Mel Groomes
Groomes from 1947 Indiana University yearbook
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| Position: | Halfback | ||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | March 6, 1927 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Trenton, New Jersey | ||||||||
| Date of death: | September 11, 1997 (aged 70) | ||||||||
| Place of death: | Greensboro, North Carolina | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 178 lb (81 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Indiana | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1948 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Games: | 9 |
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| Receiving yards: | 51 |
| Touchdowns: | 1 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Melvin Harold Groomes (March 6, 1927 – September 11, 1997) was an American football player and baseball coach. He played college football at Indiana University from 1944 to 1947 and helped lead the Indiana Hoosiers football team to the Big Ten Conference championship in 1945. In April 1948, he signed with the Detroit Lions, becoming the first African-American signed by the team. He played for the Lions during the 1948 and 1949 seasons and spent the next four years serving in the United States Air Force. He later spent more than 30 years, as a professor and head baseball coach, at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Groomes was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1927. He was the son of Malachi and Margaret Groomes, both of whom were natives of Virginia. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Groomes' father was employed as a fireman for a gas company. The family was living in Trenton's fifth ward and consisted of Groomes, his parents, three step-brothers, four step-sisters, and two brothers. Groomes played halfback on the Trenton Central High School football team. He was also a competitor in track and field and set the New Jersey high school records in the high jump and the broad jump. In 1954, Groomes' younger brother, Ronald Groomes, was the first African-American to enroll in the New Jersey State Police Academy.
Groomes enrolled at Indiana University in 1944 where he played college football and was also a member of the track and field team, specializing in the high jump. He set an Indiana freshman record in the high jump at 6 feet, 4 inches, which record stood until 1959.
Groomes was also a member of the football team from 1944 to 1947. He was a third-stringer in 1944, but established himself as the team's starting wingback during the 1945 season. Groomes and fellow African-American halfback George Taliaferro helped lead the 1945 Indiana team to the school's first-ever Big Ten Conference football championship. In the first game of the 1945 Big Ten Conference schedule, Groomes had a 54-yard touchdown reception in a 13-7 upset over Michigan.
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