BLOOMINGTON Drew Lock Jersey , Ind. (AP) — George Taliaferro, the star Indiana running back who in 1949 became the first black player drafted in the NFL when George Halas and the Chicago Bears took him in the 13th round, has died. He was 91.The university spoke with Taliaferro’s family about his death in Mason, Ohio, senior associate athletic director Jeremy Gray said Tuesday. Other details were not disclosed.Taliaferro was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981. In the NFL, he played seven positions and earned Pro Bowl honors in 1951-53.He was the leading rusher on Indiana’s 1945 Big Ten championship team that went 9-0-1, the only undefeated team in school history. During his four years in Bloomington he led the Hoosiers in rushing twice and passing once.It wasn’t an easy transition — the segregation in Bloomington was jarring — and Taliaferro told the Indianapolis Star he once called his father in Gary, Indiana, and suggested he might come home and work together in one of the U.S. Steel plants. His dad wouldn’t hear of it.“I lay awake all night trying to figure … out … why … he wouldn’t help me,” Taliaferro told the Star. “And it came to me: That for the first 18 years of my life, every day I left my father and mother’s house to go to school, they told me two things: ‘We love you; you must be educated.’ It came to me that the other reason for my being at Indiana University … on the campus at Bloomington … Indiana — was to be educated.”Indiana said university President Herman Wells once intervened with a local restaurant to make sure he and Taliaferro would be able to eat there. When the manager balked http://www.cardinalscheapstore.com/zach-allen-jersey-cheap , Wells said he would make the restaurant off limits to the student body and the manager relented.The Bears selected Taliaferro with the 129th overall pick — a potential dream come true for the Gary native who grew up following the Bears. The problem was that Taliaferro had signed a week before the draft with the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All America Football Conference, which had welcomed black players since its debut in 1946.Taliaferro told the Dayton Daily News last year he thought about returning his $4,000 signing bonus to the Dons in hopes it would clear the way for an NFL career, but then spoke with his mother.“She said, ‘What did you promise your father?'” Taliaferro told the Dayton Daily News. “I knew right away. I had to be a man of my word, so I never even bothered getting back to George Halas and the Bears.”Taliaferro rushed for 472 yards and five touchdowns and passed for another 790 yards and four scores in his rookie season with the Dons in 1949. The AAFC merged with the NFL the following season and Taliaferro ended up with the New York Yanks for the 1950 season. Taliaferro rushed for 411 yards and four touchdowns and caught another 21 passes for 299 yards and five scores for the Yanks, leading the team in touchdowns and helping them to a 7-5 record.Taliaferro spent five more years in the NFL. He totaled 2,266 rushing yards, 1,300 receiving yards, 1,633 passing yards and accounted for 37 touchdowns while playing for franchises in New York Andy Isabella Jersey , Dallas, Baltimore and Philadelphia. He lined up at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, punter, kick returner, punt returner and defensive back.Taliaferro later earned a master’s degree at Howard University, taught at Maryland and served as dean of students at Morgan State. At Indiana, he also spent two decades serving his alma mater in a number of capacities, including as a special assistant to the president, IUPUI chancellor and dean of School of Social Work. He was also active in helping the Children’s Organ Transplant Association.Flags on the Bloomington campus were lowered to half-staff through this weekend’s homecoming game against Iowa. Taliaferro’s No. 44 will replace the traditional logo on Indiana players’ helmets for the game and there will be a moment of silence before kickoff.“He was a mentor to me, and Jamel Dean Jersey , like all great mentors, was often one who was appropriately challenging me,” athletic director Fred Glass said. “Simply put, he was a great man and will be greatly missed.”Indiana said Taliaferro is survived by his wife of 67 years, Viola, and two daughters.Funeral arrangements were pending.FOX Fantasy AutoForm a Racing Team, Compete for PrizesPlay Now! DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins need to figure out how to win on the road, since that’s where they’ll be if they make the playoffs.And if they don’t win Sunday at Minnesota , there probably won’t be a postseason for Miami.The Dolphins (7-6) remain in contention for an AFC wild-card berth thanks to Kenyan Drake’s improbable touchdown on the final play Sunday to beat New England. But there have been no miracles on the road, where coach Adam Gase’s team is 1-5 and has been outscored 177-103.That includes losses of 38-7 at New England and 42-23 at Houston, and blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads at Cincinnati and at Indianapolis.What’s the problem?“It’s a little bit of probably everything D.K. Metcalf Jersey ,” Gase said.The issue actually dates to last season. The Dolphins have lost 10 of their past 11 away games and have been outscored 350-170.They’re simply a different team at home, where this year they swept all three AFC East opponents. Their division road record is 0-2.“If I tell you our guys don’t get a little more amped up for the division opponents at home, I’d be fibbing,” associate head coach Darren Rizzi said. “There’s a little bit more extra incentive there.”Motivation shouldn’t be an issue the rest of the way, home or away. To make the postseason for only the third time since 2001, the Dolphins likely need to sweep their final three games.And two of those are on the road. Can Miami pull off another miracle?“We just hope we have more wins,” Drake said. “I hope it doesn’t come down to any more miracles, because I don’t think my heart can take any more of that.”Drake’s game-winner kept Miami in the playoff picture despite a road record that’s the worst among contending teams. Gase dismisses the mindset of his players as the problem.“I don’t see a difference in the way they prepare, the focus,” he said. “Guys are wired in at the opposing stadium. The energy, the attitude — I don’t see a dropoff.”In victories the past two weeks, the Dolphins wore their 1960s-style uniforms Nick Bosa Jersey , so maybe a throwback look on the road would help.Gase has tried everything else. Since becoming coach in 2016 he has experimented with changes in the travel routine, including altering the departure day, in search of a better road result.This week Miami will leave on Friday.“Over the last three years we’ve tried as many different things as we can,” Gase said, “even talking to some of the veteran players to see if there’s something strange about why we haven’t won on the road.”A solution has proved elusive. Under Gase, Miami is 16-7 at home and 7-16 on the road.“Obviously it’s something we need to improve,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “It’s definitely something we look forward to correcting this week.”