Mr. Frank Pitts never needed to explain where he came from. His football journey told that story for him. Pitts, a Southern University football standout who played in the first Super Bowl and later won an NFL championship, died on Jan. 16 at age 82. His passing marked the loss of a figure whose life bridged HBCU football’s golden era and the earliest days of the Super Bowl.Born in South Carolina and raised in Atlanta, Pitts found his football home at Southern University in the early 1960s. During that era, collegiate opportunities for Black athletes remained limited to the HBCU sphere. Southern served as both a proving ground and a launchpad.Pitts emerged as a dynamic wide receiver and helped strengthen the Jaguars’ national reputation. His performance placed him among a generation of HBCU football players who competed at a high level despite societal limitations.That path eventually led him into professional football history.
