George Dygert George Burlingame " Dygie " Dygert ( November 25 , 1870 – April 4 , 1957 ) was an American football player and lawyer . Dygert played college football for the University of Michigan for five years from 1890 to 1894 and was captain of the 1892 and 1893 team s . He played professional football for the Butte , Montana football team in 1896 and 1897 and practiced law in Butte and Chicago from 1896 to 1953 . Biography . Early years . Dygert was born on November 25 , 1870 and raised in Ann Arbor , Michigan . He attended Ann Arbor High School where he played two years on the high school ' s football team , including one year as the team ' s captain . Michigan . Dygert enrolled at the University of Michigan and played five years at the fullback and halfback positions for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1890 to 1894 . As a freshman in 1890 , Dygert played on the first racially integrated Michigan football team , a team that featured Dygert and George Jewett , both of whom grew up in Ann Arbor , playing in the same backfield . ( After Jewett , another African - American did not play football at Michigan until Willis Ward did so in the 1930s . ) The 1890 Michigan team photograph shows Dygert and Jewett seated next to each other . ( Cropped image at right . ) In November 1891 , after Dygert ' s second year playing for the Wolverines , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " wrote : " Dygert , full - back , has received his football as well as his intellectual education in Ann Arbor . He is short and thickset , having 158 pounds of muscle attached to five feet seven and one - half inches of length . He tackles low and hard and can be found at the bottom of almost every heap . " Dygert was elected as the team captain of the 1892 and 1893 Michigan football team s that compiled records of 7 – 5 and 7 – 3 , respectively . He was also one of the leaders of the 1894 team that compiled a record of 9 – 1 – 1 , outscoring opponents 244 to 84 . Dygert authored an article on the 1894 season for " The Michigan Alumnus " in which he credited the team ' s manager Charles A . Baird , head coach William McCauley and trainer Keene Fitzpatrick for the team ' s success : " The fall semester opened under the most favorable conditions for as fine an eleven as Michigan has ever had . Manager Charles Baird was particularly fortunate in securing the services of Mr . Macauley , tackle on Princeton ' s championship eleven of last year , as coach , and Mr . Keene Fitzpatrick , of Detroit ' s M . A . A . , as trainer . The work of both these enthusiasts can be seen in the practice of the team from day to day . At a mass meeting held last month great enthusiasm was shown by the students , and several hundred dollars was raised for the team . Thus , for the first time in the history of Michigan football , the manager was enabled to secure the necessary equipment for a first - class eleven . Lack of money has been the cry hitherto . " Dygert received his bachelor ' s degree in 1893 and thereafter remained at the university for two more years as a law student . When he received his undergraduate degree in June 1893 , the " Detroit Free Press " wrote : " Another of the men who have proved themselves to be the strongest in the public affairs of the graduating class is Mr . George B . Dygert . Everybody knows of Mr . Dygert , otherwise known as ' Dygie , ' captain of the U . of M . eleven . Mr . Dygert is one of the strongest athletes in his class , and as a football player he stands at the head of the college list . In outdoor life he has been one of the most prominent members of the senior class from the beginning to the end of its course . " Montana . As early as June 1893 , Dygert has stated his intention of " migrating to the ' wooly west , ' as he terms it . " After completing his legal studies at Ann Arbor , Dygert moved to Butte , Montana . In March 1896 , " The Michigan Alumnus " reported that he had been admitted to the bar at Butte , and had begun practice there . His law practice in Butte specialized in mining law . In addition to his law practice , Dygert also played professional football for a team in Butte that was sponsored by mine owners . He played halfback for the Butte team in 1896 and 1897 . The " Los Angeles Times " called the " Buttes " the best football team in the West in 1896 , as they defeated the Denver Athletic Club 20 – 0 and the San Francisco Olympics 18 – 0 . The " Times " called Butte ' s Christmas Day victory in San Francisco " perhaps the best football game ever put up in the West . " On Thanksgiving Day in 1897 , the Butte football team defeated the highly regarded Oakland Reliance team 6 – 4 in front of 2 , 000 spectators in Butte . The Associated Press account of the game credited Dygert with " tearing great holes through the Reliance line . " The Butte team defeated the Reliance in a second game played three days later by a score of 4 – 0 , and Dygert scored the game ' s only points on a touchdown run ( scored as four points under the rules of the time ) . According to the Associated Press account of the game , Dygert took the ball six or eight yards from the Reliance goal and " went through the line " for the touchdown . Chicago . In 1917 , Dygert moved to Chicago , Illinois where he practiced law for 36 years . Family and later years . Dygert married Alberta Quirk in February 1897 . The couple had three children , Edward A . Dygert ( born c . 1900 ) , Jane Dygert ( born c . 1903 ) and George B . Dygert ( born c . 1906 ) . Dygert retired in 1953 following the death of his wife , to whom he had been married for 56 years . Dygert died of a heart attack in 1957 at his home in Chicago at age 86 . He was survived by his two sons and daughter .