25 Facts About Emerson Cole

Emerson Elvin Cole was an American football fullback and linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears in the National Football League in the early 1950s.

Emerson Cole played college football at the University of Toledo, and still held the school record for rushing yards in a single season, with 1,162, as of 2013.

Emerson Cole attended Toledo on an athletic scholarship and was a mainstay on the football team between 1947 and 1949, setting several school records.

Emerson Cole ran for more than 100 yards in 1950, when the Browns won the NFL championship, and saw his playing time increase the following year after Motely was injured.

Emerson Cole was cut in 1952 after coming into conflict with head coach Paul Brown.

Emerson Cole later held jobs with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, including as the statewide compliance director.

Emerson Cole was inducted into Toledo's athletics hall of fame in 1984.

Emerson Cole was born in Carrier Mills, Illinois, where his father worked as a miner.

Emerson Cole's family shuttled back and forth between Illinois and Toledo, Ohio when he was a child as his father got seasonal work in mines and at a foundry in Toledo.

Emerson Cole attended the local Swanton High School, where he played football and baseball and ran track.

Emerson Cole became the starting tailback in his sophomore year and played on the team for three seasons.

Emerson Cole was named the team's Most Valuable Player once.

Emerson Cole was named a first-team All-Ohio player in his senior year and was an honorable mention All-American.

Cleveland head coach Paul Brown groomed Emerson Cole to replace Motley, who was nearing the end of his career in 1950.

Emerson Cole played in all 12 of the team's games that year, running for 105 yards on 26 carries.

Emerson Cole felt that Brown did not like that he challenged his authority and refused to submit to his authoritarian coaching style.

Emerson Cole saw his carries increase in 1951, when Motley was injured.

Cleveland halfback Dub Jones later criticized Brown's handling of Emerson Cole, calling it the biggest waste of talent he had ever seen.

White players on opposing teams stepped on the black players after plays were over; they often stepped on Motley's hands and once stepped hard on Emerson Cole's face, cutting his mouth.

Brown did not tolerate racism within the team, but Emerson Cole later said he thought Brown considered black athletes to be physically superior but intellectually inferior to whites.

Emerson Cole later got a job in Toledo as the regional director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, a body that oversees enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

Emerson Cole spent nine years there before being promoted to the commission's statewide compliance director in Columbus, Ohio.

Emerson Cole was inducted into the University of Toledo Varsity T Club Hall of Fame in 1984.

Emerson Cole is a member of Swanton High School's hall of fame.

Emerson Cole died on 4 June 2019, at the age of 91.