The first Black athlete at Iowa State, Trice died on Oct. 8, 1923, just two days after the second varsity college football game of his life. Minnesota players trampled Trice, and reports say he broke his collarbone in the third quarter and later died of hemorrhaged lungs and internal bleeding. Racist motives were suggested. According to a passage in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, "the KKK was at the stadium, and there had been a float sponsored by the Klan in the homecoming parade."
Almost 75 years later, Trice’s name was affixed to the stadium. Iowa State would not play Minnesota again for 66 years after the game that ended Trice's life.
Iowa State remains the only major-college football stadium named for a Black man.
Jack Trice is not just a name on a stadium at Iowa State; it’s more than that. There’s a Trice statue in the middle of campus. Trice is expected to be part of the new entrance to the stadium that bears his name.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Trice
On October 6, 1923, Trice and his Iowa State College teammates played against the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. On the night of the game, Trice got to stay at the same hotel as his teammates who stayed at the Radisson Hotel, but he could not eat with them in the dining room.[4]
During the second play of the game, Trice's collarbone was broken. Trice insisted he was all right and returned to the game. In the third quarter, while attempting to tackle a University of Minnesota ball carrier, Trice ended up on his back after a roll block (a play which is now banned) and was trampled by three Minnesota players.[2] Although he claimed to be fine, Trice was not able to stand and was removed from the game and sent to a Minneapolis hospital. The doctors declared him fit to travel and he returned by train to Ames with his teammates. On October 8, 1923, Trice died from hemorrhaged lungs and internal bleeding as a result of the injuries sustained during the game.[2]
There was a great deal of speculation surrounding the play that resulted in Trice's death. Many of his teammates claimed after the fact that Trice was being targeted throughout the first two quarters because of his skin color. Iowa State teammate Johnny Behm told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in a 1979 interview that "one person told me that nothing out of the ordinary happened. But another who saw it said it was murder."[5]
Iowa State dismissed all classes after 3 p.m. on October 9, 1923, in honor of Trice.[6]
Trice's funeral was held at the Iowa State College's central campus in Ames on October 16, 1923, with 4,000 students and faculty members in attendance. His casket was draped in cardinal and gold (Iowa State's school colors) before he was buried.[7] Trice's casket was transported to Hiram, Ohio for burial at Fairview Cemetery.
As a result of his death, Iowa State did not renew its contract to play against Minnesota for 66 years. The teams would not play again until 1989.[2]
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