The Ringer

The Divine Comedy of the Dallas Cowboys

Yankees Were Unserious, Relentless Losers

In the End, the Yankees Were Unserious, Relentless Losers

These New York Yankees Are Built Different

The Unfinished Legend of Aaron Judge

The Vast Universes of James Earl Jones’s Voice

Jannik Sinner Spoils an American U.S. Open Dream

The U.S. Open Has Never Felt More Wide-Open—or Baffling

The Spiritual Realm of Sydney McLaughlin

The Lakers Shot for the Stars and Landed in a Black Hole

Juan Soto Changed Everything for the Yankees. Will They Change Their Ways to Keep Him?

Staff Writer

Lex writes about race, pop culture, and sports for The Ringer. His work has appeared in the ‘Year’s Best Sports Writing’ anthology. He lives in Harlem.


Lex Pryor

Blackballed

4. A Seat at the Table | Blackballed

3. Integration | Blackballed

2. Kenny, Woody, Bill, and Marion | Blackballed

1. Gentlemen’s Agreement | Blackballed

<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN">
<p>In 1933, NFL owners secretly banned Black players from the league. Thirteen years later, four Black players—Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Bill Willis, and Marion Motley—reintegrated pro football.</p>
</div>
<div></div>
<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN">
<p class="encore-text encore-text-body-medium encore-internal-color-text-subdued umouqjSkMUbvF4I_Xz6r" data-encore-id="text">The Forgotten Four broke the race barrier in professional football one year before Jackie Robinson’s historic, and widely recognized, debut in the Major Leagues. This is their story.</p>
</div>
<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN"></div>
<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN">
<p class="encore-text encore-text-body-medium encore-internal-color-text-subdued umouqjSkMUbvF4I_Xz6r" data-encore-id="text">It&#8217;s a story that&#8217;s been largely buried. But it&#8217;s a story that matters today, to help understand the league&#8217;s complicated relationship with race.</p>
</div>
<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN"></div>
<div></div>
<div class="xgmjVLxjqfcXK5BV_XyN">
<p class="encore-text encore-text-body-medium encore-internal-color-text-subdued umouqjSkMUbvF4I_Xz6r" data-encore-id="text">The four-part narrative podcast is hosted by Chelsea Stark-Jones, who worked for the NFL for a decade before coming to <em>The Ringer</em>. It’s co-reported by Lex Pryor, whose voice also appears throughout the series.</p>
</div>


Chelsea Stark-Jones is an Emmy Award–winning producer who joined The Ringer in 2021. She currently oversees our reality TV and pop culture content and currently cohosts ‘The Morally Corrupt Bravo Show’ and the narrative podcast ‘Blackballed.’

Chelsea Stark-Jones

Lex Pryor

More From Lex Pryor