Greg Coleman Describes Emotions of Selection to Black College Football Hall of Fame

[Viktor]

EAGAN, Minn. — Back when he was a senior in high school, Greg Coleman penned some lofty expectations for himself.


"You know in your high school yearbook when you put your name, your hobbies and your ambitions … I wrote years and years ago that I wanted to be a punter in the National Football League," Coleman said. "My teammates and classmates laughed and said, 'Man, you're out of your mind. There's no Black punters in the NFL.' And I said, 'That ain't my problem.' "


Coleman accomplished that dream during a 12-year professional career, spending 10 of those seasons in Purple with the Vikings.


But Coleman also recently added another highlight to his résumé, as he was announced as a member of the 2021 Class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame.


For Coleman, who proudly watched as friends and Vikings connections received the news they were entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the moment was one to savor.


"I'm going to try and hold it together here," Coleman said. "I'm reminded of what David Baker does when he knocks on the door for the men in the Pro Football Hall of Fame … when Randy Moss went in, John Randle went in, Randall McDaniel, Cris Carter … a few great Vikings.


"When they get that knock on the door, how emotional it is. When they called me, it was emotional," Coleman added. "A range of emotions from left to right thinking back to the struggles of African-American men."


Coleman lived through multiple types of discrimination during his youth in Jacksonville, Florida. His all-Black PeeWee football team won the city championship its division, earning the right to play in the Gator Bowl, but the young men were denied the opportunity.