Dave Mann (gridiron football)

David Carl Mann (June 2, 1932 – May 22, 2012) was an American professional gridiron football halfback and punter in the NFL and CFL. Mann was one of the first two black players to play college football for Oregon State College (OSC), helping to break the color barrier there in 1951.

Career
Born in Berkeley, California, Mann played at Oregon State College from 1951 to 1954. Mann was one of two black players on the 1951 Oregon State roster — the first in the history of the school.

He was drafted in the 7th round of the 1954 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals in the National Football League. He played for the Cardinals for three seasons as a punter, running back, and a special teams member.

He then went to the Canadian Football League where he played for the Toronto Argonauts. On the eve of the 1959 season, Mann was arrested after a raid on his apartment discovered about $100 worth of marijuana. Although he was acquitted at trial in February 1960, the Argonauts elected not to play him pending the outcome of the trial, forcing Mann to sit out the whole 1959 season. When released in the start of the 1959 season, he played for the Bramalea Satellites, being called back to the Argos as if the Bramalea team were a taxi squad.

Dave Mann volunteered as Offensivee Coach with St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, under head coach Lex Byrd. During Mann's tenure, the team won four Mulock Cups as intra-collegiate football champions; including the final playing of intra-faculty tackle football at U of T in the fall of 1993.

Personal life and death
Mann became a Canadian citizen and moved to Mississauga, Ontario, where he instructed techniques in golf, played drums in a jazz trio, and became friends with comedian Bill Cosby. He also became a partner with Archie Alleyne, John Henry Jackson and Howard Matthews in The Underground Railroad, a soul food restaurant in Toronto.

Mann died on May 22, 2012 in a Toronto nursing home due to complications from dementia.