Roy Shivers

Roy Shivers (born July 5, 1941) is a former professional American football running back and Canadian football personnel administrator, most notably as the first black general manager in professional football.

He was a general manager for eight seasons with the Birmingham Barracudas and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

He is a four-time Grey Cup champion as a director of player personnel and assistant general manager with the BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders (CFL) and he is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

He played for seven years in the National Football League (NFL) with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shivers grew up in Oakland, California, in an area known as the projects.

He was one of eight children.

His father moved the family to the U.S. west coast to get away from the segregated south.

Shivers suffered the pains of racism at a young age when he lost out a job to be quarterback for his high school team to a white person.

In West Oakland black children were only allowed to play at DeFremery Park, the park could be considered as a national landmark for it has been home some of the best athletes and activists the world has seen.

Shivers went to school with Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, Joe Morgan and Vada Pinson.

He also grew up with the founding members of the Black Panthers, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and David Hilliard.

Shivers graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1959, and left Oakland in 1960 to serve in the U.S. Army.

In 1964, after serving four years in the army, Shivers went to Utah State where he became a star running back and then in 1966 was drafted first round in the supplemental draft to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shivers led the Cardinals in kickoff return yards with 27 for 762 yards with one returned for a touchdown.

Shivers played for seven years in the NFL before he began coaching at Merritt Junior College in Oakland.

He also coached at the University of Nevada, University of Hawaii and University of Nevada, Las Vegas after which he accepted a job as an assistant coach for the BC Lions in the CFL.

Shivers stayed with the Lions for six seasons and rose through the ranks of the Lions' front office.

In 1985, the Lions won the Grey Cup.

In 1989, Shivers left for the Calgary Stampeders to become the team's U.S. scout.

In 1991, he became the team's assistant General Manager.

Calgary won the Grey Cup in 1992.

In 1995, Shivers left to become the General Manager of the expansion Birmingham Barracudas, but the team folded after one season, as did the rest of the American expansion teams.

Shivers returned to Calgary in 1996, again as assistant GM.

While not a dominant quarterback by any means, Nealon's ability to manage the game and limit mistakes was the finishing spark that helped the Roughriders qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

Calgary won the Grey Cup again in 1998 under head coach Wally Buono.

Shivers became General Manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on December 24, 1999, with his first two years at the Riders' helm being a struggle on the field.

This was to be expected as Shivers inherited a 3-15 team bereft of talent.

The Riders also had 3 million dollars of debt (equal to the amount of credit the team had available to it) and was financially in dire straits.

It was obvious that Shivers had to overhaul the team.

Not surprisingly, there was 80% turnover in the team's 1999 starting roster.

The only free agent signing with significant CFL experience was Calgary Stampeders backup quarterback Henry Burris.

However, the inexperienced defence was the team's downfall as it ranked near the bottom of the league in most defensive statistical categories.

The Riders posted a 5 wins, 12 losses and 1 tie record and missed the playoffs in their initial rebuilding year.

Shivers had publicly proclaimed it would take 3 years to restore the Saskatchewan Roughriders to being an elite CFL team, so fans remained patient.

In year 2 of the rebuilding plan, 2001, the team got off to a rough start.

Quarterback Henry Burris left the Riders and signed with the NFL's Green Bay Packers, leaving the Riders without a viable quarterback.

Although team defence was markedly improved, the offense struggled.

The result was another poor record (6 wins 12 losses) and another year out of the playoffs.

In 2002, Shivers made an important trade as the Roughriders' acquired Edmonton Eskimos starting quarterback Nealon Greene.

Since 2002, the team has eliminated its 3 million dollar debt, aided mostly by hosting the Grey Cup Championship Game, and by the provincial government forgiving over $1 million of debt.