The Dolphins had the most players from HBCUs to start the 2024 season. Here’s why that matters.

Larry Little had a very unique pregame routine.

Before every game, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer would sit in his locker and scan the other team’s roster. He wasn’t looking to scout the opposing defenses. He wasn’t looking to see if he knew anybody. And he certainly wasn’t looking to find who went to the “best” schools. In actuality, he wanted to see how many players attended a Historically Black College and University.

“Although they were our opponents, I was proud to see those guys have an opportunity to play in the NFL,” said Little who attended Bethune-Cookman University and later played 12 seasons for the Miami Dolphins. “That’s how much pride I had — still have — in going to a HBCU.”

Although it has been nearly half a century since Little played his last down, the HBCU legacy is alive and well in Miami. The Dolphins had the most players who attended HBCU at the 53-man deadline in August, according to the NCAA. Led by five-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Terron Armstead (Arkansas Pine-Bluff) as well as linebacker Quinton Bell (Prarie View A&M) and tackle Kion Smith (Fayetteville State), the trio is tasked with upholding the rich legacy of HBCUs in a league that once boasted with talent from these historic institutions.

“It definitely was a part of my make up going through that HBCU experience,” Armstead said. “Not having as many resources, just being able to work with what we got and band together as a team.”

From Walter Payton to Jerry Rice to Shannon Sharpe to Michael Strahan, some of the most talented players in NFL history attended HBCUs. Figure this: roughly 10% of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is comprised of players who went to HBCUs, according to the NFL, a striking number considering the small size of many institutions. That’s partly because current collegiate powerhouses like Alabama didn’t largely recruit Black players until the 1970s.

“I only had two offers from Bethune-Cookman and St. Augustine, but that was during the time of segregation,” said the Miami native who graduated from Booker T. Washington High in 1963. “I wasn’t being recruited by any of the predominately white institutions [PWI].”

So Little chose Bethune-Cookman, the only way he could reach his dreams of playing in the NFL.

“I really didn’t think about the reason why I wasn’t recruited by” PWIs, Little said. “My only goal was to maybe get an opportunity to play professional football.”

Although the San Diego Chargers originally signed as free agent in 1967, Little was traded to the Dolphins in 1969, a move that ultimately helped usher him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. A member of the back-to-back Super Bowl-winning Dolphins teams of the 70s, Little played a huge role in both of those titles, clearing rushing lanes for the likes of Jim Kiick, Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris as well as keeping Bob Griese and Earl Morrall upright. By the time Little retired after the 1980 season, he had received six All-Pro honors and made five Pro Bowls. Still, he couldn’t help but be grateful for his time at B-CU, which helped usher him into the NFL.

“My college coach was an HBCU player who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Little recalled, referring to Jack “Cy” McClairen. “The Steelers ran a pro offense and he brought that same pro offense to Bethune-Cookman. That helped me in a lot of ways, doing the things that they were doing in the pros in college.”

Bell too benefited from going to a HBCU. Originally recruited to play wide receiver, one of his coaches suggested that he become an edge rusher, a change that ultimately led the then-Oakland Raiders to select him in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Bell’s NFL career didn’t have the best start — during the next five years, he would be waived six times as well as oscillate between the practice squad and active roster another 24 times — before having an impressive 2024 training camp and finding a home in Miami.

As Bell reflected on his journey, he couldn’t help but credit his time at Prarie View. Like Armstead, Bell’s alma mater didn’t have the best resources either yet that wasn’t an excuse.

“Just knowing that it’s going to be fight,” Bell said when asked how his HBCU experience prepared him for the NFL. ”It’s going to be harder to make it out because the odds are stacked me. I had to grind. The grind was going to be real and I understood that when I was coming out.”

Added Bell: “A lot of guys were ahead of me simply because the school they went to but I just kept my head down and worked. I think that that prepared me for the NFL because that’s what the NFL is: you start from the bottom and you work your way up every single year.”

Although not a single HBCU player was selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, Armstead believes the pipeline is a lot wider now than it has ever been. The overall spotlight on these historic institutions has increased as of late so much so that the NFL created the Legacy Bowl, an annual postseason All-Star game that showcases HBCU talent. Even NFL stars such as Eddie George and Deion Sanders have coached at the HBCU level. The result? More eyes are on HBCUs than ever before.

“I think there’s going to be more HBCU talent throughout the league,” Armstead said. “They’re starting to get more exposure, more development too. We’re going to start to see more HBCU talent in these buildings.”