Packers' first black captain dies on Jackie Robinson Day
Los Angeles: National Football League hall of famer Willie Davis, the first African-American captain in Green Bay Packers' history, died. He was 85.
Davis was a crucial member of the Packers' winning teams when they were led by legendary head coach Vince Lombardi.
Davis died at a Los Angeles hospital, but the Packers did not provide any details such as cause of death.
"Willie's extraordinary athleticism was an undeniable factor in Green Bay's winning tradition of the 1960s under coach Lombardi," said Hall of Fame president David Baker.
"He helped the Packers through an unprecedented championship run and to two Super Bowl victories. Willie was a man of true character on and off the field.
"The Hall of Fame will forever keep his legacy alive to serve as inspiration to future generations."
A defensive end, Davis played for the Packers from 1960-69 and was part of Green Bay's Super Bowl-winning teams in 1967 and 1968.
In a dozen NFL seasons, he never missed a game.
Davis was inducted into the US football Hall of Fame in 1981. He holds the Packers' career record for fumble recoveries with 21.
Davis played his American college ball at Grambling University and was a 15th-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1956.
After two years in the military, he joined the Browns in 1958 and was traded to Green Bay in 1960.
Davis played in 162 career games and was named to the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team.
His death comes on Major League Baseball's Jackie Robinson Day, an annual event in America to honor the day Robinson made his professional debut.
Robinson had a memorial career and is best known for becoming the first black player in American baseball in 1947.
Both MLB and the NFL seasons are in a standstill due to the world wide coronavirus pandemic which has so far killed over 30,000 Americans.
