He played for pride. He played for his family. He played for his race. He played so that those who followed would not feel the same hardships he would endure.

Jack Trice was the Jackie Robinson of ISU athletics, breaking the color barrier as its first African-American student-athlete and the impact of his presence is still felt on the 80th anniversary of his death.

“He needs to be remembered because of the man that he was,” ISU head football coach Dan McCarney said. “He was Iowa State. To me, he is the type of person that you would have really wanted representing this university or this football program 80 years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years from now.

“He was that type of person, that type of human being. I think it is great to keep his spirit alive and I think we do a good job of showing our appreciation and respect for him here.”

For every home football weekend, thousands of Cyclone students and fans flock to the games. However, many don’t know the story of the man whose name now adorns the entrances to the stadium and whose statue stands outside the Jacobson Building.

Inscribed on the Trice statue is the text of the letter Trice wrote to himself the night before his final game, a letter found in Trice’s jacket on the day of his funeral.

“It is an inspiring story just to read the letter and what he meant to this school and what he sacrificed — his life — to play football here,” said senior wide receiver Jack Whitver. “It inspires you as a football player at this university with its tradition. That gets me motivated to play.”

On Aug. 30, 1997, Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field was renamed Jack Trice Stadium.

Senior defensive back JaMaine Billups said the namesake gives just a hint of Trice’s heroism.

“Just the fact that he got out there, the first African-American, and they gave him the opportunity and now everything is dedicated to him,” Billups said. “He might not be as big as Martin Luther King [Jr.] and guys like that, but [he] is big around here. It’s good to know that you’re playing for a guy with the same ethnic background and just to go out there and give everything you’ve got.”

Michael Wagner, a senior tailback, said Trice brought a lot to the football program.

“He needs to be remembered,” Wagner said. “He must have been a great player, but not only that but a great person, too — for people to care about him and to get the stadium named after him. “

Trice’s trials

Jack Trice was born the son of Green and Anna Trice in 1902 in Hiram, Ohio. When his high school football coach, Sam Willaman, was named head coach at Iowa State, Trice followed him.

Trice majored in animal husbandry — his goal was to settle in the South after his graduation and help Southern black farmers. No scholarships were available for Trice then, so he worked at various jobs to pay for his education.

Trice was a member of the freshman team in 1922 and was considered to be an all-conference candidate during his sophomore season. Trice played in the Sept. 29 season-opener, a 14-6 win in Ames over Simpson College.

For the second game of the season, the Cyclones traveled to Minneapolis Oct. 6 to face Minnesota. During halftime, Trice began to complain of a sore left shoulder from a hit he took in the first half, but returned to action.

Midway through the third quarter, a frustrated Minnesota team ran a play off left tackle. Trice immediately saw that he wouldn’t be able to reach the ball carrier, so he threw himself in front of the Minnesota interference in a roll block. He was toppled over on his back and trampled upon.

Despite being seriously injured, Trice wanted to stay in the game, but he was taken out. According to newspaper accounts, the crowd chanted, “We’re sorry, Ames, we’re sorry.”

Following the game, the doctors at the hospital in Minneapolis allowed Trice to return to Ames. There, doctors discovered a broken collarbone Trice had sustained during the first half of the contest. His condition worsened as he developed respiratory problems Sunday afternoon. Des Moines doctor Oliver Fay decided surgery would be too risky, so no operation was performed.

At 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 8, 1923, two days after his final game, Jack Trice died of hemorrhaged lungs and internal bleeding.

Trice’s legacy

Current Cyclone players and coaches say Trice gave up his body for his team.

“To know that he gave up his body for the school, didn’t get the proper treatment and came back and passed away, it is pretty unfortunate,” Wagner said. “You take every play as if it is your last, because you never know what can happen. I’m glad to be playing here under what he built here.”

Trice’s story hasn’t lost meaning in 80 years, McCarney said.

“How much heart he showed, all the things you are looking for, the intangibles in successful student-athletes — compassion, heart, courage, integrity, character — that is what I read when I read the book and heard the story about him,” McCarney said.

McCarney said he is not surprised that more people don’t know the story of Trice.

“There are a lot of buildings and fields with names and a lot of times, a lot of kids don’t know the stories behind them and they should,” McCarney said. “He is a real integral part of the Cyclone athletic football program and he should be honored.”

Whitver said the stadium’s name change was a meaningful gesture.

“I think it is just something that if the stadium wasn’t named after him, it is something that people would forget, and I think he meant too much to this university to just forget about him,” Whitver said.

“He was the first black athlete, and that took a lot of courage to take that step.”