Johnny Roland
Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame
Missouri
Sugar Bowls: 1966
Inducted: 2026
Photo Courtesy of the University of Missouri.
Johnny Roland, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, did a little bit of everything for the Missouri Tigers in their 1966 Sugar Bowl win over Florida. The 6-2, 220-pound halfback delivered an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, ran for two yards, returned a kick for 19 yards and had three punt returns for 15 yards. He also was a key player in the Tigers secondary as Missouri held off a furious Gator rally led by Steve Spurrier to win 20-18. A high school football star in Corpus Christi, Texas, Roland led Roy Miller High School to the 1960 Class 4A state championship – it was the first racially-integrated team to win a Texas state championship. At Missouri, he was selected as a team captain for the 1965 team, the first African American to serve as a captain for any University of Missouri team. He capped that season with the Sugar Bowl victory and was named a consensus All-American. He was also an All-Big Eight selection in 1962, 1964, and 1965. The NFL Rookie of the Year in 1966 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Roland had a seven-year professional playing career before embarking on a 22-year coaching career, primarily in the NFL. He was inducted into Missouri’s Hall of Fame in 1990, and the school also retired his jersey (#23) in 1998 at the time of his selection for the College Football Hall of Fame.
