IOWA SPORTS INFORMATION

Duke Slater, a 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and the first Black All-American in University of Iowa history when he played for the Hawkeyes from 1918 to 1921, will soon have his name on the field at Kinnick Stadium.

The Iowa Board of Regents approved the naming of the field in Slater’s honor at its meeting July 28 in Cedar Falls.

Slater, who helped lead the Hawkeyes to an unbeaten season in 1921 and a victory over Notre Dame, carved a historic path in Iowa City. In addition to earning a law degree at the university and going on to become one of the first Black judges in Chicago, he was the first Black lineman to play in the National Football League.

And there was also a memorable November 1924 afternoon in Kalona.

Two days after helping the Rock Island Independents to a 6-3 victory at Racine, Wisconsin, in a pro game, Slater joined his hometown Clinton team in a showdown against the Kalona American Legion football team.

It was a day to remember.

“They came to town in a fancy bus,” said Bob Spenner, whose father, William, played on the Kalona team. “They were out doing their exercising, hooping and hollering. It was quite obvious, the word was going around, that they were going to show these farmers how to play football.”

But the farmers knew how to play the game.

The teams battled to a scoreless tie in muddy conditions, and the Clinton footballers went back home in their “fancy bus.”

“By the time they left,” Bob Spenner said, “they had a different attitude.”

Kalona’s American Legion team was powerful back in the 1920s, playing and often defeating independent teams from Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Moline and other Iowa and midwestern cities. Kalona finished the 1924 season unbeaten and defeated Columbus Junction, 3-0, to win a league championship.

Bob Spenner, now in his 80s, grew up hearing his dad, a farmer on land located between Kalona and Riverside, spin stories about his football-playing days and the championship Kalona teams.

Albert Spenner, Bob’s uncle, also played for the Kalona squad. Back then, the football boys played for Kalona High School, then with the Kalona Independents after their high school days were over.

Ivo Grady, at one time a Notre Dame quarterback, led Kalona’s offense. His daughter, Gretchen Swantz, still lives in Kalona. His son, Al Grady, a Kalona High School graduate, was sports editor at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He died in 2003 at age 76.

“Knute Rockne (Notre Dame’s legendary head coach) was impressed with Ivo Grady and wanted him as a quarterback,” Spenner said. “Talked him into going. He played for Notre Dame for a year and he didn’t like it. He came back home.”

Among the teams Kalona hosted over the years was Notre Dame, Spenner said.

“That’s something a lot of people didn’t know,” he said.

Slater, who was born in Normal, Illinois, but grew up in Clinton and played his high school football in Clinton, played professionally for 10 years, beginning in 1922. The 1924 Rock Island team he played for won five of nine games.

He died in 1966 of stomach cancer at age 67.

Slater spent the last six years of his pro career as an offensive and defensive lineman with the Chicago Cardinals, then became an attorney on the south side of Chicago after passing the Iowa bar in 1928 and then the Illinois bar. He became the first Black judge on the Cook County Superior Court.

A residence hall at the University of Iowa was named after Slater and a statue of Slater was erected at Kinnick Stadium, but the naming of the field this year represents an even deeper honor. A recognition ceremony will be held during the Hawkeyes’ game against Penn State on October 9. Slater was a part of Iowa Sports Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1951.

“We are proud and honored to name the Kinnick Stadium playing field as Duke Slater Field,” said Gary Barta, Iowa Athletics Chair. “Much has been written about Duke’s incredible history and the boundaries he broke. With the addition of the relief statue as part of the north end-zone project and his recent induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this was a proper capstone to honor a remarkable Hawkeye.”