 young people • Career exposure opportunities in the sports industry • A citywide accessibility readiness guide for major events • Efforts to support 500 permanent supportive housing units and help 2,000 households find housing • Anti-human-trafficking training for more than 1,000 individuals • FIFA-connected Pride programming providing health and legal resources • Expanded outreach and training through the Human Relations Commission
City officials say the effort is meant to ensure that when the final whistle blows in 2026, Atlanta will be stronger than before the tournament began.
“This Action Plan is both a commitment to the standards we believe every host city should uphold,” the city said in its announcement, “and an invitation to make the 2026 World Cup a model for how global sporting events can advance fairness, justice, and shared humanity.”
Sidebar
Atlanta and the Olympics: What the 1996 Games Teach Us About Hosting Global Events
When Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics, the city stepped onto the global stage in a way it never had before.
For two weeks in July 1996, millions of visitors and television viewers saw Atlanta as the capital of the New South a city of economic growth, cultural influence, and civil rights history.
The Olympics brought major benefits. They helped create Centennial Olympic Park, accelerated downtown redevelopment, expanded tourism, and helped reshape Atlanta’s international reputation.
But the Games also revealed the challenges large global events can create.
Housing advocates raised concerns about displacement of low-income residents as redevelopment accelerated. Civil liberties groups also criticized aggressive security policies and the removal of unhoused residents from parts of downtown during preparations for the Games.
Those lessons are part of why cities today often develop formal human rights frameworks when hosting global sporting events.
Atlanta’s ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan, tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, reflects that evolution. City leaders say the goal is to ensure that when the world returns to Atlanta in 2026, the benefits of the event will extend beyond the stadium and into the communities that call the city home.
Valeria Howard Cunningham reflects on 42 years of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, preserving Black cowboy history while inspiring youth and building community nationwide.
The Legacy of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo: Valeria Howard Cunningham on History, Community, and the Future of Black Cowboys
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 10, 2026
A little boy walked into the arena in Memphis dressed like a cowboy from head to toe, boots, jeans, a large buckle, a western shirt, and a hat. He was about seven years old.
Like many children entering a rodeo arena for the first time, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of the animals. Then he stepped closer to the arena rail. He stopped in his tracks. Hands on his hips, eyes wide, he stared at the riders preparing to compete. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls.”
Standing nearby was Valeria Howard Cunningham, the longtime leader of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. She watched the moment unfold and felt tears come to her eyes. “For me,” she later said, “that moment spoke volumes.”
For more than four decades, moments like that have defined the mission of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo not simply as a sporting event, but as a place where history, culture, and community meet.
In a recent interview with The Truth Seekers Journal, Howard reflected on the journey from modest beginnings to sold-out arenas—and on the people and purpose that have sustained it for more than 42 years.
Overcoming Fear and Breaking Barriers
Cunningham does not pretend the journey was easy. Taking the reins of a national rodeo organization as a Black woman came with uncertainty and pressure. “You know, that was scary within itself,” Cunningham said. “Being a Black woman trying to run an African American rodeo association – were people ready for that?”
There were moments of doubt. But Cunningham said she was never alone. She remembers the circle of women who stood beside her, believing in the vision and pushing her forward when the responsibility felt overwhelming. “I had Black women surrounding me who had my back,” she said. “They assured me they would be standing beside me.” That support system became one of the foundations of the rodeo’s success. Howard quickly points out that the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo has always been a team effort.
Among those who helped shape the organization are longtime partners like national sponsorship director, Margo Wade-LaDrew, who is ready to step in and take the reins if need be, Acynthia Villery, Social Media Director, and the first African American female professional rodeo announcer, public relations director Michelle Johnson, and a network of coordinators, volunteers, and rodeo professionals across the country.
“I was surrounded by incredibly talented women,” Cunningham said. “They guided me on the things I didn’t know.”
From Empty Seats to Sold-Out Arenas
When the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo first began touring, success looked very different. In the early days, simply filling a few seats felt like a victory. “We started just hoping to see some people in the seats,” Cunningham said. Today, many arenas are filled to capacity. The growth did not happen by accident. Cunningham credits the rodeo’s competitors, the cowboys and cowgirls who travel across the country. They compete in events that require extraordinary skill, discipline, and courage.
BPIR courtesy photo – Valeria Howard Cunningham, President and CEO of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
“The cowboys and cowgirls in the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo are professionals,” she said. “People come because they want to see great competition.” But competition alone is not enough.
Cunningham believes audiences deserve excellence when they buy a ticket. “If you’re going to produce a show,” she said, “you must respect your audience and make sure they get the best experience possible.”
The True Culture of Black Cowboys
Cunningham is passionate about correcting misunderstandings about Black cowboy culture. Too often, she says, people reduce the culture to modern trail rides or social gatherings. But the real tradition runs much deeper.
“Black cowboy culture is about people who love the animals, love the sport, and take pride in being the best at what they do,” she said. At a Bill Pickett rodeo, spectators see that culture up close.
They see barrel racers flying around the arena at full speed. They see bull riders climb onto two-ton animals. These animals can throw a rider in seconds. They see steer wrestlers launch themselves from horses in a test of strength and timing.
Every event carries risk. Every competitor carries pride. And every ride connects today’s riders to generations of Black cowboys who helped shape the American West.
The Business Behind the Show
Behind the excitement of the arena is a complex operation. Producing a rodeo requires moving livestock, equipment, competitors, and staff across multiple states. Venue decisions alone can determine whether an event is financially successful.
Cunningham remembers one expensive lesson from decades ago. During an indoor rodeo in Philadelphia, the organization paid $50,000 just to bring dirt into the arena and then remove it afterward. “That’s when I said we’re not in the dirt business,” Cunningham said. Experiences like that shaped the organization’s strategy.
Cunningham said she is careful to choose venues that allow the rodeo to keep ticket prices affordable. “Our community has to be able to participate,” she said. “That’s the reason we do what we do.”
Investing in the Next Generation
For Cunningham, the rodeo’s mission extends far beyond competition. She credits her upbringing for that outlook. “My mother raised me to believe that when people give to you, you must give back,” she said.
That philosophy led to the creation of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo Foundation, which provides scholarships, community programs, and youth outreach. Young riders are also part of the show itself.
The rodeo features Pee-Wee divisions for children as young as 5. There are also junior competitions that allow young riders to develop their skills. “These kids invest time and effort,” Cunningham said. “When they do something positive, we should showcase it.”
Rodeo for Kids’ Sake
One of the rodeo’s most impactful programs is called Rodeo for Kids’ Sake.
Each year in Memphis, thousands of elementary and middle school students attend a special Friday morning rodeo designed just for them. Before the competition begins, students receive a history lesson about Black cowboys and cowgirls who played important roles in the development of the American West. Teachers can also download curriculum workbooks. These workbooks connect rodeo history to lessons in reading, math, and art.
BPIR Courtesy photo – Valeria Howard Cunningham
About 4,000 students attend the Memphis program each year. For many of them, it is the first time they have ever heard about Black cowboys. Sometimes, it is the first time they have ever seen one. Cunningham still remembers the moment that little boy in Memphis stopped and stared at the arena. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls,” Cunningham said. She could only stand there and cry. In that instant, she understood the true reach of the rodeo. “It means they see themselves,” she said.
A Legacy Built by Community
Cunningham experienced another powerful moment during the rodeo’s 40th anniversary celebration in Oakland. Standing at the top of the arena entrance, she watched families stream through the doors. Parents pushed strollers. Children held hands. Elderly guests arrived in wheelchairs. “It didn’t matter if you were a newborn or a senior,” she said. “Everyone was coming to share the experience.”
One man stopped her and shared his story. He had attended the rodeo every year since childhood. Now he was bringing his own children and his mother. “That’s when I realized the span of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo,” Cunningham said.
Looking Toward the Future
Now in its 42nd year, the rodeo continues to grow.
Alongside the competition, the organization has launched Soul Country Rodeo Weekend. This event pairs the rodeo with a national music competition to discover emerging country music talent. But Cunningham says the future of the rodeo ultimately belongs to the next generation. “We’re preparing the next school of leaders,” she said. These are leaders who will carry the Bill Pickett legacy forward—and make sure the next little boy who walks into a rodeo arena can still look out and say with wonder: “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls.”
Country Roots, Diverse Beats: Celebrating the Rich Tapestry of Soul in Country Music.
Upcoming in the TSJ series – Inside the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Part 2 — Margo Wade LaDrew: Building the Rodeo Brand Part 3 — Kirk Jay: The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 4 — Nathaniel Dansby (Mr. Bowleggs) : The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 5 — Rodeo for Kids’ Sake and the Next Generation
One of my main passions in Negro League baseball research is endeavoring to assist the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum to have better representation of Negro League “players” in their plaque gallery. Currently there are 28 Negro League “players” inducted in the Hall of Fame and 137 players inducted who had played in the traditional Major Leagues (as defined by MLB as “major” in 1969) prior to April 15, 1947. (I should note that only 125 of those players fully earned their plaques during MLB’s Segregated Era, 1876-1946)
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a 501(c)3 not‑for‑profit educational institution, dedicated to preserving history, honoring excellence, and connecting generations. The question becomes does a 5 to one ratio properly “preserve (the) history” of baseball prior to 1947. Does having only 18% of all players prior to ’47 adequately educate the public on the National Pastime’s history?
Consider the following background facts:
Oral history is full of Major League players, including Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner (the first three inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame), who extoled the talents of Negro League players.
Despite Commissioner Landis doing his best to ban Major League teams from playing Negro League teams … hundreds of games between “so called “Major League and “so called” Negro League teams were played and, as historians and accountants will do, records were kept. I have seen a half dozen or so such composite accounts and the Negro League teams have the edge in every one of them.
On December 16, 2020, “Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced that Major League Baseball is correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history by officially elevating the Negro Leagues to “Major League” status.” Designating 7 Negro Leagues – Negro National League, Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East-West League, Negro Southern League, Negro National League II, Negro American League – as Major.
On May 29, 2024, MLB officially absorbed select Negro League records. Amazingly and interestingly, they show virtually identical slash lines for the two sides of the ML color line. Now, this would not have a lot of probative value if not for the other supportive facts in this litany.
Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella were the first two players inducted in the Hall of Fame having debuted in the NL/AL after ’46. Including that pair, just about 41% of all Hall of Famers debuting in either the AL or NL since then are players who would not have been permitted to play prior to the reintegration of the game.
In 2025, just under 41% of major league opening day rosters were players who would not have been permitted to play prior to the integration of the game. Keep in mind, unlike pre 1947 a significant amount of baseball talent is siphoned off by the National Football League or National Basketball Association.
As for the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum it also has done spectacular work in telling both the history (and quality) of the Negro Leagues in every corner of the museum except the plaque gallery. In 2024, a Black baseball initiative was unveiled which included a new exhibit ‘The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball’; unveiling of a new Hank Aaron statue titled “Keep Swinging”; creation of a webpage called ‘We Play’ geared to 8 to 12 year olds which tells the story of Black baseball and its role in the Civil Rights movement; in addition additional educational outreach programs for older students are delivered to classrooms across the country; the Hall of Fame East-West Classic: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Game (sadly this spectacular event was not continued annually – it is never too late; during ’24 the Hall began a collaboration with Dr. Geral Early, Washington University of Saint Louis, on a book published in 2025 “Play Harder” which sheds light on the early Black influence on baseball … for me, the year was capped when the Hall of Fame invited SABR’s Negro League Research Committee to hold its annual Jerry Malloy Conference in the Hall of Fame.
Surely, Negro League players must have made up more than 18% of the best players prior to 1947.
It is time for Hall to answer Major League Baseball’s action of ’20 and ’24 by bringing the Hall of Honor UpToDate by inducting all deserving Negro League baseball players with all deliberate speed. Not two this year, none the next, and then another, then another two … already most of the players are gone and at such pace even the historians and ancestors will be gone.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Submitted by Shadow Ball fan, Will Clark): The 1969 New York Mets had a player (a key one at that) whose stepfather played in the Negro Leagues. Name the player and the Negro Leaguer who was his stepfather. The 1969 New York Mets player was Donn Clendenon. He was a key contributor and 1969 World Series MVP. Clendenon’s stepfather was Nish Williams Nish Williams raised him, mentored him, and shaped his athletic discipline. Clendenon often credited Williams with instilling the work ethic that carried him through his MLB career and ultimately helped power the Miracle Mets to their championship. Both Clendenon (2005) and Williams (1968) are deceased.
The Shadow ball Significa Question of the Week: What manager has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame for Negro League performance? Send your answer and any comments on this issue’s Shadow Ball to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Support open, independent journalism—your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.
Dear Shadow Ball: “Where would you place Rap Dixon in a list of the greatest Negro League outfielders? — Al Davis, Rensselaer, NY
… this column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next.
– players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.
Dear Al: As you (as well as anyone paying attention to me) knows Rap Dixon is my favorite Negro League player thus it is no surprise that I rank him at the top of the list of Hall of Fame worthy outfielders. There are seven Negro League outfielders already in and I have no quibble ranking all of them ahead of Dixon – Oscar Charleston, Turkey Stearnes, Cristobal Torriente, Pete Hill, Willard Brown, and Cool Papa Bell. Monte Irvin, the 1st put into the Hall as an outfielder, I would prefer him to be listed as a shortstop where he played 47% of his games with only 41% of his games being played as an outfielder.
After the already inducted group I support the results of several polls including SABR’s Negro League Committee, the 42 for ’21 poll, and the Negro League Centennial Team as well as opinions of both Oscar Charleston and Cool Papa Bell all of which name Rap Dixon as the next outfielder to be inducted. The 1952 Pittsburgh Courier poll offers only Clint Thomas (among eligible outfielders) ahead of Dixon. Monte Irvin prefers Wild Bill Wright over Dixon. Other outfielders deserving induction (not consideration but induction) include, both Thomas and Wright, Alejandro Oms, Fats Jenkins, Spottswood Poles, Roy Parnell, Chino Smith (with an Addie Joss waiver), and Hurley McNair. Leaving others for future consideration including Heavy Johnson, Sam Jethroe, Ted Strong, Henry Kimbro, Pancho Coimbre, and others.
In closing I must point out that since the integration of the game only six outfielders have debuted and earned induction (Mantle, Kaline, Snider, Yastrzemski, Ashburn, and Walker) that would have been permitted to play in the AL or NL prior to 1947 … and 24 outfielders have debuted/earned induction who would not have been permitted to play in either of those leagues prior … my list of recommended inductees above includes only nine, There is plenty of room in Cooperstown for Justice.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Who took over as Commissioner of the Negro National League immediately after Rube Foster resigned in November 1926? Unlike last week where we got two correct answers; this week’s question produced none. The immediate successor to Rube Foster was Dr. G. B. Key who took over immediately after Rube Foster for the remainder of 1926.
The Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week (submitted by Shadow Ball fan, Will Clark): The 1969 New York Mets had a player (a key one at that) whose stepfather played in the Negro Leagues. Name the player and the Negro Leaguer who was his stepfather.
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Support open, independent journalism—your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.
Dear Shadow Ball: “Who would be “your” choice for the next three Negro League inductees for the Hall of Fame?” — Jerry Hoover, Asheboro, NC
… this column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next.
– players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.
Dear Jerry: By “your” Mr. Hoover was asking about “my” choices and I have been clear for several years now – my choice for the most deserving player has been John Beckwith, multi-position slugger of the Baltimore Black Sox, Chicago American Giants, and the Harrisburg Giants. My choice among non-players is Gus Greenlee, owner Pittsburgh Crawfords, builder of Greenlee Field, one of the founders of the East-West Classic, founder of the 2nd Negro National League, and an organizer of the United States Baseball League a “historically significant but marginal” latter day Negro League. Last, my favorite Negro League player and my third answer to your question, is buried in the Township in which I live, played Major League home games on a Lancaster, PA, field where I played midget football, is outfielder Rap Dixon. All three are absolutely no brainer inductees. Since 30 to 50 additional no brainer Negro League induction candidates exist in my view — it is time for the National Baseball Hall of Fame to get busy.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: A Hall of Fame Negro League slugger had a nephew who sang with, and co-founded, a legendary R&B vocal group of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Name that slugger. Will Clark, a reader who submitted this week’s sought slugger Buck Leonard and singer and founder of The Orioles Sonny Til his nephew. Both Leonard (1972 Baseball inductee) and Til (1995 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee with other members of The Orioles) are Hall of Famers. No one got that answer correct; however, Kevin Johnson, Broken Arrow, OK, offered a different but just as compelling correct answer: slugger Mule Suttles’s nephew Warren Suttles, baritone lead, and co-founder, of The Ravens. Gotta wonder – given the strong connection between culture and baseball – if there are more “correct” answers for this one.
The Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week (submitted by Shadow Ball fan, Kevin Johnson): Who took over as Commissioner of the Negro National League immediately after Rube Foster resigned in November 1926? Let us see how many correct answers we can get this time.
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Support open, independent journalism—your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.
Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots 29–13 in Super Bowl LX, powered by defense, record field goals, and Kenneth Walker III’s MVP performance.
By Milton Kirby | San Francisco, CA | February 8, 2026
Super Bowl LX is officially in the books, and it will be remembered as a night when defense, discipline, and patience ruled the NFL’s biggest stage.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29–13 at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl LX, played during the venue’s 12th year of hosting NFL games, capturing the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship—12 years after its first.
Seattle entered the game as the favorites and played like it methodical, relentless, and mistake-free. Remarkably, the Seahawks finished the entire postseason without committing a single turnover, a rare feat that defined their championship run.
A Historic Night for Seattle Leadership and Defense
Head coach Mike McDonald, just 38 years old, became the third youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl. His defensive game plan was executed to near perfection by Seattle’s dominant front four, nicknamed “The Dark Side,” which controlled the line of scrimmage from opening kickoff to final whistle.
Through nearly three full quarters, neither team reached the end zone. Seattle’s defense forced punts, stalled drives, and kept New England quarterback Drake Maye under constant pressure.
Field Goals First, Touchdowns Later
Seattle kicker Jason Myers, a veteran in his 11th NFL season, carried the scoring early. Myers drilled five field goals an all-time Super Bowl record accounting for 15 points and keeping the scoreboard moving while both offenses searched for rhythm.
It wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter that the game’s first touchdown was scored. QuarterbackSam Darnold found tight end A.J. Barner on a 16-yard strike, pushing Seattle ahead 19–0 and effectively breaking the game open.
Kenneth Walker III Earns Super Bowl MVP
Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl LX MVP after a physical, punishing performance that controlled the tempo of the game.
Walker finished with:
27 rushing attempts
135 rushing yards
2 receptions
26 receiving yards
Though he did not score a touchdown, his ability to extend drives and wear down New England’s defense proved decisive. Walker became the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII.
Patriots’ Rise Comes Up Short
For New England, in their 12th appearance in a Super Bowl, the loss marked a painful ending to an otherwise remarkable season. In his second NFL year, Drake Maye led the Patriots to a 14–3 regular-season record and their return to the Super Bowl, attempting to become the youngest quarterback ever to win one.
Seattle’s defense, however, ensured that history would wait.
Twelve Years Later, History Repeats
The victory carried special meaning for Seattle. Twelve years earlier, the Seahawks captured their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XLVIII with a dominant win over Denver. That championship helped cement the franchise’s identity and gave rise to the “12s,” Seattle’s famously loud and loyal fan base.
On Sunday night, twelve years later, the Seahawks added a second Lombardi Trophy to their legacy.
As confetti fell at Levi’s Stadium, one truth was undeniable: Super Bowl LX belonged to Seattle built on defense, patience, and a team that waited 12 years to finish the story.
By the Numbers
Final Score: Seahawks 29, Patriots 13
Total Points: 42
Total Yards by Seahawks 335
Rushing 135
Passing 202
Youngest Super Bowl–Winning Coach: Mike McDonald (38)
Super Bowl LX: The Business of the Big Game
Estimated Host City Revenue (San Francisco Bay Area):
Hotels & Lodging: $180M–$220M
Restaurants & Food: $140M–$160M
Transportation: $40M–$60M
Public & Tax Revenue: $16M
The Cost of 30 Seconds of Airtime:
Average ad price: $8 million
Cost per second: $266,666
Total campaign investment (ads + marketing): $15M–$20M
Player Bonuses:
Winning team: $178,000 per player
Losing team: $103,000 per player
Truth Seekers Journal thrives because of readers like you. Join us in sustaining independent voices.
Dear Shadow Ball: “Who was the last Negro Leaguer to play in MLB?” — Will Clark, Hackensack, NJ
… this column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next.
– players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.
Dear Will: If by play one means debut, according to baseball-reference, the answer is Ike Brown who briefly played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the early sixties before beginning a lengthy stay in the Detroit Tigers system, including four years in the AAA International League, finally debuting with the parent club on June 17, 1969 thereby becoming the last player from the Negro Leagues to break in to MLB.
Ironically, at the time of Brown’s debut only one former Negro Leaguer was active – Hank Aaron who had just two months earlier broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record with a round tripper off Al Downing on April 8, 1974. Hammerin’ Hank would play his MLB final game on October 3, 1976, becoming the last Negro Leaguer to play in MLB.
Late in that 1976 season the Chicago White Sox, under the forever showman Bill Veeck, utilized 52 year old Minnie Minoso, a Negro League All Star third baseman in the 40s, as a designated hitter in three games all preceding Aaron’s finale but four years later Minoso would appear as a pinch hitter on October 5, 1980 in his last appearance in the bigs (and Bill Veeck’s last game as an owner.)
Thus, the last former Negro Leaguer to debut in the Majors is Ike Brown, the last to play regularly is Hank Aaron and the last to appear in any role – gimmicky or otherwise – is Minnie Minoso.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Which Negro League team introduced night baseball five years before Major League Baseball adopted it? No one submitted the correct answer, but I will give it because we have a guest with a significa question this week. The Kansas City Monarchs first played night baseball in 1930, using J.L. Wilkinson’s pioneering portable lighting system, the first of its kind.
The Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week (submitted by Shadowball fan, Will Clark): A Hall of Fame Negro League slugger had a nephew who sang with, and co-founded, a legendary R&B vocal group of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Name that slugger.
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the JerryMalloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033.
Truth Seekers Journal thrives because of readers like you. Join us in sustaining independent voices.
By Milton Kirby | Daytona Beach, FL | January 22, 2026
Hardee’s is back in NASCAR in a big way.
The iconic American fast‑food brand has signed a multiyear agreement to become the Official Quick Service Restaurant of NASCAR, while also joining 23XI Racing as a primary sponsor of Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE.
The move represents one of the most notable heritage‑brand returns in recent NASCAR history and arrives at a moment when the sport is eager to reset after a turbulent offseason.
Hardee’s branding will appear throughout the season on Wallace’s firesuit, team uniforms, and equipment, with the No. 23 Hardee’s car set to debut at Martinsville Speedway this spring. The partnership also fills a long‑vacant category: Hardee’s becomes the first official NASCAR QSR in more than 15 years, a slot left open since Checkers/Rally’s exited in 2008.
A Heritage Brand Comes Home
For longtime fans, Hardee’s return is more than a sponsorship it’s a callback to an era when the brand was synonymous with winning. During the 1980s and 1990s, Hardee’s‑backed teams collected 12 NASCAR Cup Series victories with Hall of Fame drivers Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Alan Kulwicki, and Dale Jarrett.
Allison delivered three wins in the No. 28 Hardee’s car in 1981, including the Coca‑Cola 600. Yarborough added nine victories, highlighted by back‑to‑back Daytona 500 triumphs in 1983 and 1984.
Now, as NASCAR courts legacy brands seeking multigenerational reach, Hardee’s return fits squarely into the sport’s push to reconnect with its roots.
“Hardee’s is an American classic with deep roots in our sport,” said NASCAR Chief Commercial Officer Craig Stimmel. “Its return represents more than a new partnership it symbolizes the power and appeal of NASCAR’s heritage.”
Why 23XI, Why Now
Hardee’s arrival also reshapes the sponsorship landscape at 23XI Racing. The brand steps in as McDonald’s quietly exits the team — a shift that became clear when the Golden Arches were absent from recent car renderings tied to the team’s expanded partnership with Xfinity.
Hardee’s will serve as a primary sponsor for Wallace at select races beginning with Martinsville, while Xfinity remains the dominant presence on the No. 23 throughout the season, including the Daytona 500.
The timing is notable. The agreement lands just months after NASCAR and 23XI Racing resolved their high‑profile antitrust dispute, a case Truth Seekers Journal has covered extensively from the damages sought by 23XI and Front Row Motorsports to the permanent charter resolution and the broader implications for team equity and sponsorship stability.
Industry sources said Hardee’s evaluated multiple teams before selecting 23XI, ultimately offering commitments slightly above $1 million annually. The deal, brokered by Hardee’s media agency PMG, includes trackside activations, digital campaigns, and integration with NASCAR’s My Rewards loyalty ecosystem.
For Wallace, the partnership carries both personal and professional weight.
“NASCAR is built on legacy, and Hardee’s has been part of some of the most iconic moments in our sport’s history,” Wallace said. “Fans know the Hardee’s paint schemes of the past, and I’m excited to help create some new memories.”
A Signal Beyond Sponsorship
Beyond the branding, Hardee’s return sends a broader message about the sport’s direction. NASCAR Holdings and 23XI Racing collaborated closely to bring the brand back a sign that the two sides have maintained a functional working relationship following last year’s antitrust litigation.
Had the case gone to trial, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were seeking $365 million in damages. Instead, the dispute concluded with NASCAR granting both teams permanent charters a resolution analysts estimate to be worth tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, not including substantial legal costs.
Against that backdrop, Hardee’s re‑entry is being viewed inside the industry as a tangible step toward renewed stability and a signal that major brands are once again comfortable making long‑term investments in the sport.
Looking Ahead
Hardee’s parent company, CKE Restaurants Holdings, also operates Carl’s Jr., with more than 3,800 restaurants across the U.S. and internationally. Company officials say the NASCAR partnership will emphasize fan engagement, community outreach, and celebrating the sport’s past while fueling its future.
For NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Bubba Wallace, the partnership represents something increasingly rare in modern motorsports: a heritage brand not just returning — but reclaiming a central place on the grid.
Dear Shadow Ball: I have a question about Negro League stats being entered into the Major League Baseball record book. It is my understanding that in 1969 four pro leagues’ records, in addition to the American and National Leagues, were entered into the record book. Were the Negro Leagues considered at that time by the committee and rejected, or were they completely ignored or overlooked (and we had to wait 50+ years for it to finally happen)? — Chris Hansen, Ogden, Utah
… this column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next.
– players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.
Dear Chris: I happen to know the answer to that question very well. On July 1, 2017, at the 47th annual convention of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in New York City, I had the opportunity to pose that very question to two men who knew the subject as well as anyone alive: John Thorn, Major League Baseball’s Official Historian, and David Neft, the driving force behind the 1969 Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia. Neft was in the room in 1969 when MLB’s Special Baseball Records Committee (SBRC) designated six professional leagues — the National League, American League, Players League, Federal League, American Association, and Union Association — as “major.”
Both Thorn and Neft welcomed questions from the audience, and asking mine was one of the principal reasons I attended SABR 47. When my turn came, I asked: “Did the Special Baseball Records Committee consider, at all, the Negro Leagues to be a Major League?” Thorn answered immediately — exactly as I expected — with a single word: “No.” Both men then expanded on the criteria the SBRC used in 1969, and why the Negro Leagues were not even discussed. (If interested the Q & A occurs at the 47:32 point in this mp3 SABR47-David_Neft-John_Thorn-Baseball_Records_Cmte.mp3 | Powered by Box and lasts about three minutes. If you have time the hour-long conversation between Thorn & Neft is well worth the listen) Years later, Neft told The Ringer: “The one thing that I am absolutely certain about is that there never was any SBRC discussion about treating the Negro Leagues as major leagues.” Major League Baseball itself confirmed this in its December 16, 2020 press release announcing the elevation of seven Negro Leagues to Major League status: “It is MLB’s view that the Committee’s 1969 omission of the Negro Leagues from consideration was clearly an error that demands today’s designation.”
In short: The Negro Leagues were not rejected in 1969 — they were ignored. This was before Robert Peterson’s seminal Only the Ball Was White (1970), before SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee (1971), and before the sustained scholarly work that finally brought the Negro Leagues into proper historical focus. On December 16, 2020, MLB corrected that omission by recognizing seven Negro Leagues as Major: Negro National League I, Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East West League, Negro Southern League, Negro National League II, and the Negro American League.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question Who was the last surviving Atlanta Black Crackers player? Answer: Dr. Leslie Heaphy of Canton, OH, nailed it — Red Moore. Moore also led the franchise in career batting average, walks, and sacrifice flies. Born and died in Atlanta.
The Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week: Which Negro League team introduced night baseball five years before Major League Baseball adopted it?
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Support open, independent journalism—your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.
The Atlanta Falcons reshuffle leadership, firing Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot while hiring franchise legend Matt Ryan as President of Football to end years of mediocrity.
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | January 11, 2026
The Atlanta Falcons began 2026 by making one of the most consequential leadership moves in franchise history a decision that signaled both a search for stability and the end of one of the NFL’s rare examples of Black executive leadership.
On Saturday, the organization hired former quarterback Matt Ryan as President of Football just days after dismissing head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. The move reset the franchise’s football hierarchy while simultaneously eliminating the league’s only remaining Black head coach–general manager partnership. This move also carried a deeper, more complicated weight.
Announced by owner Arthur Blank, the decision immediately reshaped power inside Flowery Branch. Ryan, the most accomplished player in franchise history, now oversees all football operations and reports directly to Blank, while working alongside team president and CEO Greg Beadles to align football and business priorities.
The move followed a turbulent week that underscored Atlanta’s urgency to escape a cycle of mediocrity and raised harder questions about patience, progress, and who is afforded time to build at the highest levels of the league.
An abrupt ending to a rare pairing
The Falcons fired Morris and Fontenot on January 4 after a second consecutive 8–9 season. The decision came one week after Atlanta closed the year with a win over rival New Orleans, finishing stronger than expected and showing measurable defensive progress.
Courtesy Photo Raheem Morris
Morris, who previously served as Atlanta’s interim head coach in 2020, completed two full seasons at the helm from 2024 to 2025. Fontenot, hired in 2021, became one of the NFL’s few Black general managers and the longest-tenured of that group during his six-year run.
Together, Morris and Fontenot represented the league’s only Black head coach–general manager tandem a symbolic milestone in a league where such pairings remain exceptionally rare. Their dismissal ended that distinction that proved as fragile as it was meaningful, even as the team showed signs of forward movement.
Atlanta’s postseason drought now stands at eight years, dating back to the 2017 season the final playoff appearance of the Matt Ryan era under center.
Black Leadership in the NFL
Despite a player base that is roughly 70 percent Black, leadership representation at the NFL’s highest levels has remained limited. Entering the 2025 season, only three Black head coaches led teams, alongside a small number of Black general managers league wide. Prior to their dismissal, the Falcons were the only franchise pairing a Black head coach with a Black general manager a combination that remains rare in a league that has repeatedly acknowledged challenges in creating sustained pathways to executive leadership.
Progress without payoff
Measured strictly by wins and losses, Morris’s tenure mirrored the Falcons’ recent pattern of frustrating near-misses. His two seasons ended with identical 8–9 records, falling short of the playoffs in a competitive NFC South.
Yet context complicates the narrative. Morris inherited a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in 2024. By 2025, Atlanta surged into the NFL’s top three in sacks and set a new franchise record with 57, one of the league’s most dramatic year-over-year defensive turnarounds.
Courtesy photo Terry Fontenot
Under Fontenot, the Falcons also assembled a young and highly regarded core. Draft picks such as Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts became offensive centerpieces, while recent additions like Xavier Watts, Jalon Walker, and James Pearce Jr. were viewed internally as long-term building blocks.
Still, results lagged behind expectations. Fontenot, who signed a six-year contract in 2021, is owed one remaining year. Morris, hired as head coach in 2024, signed a five-year contract, according to a January 27, 2024 report by USA Today Sports, leaving three years remaining on his deal.
The contrast between measurable improvement and organizational impatience reflects a broader league pattern, where Black head coaches and executives are often afforded less time to see long-term plans through even when progress is evident but incomplete.
Enter Matt Ryan — from franchise face to football boss
Blank’s answer to stagnation was bold and deeply personal. Ryan, the former league MVP and face of the franchise for 14 seasons, now occupies a role newly created within the organization.
“Throughout his remarkable 14-year career in Atlanta, Matt’s leadership, attention to detail, knowledge of the game and unrelenting drive to win made him the most successful player in our franchise’s history,” Blank said in a statement. “I am confident those same qualities will be a tremendous benefit to our organization as he steps into this new role.”
Ryan accepted the position early Saturday morning and immediately joined the search for the team’s next head coach and general manager. Both hires will report directly to him.
Courtesy photo Matt Ryan
Ryan steps into the position not as a repudiation of the previous regime, but as the owner’s bet that cultural continuity and institutional trust can succeed where repeated resets have not.
A resume unmatched in Falcons history
Ryan’s credentials inside the building are undeniable. Drafted third overall in 2008 out of Boston College, he became the most productive quarterback the franchise has ever known.
He led Atlanta to five playoff appearances, two NFC Championship Games, and one Super Bowl. His 2016 season remains the gold standard: first-team All-Pro honors, NFL MVP, and Offensive Player of the Year while guiding the Falcons to their second NFC title.
Ryan holds nearly every major passing record in franchise history, including career yards (59,735), touchdowns (367), completions, attempts, passer rating, and 300-yard games. From 2011 to 2020, he posted 10 consecutive 4,000-yard seasons and finished his Falcons career with a 120–102 regular-season record.
For many fans, he remains the embodiment of stability during an otherwise turbulent half-century of Falcons football.
A franchise defined by turnover
That instability is not anecdotal it is structural. Since joining the NFL in 1966, the Falcons have employed 18 head coaches, including five interims. Only two Dan Reeves in 1998 and Dan Quinn in 2016 reached the Super Bowl. Mike Smith remains the winningest coach in team history, yet even his tenure ended without a championship.
Morris’s dismissal places him among a long list of leaders who showed promise but fell short of delivering sustained success. Ryan now inherits not just a roster, but a legacy of resets.
The search ahead and immediate questions
As of January 11, Ryan is leading interviews for the vacant head coach and general manager positions. Early candidates include Klint Kubiak, Anthony Weaver, Aden Durde, and Kevin Stefanski.
The inclusion of Kevin Stefanski has raised eyebrows. Stefanski was fired by the Cleveland Browns on January 5 after consecutive losing seasons and a 5–12 finish in 2025 despite earlier Coach of the Year honors.
The Browns’ decision to move on while retaining their general manager highlights a broader league tension: success windows close quickly, and past accolades offer limited insulation.
For Ryan, the challenge is immediate and unforgiving. He must identify leaders who can win quickly without repeating the organizational whiplash that has defined the franchise.
Beyond wins and losses
Ryan’s impact in Atlanta has never been limited to the field. In 2020, he and his wife, Sarah, launched ATL: Advance The Lives, raising more than $1.3 million to combat systemic barriers facing Black youth. His community work earned him the Falcons’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination in 2016.
Those values accountability, stability, long-term investment are themes Ryan emphasized during his final CBS broadcast.
“We want to be in the mix, in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s been too long. Football is about the people. The building is about the people.”
A defining gamble
The Falcons’ decision to place football operations in the hands of a franchise icon is both risky and revealing. Ryan brings credibility, institutional knowledge, and the trust of ownership. What he does not bring is prior front-office experience, a gap the organization believes leadership, perspective, and discipline can overcome.
Yet the move also leaves behind an unresolved question. In choosing stability, the Falcons closed the book on one of the NFL’s rare Black leadership partnerships not after collapse, but after incremental progress that fell just short of the postseason.
Whether that choice reflects urgency, impatience, or the league’s enduring unevenness in who is granted time to build may ultimately matter as much as who leads the next era.
But the move also leaves an unresolved question hanging over the franchise: What does progress look like when the league’s rare Black leadership partnerships are given so little time to grow?
Atlanta chose stability but in doing so, it closed the door on a pairing that represented something larger than wins and losses. Whether Ryan can deliver the success that eluded Morris and Fontenot will define the next era of Falcons football. Whether the league can sustain meaningful pathways for Black leadership remains a larger test still.
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Dear Shadow Ball: What pitcher holds the Negro League record for most inning pitched?
Mick Kolb, York, PA.
Dear Mick: My go to source for such questions is Seamheads Negro League Database. The leader in innings pitched in that database is Cannonball Dick Redding (2,334 innings over 26 years). This total includes games in the Negro Leagues plus Cuba, the Florida Winter Hotel League, and games versus minor and major league teams. Limiting the view, as your question does, to Negro League games only sent me to a different source – mlb.com. Since May 2024, Negro League statistics are now included on that site. To interpret and compile innings pitched, I turned to Tom Thress, President, Retrosheet, who informed me that Willie Foster (with 1,521 innings) leads all pitchers in total innings pitched in major Negro League games.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question – Who was the first African American signed to a contract by the Boston Red Sox organization? For the 2nd week in a row, Will Clark, Hackensack, NJ, smacks one of my hanging curves over the fence … dodging my reach for a Pumpsie Green – who, in 1959, was the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox – answer he kept his focus on 1950 and offered Piper Davis which is correct. Unfortunately, Piper never got the call to come to Fenway.
The Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week: Who was the last surviving Atlanta Black Crackers player? Here is a clue for you to keep from going down a rabbit hole – this player was born and died in Atlanta.
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadowball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
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NASCAR’s Dec. 11 settlement with 23XI and Front Row delivered evergreen charters, reshaped team power, and raised franchise values after a high-stakes antitrust trial.
By Milton Kirby | Charlotte, NC | December 16, 2025
On Dec. 11, 2025, NASCAR, 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports announced a settlement that ended a federal antitrust trial in Charlotte and changed the sport’s business future in a way team owners have chased for years: a form of “evergreen” charter, meaning charters no longer live under the constant threat of expiration on NASCAR’s timeline.
That one phrase, tucked into the joint statement, explains why so many people in the garage called it a generational moment. For nearly a decade, NASCAR’s charter system has worked like a license: valuable, but still dependent on renewal and still shaped by a single power center. Now, the settlement commits NASCAR to issuing an amendment to existing charter holders that includes a form of evergreen charters “subject to mutual agreement,” while keeping the financial terms confidential.
The agreement closed a fight that started long before a jury ever sat down. It began with years of tense negotiations over revenue, governance, and the basic question of whether NASCAR’s top teams were true partners in the sport’s growth—or simply contractors expected to accept whatever terms came from Daytona. When 23XI and Front Row refused to sign what many described as a last-chance charter offer, the dispute moved from boardrooms to federal court. The trial then forced NASCAR to defend its business model in public, under oath, and with internal documents entering the record.
The end result was a settlement that likely moved hundreds of millions of dollars in risk off NASCAR’s balance sheet, while shifting long-term leverage toward teams that have argued for years they were carrying too much cost and too little certainty.
How much money was really at stake
Even though the settlement check is confidential, the trial record put hard numbers in the air.
In sworn testimony, economist Edward Snyder calculated damages of $364.7 million for 23XI and Front Row combined, with $215.8 million attributed to 23XI and $148.9 million to Front Row. He also testified that chartered teams were underpaid by $1.06 billion from 2021 to 2024 based on his model of what a more competitive revenue structure would have produced.
Those figures matter for two reasons.
First, they created a credible worst-case scenario for NASCAR in front of a jury: not just a one-time verdict, but a verdict that could have been trebled under antitrust law if willful conduct was found, plus legal fees, plus the reputational hit of being labeled a monopoly in a high-profile sports trial. The public reporting around the case consistently treated the potential exposure as massive, even if no one can state a precise final “billion-dollar” number without the verdict itself.
Second, they gave team owners a plain-language measure of what they have argued privately for years: the teams’ slice of the sport’s major revenue streams has not matched the costs teams shoulder to compete at the Cup level.
Snyder’s work also gave the jury a comparison point. His analysis contrasted NASCAR’s revenue share to Formula 1, which he said shares roughly 45% with teams compared to NASCAR’s 25% in his estimate, though NASCAR disputed the comparison.
The settlement did not publicly publish a new percentage split. But it did something that can be just as powerful in business: it changed the legal status of the core asset.
The “evergreen” charter as the real prize
If you strip away the headlines and focus on incentives, the evergreen charter is the settlement’s crown jewel.
Charters are the sport’s version of a franchise slot. They are tied to guaranteed entry (for the chartered field) and a share of certain revenue. Before this deal, the charter system still ran on renewal cycles and the reality that NASCAR, as the sanctioning body, held final power over the contract terms.
Under the settlement, NASCAR committed publicly to issuing an amendment that includes evergreen charters. That changes how owners, sponsors, lenders, and potential investors can value a team.
A team that “owns” a long-term, stable charter is different from a team that “rents” participation under a contract that can be rewritten. Evergreen status moves a NASCAR Cup team closer to a modern franchise model, where the slot itself is a durable asset and where the owner can plan in decades, not contract windows.
That is why even teams that never joined the lawsuit still benefit on paper the morning after the settlement: their charters immediately look more secure.
What the trial exposed
The lawsuit was not simply about money. It was also about control: who controls the schedule, who controls the rulebook, who controls the terms of participation, and what happens to a team that refuses to sign.
During the trial, the public learned more about NASCAR’s contingency planning and negotiation posture than it had seen in years. One of the most talked-about examples was the so-called “Project Gold Codes” deck—described in coverage as a contingency plan for operating the sport if teams boycotted or if NASCAR had to take more of the competition in-house.
From a legal standpoint, the existence of a contingency plan is not shocking. Big businesses plan for crises. What made it explosive in this context was how it fit into the teams’ narrative: that NASCAR was prepared to outlast resistance, pressure holdouts, and keep racing under alternative structures.
That is the kind of evidence that can change settlement posture fast, because it can shape how a jury views intent and leverage.
Why NASCAR settled
In its joint statement, NASCAR framed the settlement as “long-term stability” and “meaningful growth,” and emphasized that fans would continue to enjoy uninterrupted access to racing.
But the business reason is simpler: NASCAR settled because trials are unpredictable, and antitrust risk is the kind of risk corporate leaders try to cap early.
The longer the case stayed in open court, the more internal emails, negotiation notes, and executive testimony could become public. Even if NASCAR believed it had a strong defense, it still faced a jury, still faced a judge managing a slow-moving trial, and still faced the possibility that a single bad day of testimony could shift momentum.
A settlement, by contrast, lets NASCAR do three things at once:
Limit legal exposure without a precedent-setting verdict.
Protect business relationships tied to media rights, sponsors, and manufacturers.
Move the sport into 2026 with a new story: unity and stability.
NASCAR even pointed directly to 2026 in the statement, noting the season begins with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, 2026.
How all teams may benefit
Even with confidential financial terms, the settlement creates clear, shared benefits for chartered teams:
More valuable charters
Evergreen status increases the durability of the charter asset. When an asset becomes more durable, it becomes easier to finance, easier to insure, and easier to sell. It can also make it easier for teams to bring in outside investment without giving up control.
More stable sponsor pitches
Sponsors want certainty. “We might not have a charter next cycle” is not a strong pitch. “We are a permanent, chartered franchise” is.
A clearer future for succession
Some NASCAR teams are family businesses. Others are now part of larger ownership groups. In both cases, long-term value matters. A system that looks more like a franchise model helps owners plan beyond one contract.
More leverage for the next negotiation
The settlement shows that NASCAR will compromise when the risk becomes real. Owners will remember that the next time they negotiate over costs, rules, and revenue streams.
Why the biggest teams didn’t sue
One of the most important questions our readers will asked is: why didn’t Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and other established powers lead the charge?
There are several grounded reasons—none of which require assuming cowardice or disloyalty.
They had more to lose in the short term
Big teams often have the deepest sponsor networks and the most integrated technical pipelines. A long court fight risks disruption: sponsor uncertainty, manufacturer tension, and internal distraction.
They already had influence inside the system
The largest teams often have stronger informal influence—relationships, history, access—than newer teams. That influence can translate into deals, exceptions, or quiet wins that never make headlines.
They may have preferred private pressure
Not every power fight happens in public. Some teams may have believed the better play was to support charter changes behind closed doors while letting 23XI and Front Row take the legal risk.
Newer ownership groups had a different risk profile
23XI is backed by Michael Jordan’s brand power and business confidence, plus Denny Hamlin’s racing credibility. Front Row, led by Bob Jenkins, has years in the sport and a willingness to fight for an economic model that keeps mid-tier teams alive. In a system where many owners felt forced to sign, these two groups were positioned to push back harder.
What the future looks like
The settlement does not solve every tension. NASCAR still controls the rulebook, the officiating, and the schedule. But it does change the conversation from “take it or leave it” to “we need agreement.”
The sport now enters 2026 with a headline race date already set: the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, 2026. That matters because NASCAR can sell 2026 as a fresh start: new season, new stability, and a newly reinforced charter structure.
It also means the next fights will likely be quieter and more technical—about how “subject to mutual agreement” is defined in practice, what governance mechanisms exist behind the scenes, and how new revenue streams are shared as NASCAR expands internationally and experiments with new event formats.
One more reality is worth naming: the sport’s center of gravity has shifted. NASCAR may still be the sanctioning body, but the teams now have a stronger claim to being stakeholders with equity that cannot be dismissed as temporary.
That is why this settlement will be remembered less for the confidential dollar amount—and more for the one change that can reshape the garage for decades: evergreen charters.
The Tale of the Tape: The Ask vs. The Get
The Ask (Trial Testimony)
$364.7 million in damages for 23XI and Front Row combined (expert testimony).
Claim that teams were underpaid $1.06 billion from 2021–2024 (expert testimony).
The Get (Settlement Announcement)
NASCAR will issue a charter amendment including a form of evergreen charters, subject to mutual agreement.
On a crisp December afternoon inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, South Carolina State and Prairie View A&M delivered a game that will live far beyond the final score. What began as a one-sided first half evolved into the longest and most dramatic finish in Celebration Bowl history, culminating in a four-overtime thriller that crowned the Bulldogs as the 2025 HBCU National Champions.
South Carolina State’s 40–38 victory over Prairie View A&M was not simply a football game. It was a statement of resilience, tradition, and the enduring power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities to command the national stage—on the field, in the stands, and across Black culture.
More Than a Bowl Game
Since its inaugural kickoff in 2015, the Celebration Bowl has occupied a unique space in college athletics. It is the de facto HBCU national championship, pitting the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) against one another in a winner-take-all clash.
But the game’s significance extends well beyond X’s and O’s.
Each December, Atlanta becomes a gathering place for alumni caravans, marching bands, fraternities and sororities, entrepreneurs, families, and generations of fans who understand that HBCU football is inseparable from Black history and community pride. Tailgates turn into reunions. Halftime becomes a concert. The stadium transforms into a cultural archive.
The 2025 edition honored that legacy—and then raised the bar.
A Decade of Tradition
Over its first ten seasons, the Celebration Bowl has charted the evolution of modern HBCU football.
North Carolina A&T dominated the early years, winning four titles between 2015 and 2019. Grambling State and Florida A&M added their names to the roll of champions. North Carolina Central captured a memorable overtime win in 2022. Jackson State’s rise under Deion Sanders brought unprecedented national visibility, culminating in a decisive 2024 victory.
South Carolina State entered that history twice before—an upset of Jackson State in 2021 and now, in 2025, a triumph that may never be matched for drama.
Prairie View’s Long Road to Atlanta
For Prairie View A&M, simply reaching the Celebration Bowl marked a milestone decades in the making.
The Panthers earned their first-ever appearance by winning the 2025 SWAC Championship, edging Jackson State 23–21 on December 6 in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a disciplined, defense-driven performance that capped a 10–3 season and announced Prairie View’s arrival on the national HBCU stage.
Under head coach Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View played with composure throughout the season, winning close games late and building confidence with each passing week. For alumni, the trip to Atlanta represented validation—proof that the program belonged among the elite of Black college football.
South Carolina State’s Surge
South Carolina State arrived with momentum of a different kind.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season 9–3 and closed the year with seven straight wins, securing the MEAC championship and its automatic bid to the Celebration Bowl. Their late-season run was defined by steady defense, improved quarterback play, and a growing belief that the team had yet to play its best football.
Head coach Chennis Berry, already a proven winner at the Division II level, guided the Bulldogs with a steady hand. His teams had a reputation for discipline and poise—traits that would be tested to their limits in Atlanta.
A First Half Gone Wrong
For much of the opening half, Prairie View looked poised to write a storybook ending.
The Panthers jumped out to a commanding lead, exploiting defensive lapses and capitalizing on early momentum. By halftime, Prairie View held a 21-point advantage, and South Carolina State faced long odds against a confident opponent that had controlled the tempo.
Then adversity struck again.
Starting quarterback William Atkins IV was sidelined, forcing South Carolina State to turn to backup Ryan Stubblefield—a move that would redefine the game and the season.
The Comeback Begins
Stubblefield entered with little fanfare but played with composure well beyond his role. He steadied the offense, made smart reads, and slowly chipped away at Prairie View’s lead.
As the Bulldogs mounted their comeback, the atmosphere inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium shifted. What had been a partisan Prairie View crowd grew tense. South Carolina State fans found their voices. Bands traded musical blows. Every possession carried weight.
By the end of regulation, the Bulldogs had erased the deficit and forced overtime—an achievement that alone would have been remarkable.
What followed was unprecedented.
Four Overtimes of Resolve
The 2025 Celebration Bowl became the longest game in the event’s history, stretching into a fourth overtime that tested endurance, execution, and nerves.
Both teams traded scores. Defensive stands were met with clutch conversions. Each overtime period heightened the drama, drawing the crowd deeper into the spectacle.
In the fourth overtime, with everything on the line, South Carolina State elected to go for two. Stubblefield delivered a strike to Tyler Smith, sealing a 40–38 victory that instantly entered HBCU lore.
The comeback—down 21 points at halftime—stands as the largest in Celebration Bowl history.
A Defining Win
The win marked South Carolina State’s second Celebration Bowl title, adding to their 2021 championship and cementing the program’s place among the modern HBCU elite.
For Coach Berry, it was another national championship moment in a career defined by winning at multiple levels. For Stubblefield, it was the performance of a lifetime—234 passing yards and leadership under extraordinary pressure.
For the Bulldogs, it was validation.
The Culture on Full Display
Yet, even as the final score was recorded, the true power of the Celebration Bowl remained visible all around the stadium.
Marching bands delivered halftime performances that rivaled any professional show. Alumni waved school flags with pride. Families posed for photos beneath banners celebrating Black excellence. Vendors, entrepreneurs, and artists turned the concourses into a marketplace of culture.
This is what separates the Celebration Bowl from every other postseason game.
It is not merely an endpoint to a season. It is a living showcase of history, resilience, and joy—an affirmation that HBCUs continue to produce excellence on their own terms.
A Rivalry Renewed
The MEAC-SWAC rivalry remains the heartbeat of the Celebration Bowl. Over the past decade, momentum has swung back and forth, with each conference staking its claim to supremacy.
Prairie View’s appearance reinforced the SWAC’s depth and competitiveness. South Carolina State’s victory reaffirmed the MEAC’s ability to rise on the biggest stage.
Together, they delivered a game worthy of the platform.
Why 2025 Will Be Remembered
The 2025 Celebration Bowl will be remembered not only for its statistics—four overtimes, a 21-point comeback, a championship-winning conversion—but for what it represented.
It was a reminder that HBCU football remains one of the sport’s most compelling theaters. That legacy programs still matter. That new contenders can rise. And that when given the stage, Black college football delivers unforgettable moments.
In Atlanta, beneath a closed roof and surrounded by open hearts, South Carolina State and Prairie View A&M gave the Celebration Bowl its defining chapter.
And the celebration, as always, extended far beyond the final whistle.
