The White Knight: Calvin Patterson and the Integration of Florida State University Football

By Horacio Ruiz

The story of Florida State University's first African-American football player is full of promise, intrigue, history, and heartbreak. Calvin Patterson became a pioneer in 1968 when he integrated the FSU football team as a promising freshman from Miami Palmetto High School. What ensued is a story spanning decades that continues to be told. At one moment Calvin was an inspiration to a small but growing black student body at FSU. Within a few years, the university moved on when Calvin's football career ended in tragedy.The events that followed Calvin's arrival in Tallahassee are captured in this book by telling the story of FSU's struggle with integration on and off the athletic fields, with Calvin at the center of it all, as his friends rally to keep his story from being forgotten. The author interviewed more than 40 family members, friends, and former teammates to create a more complete picture of Calvin's life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1072406993
• ISBN13: 9781072406990
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"