Ozzie Simmons Oze E . " Ozzie " Simmons ( June 6 , 1914 – September 26 , 2001 ) was a college football player for the University of Iowa . Simmons , nicknamed the " Ebony Eel " , was one of the first black All - American football players in the 1930s . Background . Born in Gainesville , Texas , Simmons grew up in Texas and was an all - state high school quarterback in a segregated high school league in Fort Worth . College opportunities were limited for black players at the time , but an Iowa alumnus saw Simmons play and suggested that he go to the University of Iowa . Simmons had heard of the exploits of black Iowa players like Archie Alexander and Duke Slater , so Ozzie and his older brother , Don , hopped a train to Iowa City . The Simmons brothers found Iowa football coach Ossie Solem in his office . Solem was initially stunned to have two black players walk unannounced into his office . But Solem asked the Simmons brothers to attend Iowa ' s practice that afternoon . Iowa was conducting a punting drill , and Ozzie Simmons promptly returned two punts back for touchdowns . After practice , Solem told the brothers , " We ' ll find you a place to stay . " College career . Ozzie had been poorly educated in their segregated school in Texas , so he spent his freshman year catching up on academics . By his sophomore year in 1934 , Ozzie Simmons was ready to shine . In his first game , a 34 - 0 win over South Dakota , Simmons had a 22 yard scoring run as well as punt returns for 61 and 32 yards . Ozzie rushed for 166 yards , including a 47 yard touchdown sprint , and he had 138 yards on kick and punt returns in his first Big Ten game , a 20 - 7 defeat of Northwestern . Ralph Cannon of the " Chicago Daily News " wrote , " This slithery , rubbery , oozy flyer . . . can make his legs talk more languages than even Red Grange ' s could when he was a sophomore . . . Most of it seems to come naturally to Simmons , as such things must come to the genius of any line . " Simmons was nicknamed " the Ebony Eel " after that game and gained national acclaim . But Iowa lost every remaining game in 1934 , despite the play of Simmons , who returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown in a loss to Ohio State . Ozzie was a first team All - Big Ten selection and a second team All - American . 1935 was Simmons ' finest year . He scored five touchdowns on runs of 50 or more yards in 1935 . Simmons scored Iowa ' s two touchdowns in a 12 - 6 upset of Colgate , and his touchdown pass to fellow black Iowa star Homer Harris was Iowa ' s only points in a loss to Purdue . Simmons ' best game in 1935 was against Illinois . Ozzie rushed for 192 yards , intercepted a pass , returned three punts for 33 yards , returned two kicks for 54 more yards and scored a touchdown in a 19 - 0 upset of Illinois . Simmons led Iowa in rushing in 1935 and was selected as a first team All - American . Ozzie was also a first team All - Big Ten selection , as he led the Hawkeyes to a 4 - 2 - 2 record . Simmons ' senior year in 1936 was a disappointment . Though Ozzie led Iowa in both rushing and scoring , the Hawkeyes failed to win a conference game and Simmons failed to make any post - season honor teams . Ozzie even quit the team for a couple days after Iowa suffered their worst loss in 20 years , a 52 - 0 loss to Minnesota . Simmons felt that Coach Solem had been too critical of him for Iowa ' s failures , but Simmons was convinced to return to the team . Ozzie ' s final game was against nationally ranked Temple and their Hall of Fame coach , Pop Warner . Simmons scored on a 74 yard touchdown run to lead Iowa to a 25 - 0 upset . Ozzie Simmons graduated with 1 , 544 career rushing yards , the third most in Iowa history at the time . He scored 14 touchdowns in his career , eight of them on plays of 50 yards or more . Though the Hawkeyes had just a 9 - 11 - 4 record in his three injury - plagued years at Iowa , Simmons gave Iowa fans something to cheer about when Iowa football was feeling the ill effects of a brief Big Ten suspension and the Great Depression . Floyd of Rosedale . Ozzie Simmons is probably best known as the central figure in the story that spawned the Floyd of Rosedale trophy . As a talented black player in the 1930s , Simmons was a target of opposing players , which accounted for many of his numerous injuries . During a run against Northwestern University , he was punched . In another game , a newspaper account says a player " rammed his locked hands into Simmons ' face . " Ronald Reagan , then a radio sportscaster in Des Moines and later the 40th president of the United States , said , " The problems were when you played another team that did not have a black . For some reason or another , then they would pick on this one man . " Reagan then recounted a game against Illinois when Ozzie was injured twice . Reagan said , " I saw ( Iowa players ) Dick Crayne and Ted Osmaloski walk over to the Illinois huddle during a timeout , and after the game I found out . . . they said , ' Do that to ( Simmons ) once more , and we ' re going to run you right out of the end of your stadium . ' " But the worst treatment for Ozzie came in the 1934 game against Minnesota . Just 12 years earlier , Iowa State ' s first black player , Jack Trice , was killed by injuries sustained in a game against the Gophers . In 1934 , Simmons was knocked out of the Minnesota game three times due to injuries . Simmons did not play in the second half in a blowout Gopher win . " The Minnesota game was the most blatant attack . They were blatant with their piling on and kneeing me . It was obvious , but the refs didn ' t call it . Some of our fans wanted to come out on the field , " Simmons said in 1989 . The following year , Minnesota was scheduled to play at Iowa . While talking to a reporter , Iowa ' s governor stated , " If the officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used last year , I ' m sure the crowd won ' t . " Minnesota ' s coach Bernie Bierman requested extra security for his team , and tensions were high . To defuse the situation , Minnesota ' s governor wagered Iowa ' s governor a prize hog that the Gophers would win the game . Minnesota did win a clean , fair game in 1935 that was played without incident . Iowa ' s governor obtained the pig from Rosedale Farms and named him Floyd after Minnesota ' s governor . Minnesota ' s governor had a bronze replica made of " Floyd of Rosedale " , and Iowa and Minnesota have played for the trophy every year since 1935 . Retirement and Honors . Ozzie Simmons lettered at Iowa from 1934 – 1936 , and his brother Don Simmons lettered as an end in 1935 and 1936 . Black players were not allowed in the NFL at the time , and Ozzie Simmons played only two years professionally . Simmons played for the Patterson Panthers of the all - black American Association in 1937 and 1939 . He was a second team all - league player in 1937 and a first team all - league player in 1939 . Simmons later became a physical education teacher in the Chicago public school system . He and his wife , Eutopia Morsell , married in 1960 and lived in Chicago , where she was part - owner of a funeral home . Ozzie retired from teaching in 1979 after 38 years , and then worked with his wife . He died in 2001 from complications from Alzheimer ' s and Parkinson ' s diseases . Simmons was inducted into the Bob Douglas Black Sports Hall of Fame in New York in 1984 . In 1989 , Iowa fans selected an all - time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football , and Ozzie Simmons was selected to the team as a running back . Simmons never appeared angry that he was a victim of racism . " I never had any serious problems in my lifetime , " Simmons said in 1989 . " I respect people and they respect me . I find that to be wonderful . "