Story of Wally Triplett, 1st Black football player to start for Penn State, to be made into movie

It was a moment every high school football player dreams about.

It was the mid-1940s, and Wally Triplett had just opened a letter from the University of Miami. The school was offering him a scholarship to play football for the Hurricanes. Triplett was ecstatic. His joy quickly evaporated when he realized the school’s coaching staff probably didn’t know it was recruiting a Black player.

When Triplett wrote back and informed the staff he was Black, Miami rescinded the scholarship it had offered so eagerly.

But Miami’s loss was Penn State’s gain.

Triplett, a Philadelphia native, played halfback for the Nittany Lions instead, becoming the program’s first Black starting player. He went on to become the first Black player drafted by the National Football League to play for an NFL team when he took the field for the Detroit Lions in 1949.

Now, Wally Triplett’s amazing story is coming to the big screen. A movie about his life is about to be made with some of the scenes shot on the Penn State campus in State College, according to the film’s producers. The movie will arrive courtesy of More-Productions, part of the production team for 2017’s critically acclaimed Martin Scorsese-directed “Silence.”

Triplett played for the Lions from 1949-50 and set a single-game record with 294 kickoff return yards that lasted for 44 years. Two weeks after, Triplett was the first NFL player drafted into the Korean War and served his country.

The movie idea came from one of its producers, Mark Rodgers, a Penn State alum who was at the game in State College in 2018 when Triplett’s death was announced.

“He looked at a friend he was with and said, ‘I don’t know who Wally Triplett is, I’ve never heard of him,’ ” co-producer Mandi Hart said. “He looked up Wally’s story and began to read about who he was and was struck by the fact that Wally lived this amazing life and left this incredible legacy, and, yet, he’s virtually unknown.

“He was really so exemplary both on and off the field, and I think one of the things that’s most unique about his story is that he fought for justice on the football field and off the field in the broader State College community.”

Former Penn State running backs Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell are among Penn State alumni who have invested in the development of the screenplay, Hart said.

Triplett, who died at 92, broke a lot of barriers at Penn State, most notably appearing in the 1948 Cotton Bowl against Southern Methodist along with fellow Nittany Lion Dennie Hoggard, who was a tight end. They became the first Black players to play in the Cotton Bowl, no small feat in the segregated state of Texas, where they also became the first Black players to compete in Texas against a team from a segregated university.

The game ended in a 13-13 tie, and Penn State finished the season undefeated at 9-0-1 and ranked fourth in the nation in the AP Poll.

“They were part of a legendary Penn State team called the ‘Men of ‘47,’ and it was mixed with returning World War II vets, coal mine kids from the Appalachians and Wally and Dennie as two African American players that were a first at Penn State,” said Camille Tucker, who co-wrote the screenplay.

Part of that legend includes what may have been the inspiration for the “We are Penn State” chant that reverberates around Beaver Stadium on autumn Saturdays. The previous season, the Nittany Lions refused to play Miami when it demanded in a meeting that they bench their Black players. So when it came time to play in the Cotton Bowl, All-America lineman Steve Suhey reportedly said, “We’re Penn State. There will be no meetings.”

“What I really like is that, regardless of whether those exact words were said or not, it’s the spirit of unity and the fact that there were white players who wanted to stand in solidarity with Wally and Dennie, their African American teammates. And they made history,” Tucker said.

Hart said there are moments in the screenplay where the white players come to realize what Triplett and Hoggard have to endure day in and day out, including staying at separate hotels on a road trip because a town is segregated.

“There are some other incidents like that, where the white players are just confronted by, ‘Wow, this is the reality they live every day,’ ” Hart said. “And some of them very commendably step up and take a leadership role and encourage the rest of the team to lean into that spirit of ‘We are one. We are Penn State.’ ”

In addition to exploring a great sports legacy, Tucker said the film will explore an important human rights legacy.

“Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard were founding members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Penn State, which is a historical Black fraternity,” Tucker said. “They also protested that barbers on Main Street wouldn’t cut their hair. Later, there ended up being an integrated barber shop. It didn’t happen until the ’60s, but it started with their efforts.”

Shooting dates for the film have not been established yet, but Tucker said at least part of the film will be shot on the Penn State campus.

“It couldn’t be a film about Penn State and the Nittany Lions if it was not shot in State College, right? We will definitely be shooting on location there to get some authenticity,” Tucker said.

And what are the lessons the film will convey in this racially tense time in America?

“One aspect of Wally’s story that does come to the fore is the importance of allyship,” Hart said. “And the importance of certain team members, particularly those that were in a leadership position to stand up and do what was right, even when it was costly. I think it’s an example for all of us to think about our own areas of responsibility and what are the opportunities that we have to stand up for what’s right, to fight for justice, especially when it comes at a personal cost.”