Roy Shivers  Roy Shivers (born July 5, 1941) was the General Manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from December 24, 1999 until August 21, 2006; the first Black general manager in professional football. He was also a former running back in the National Football League with the St. Louis Cardinals. Shivers grew up in Oakland, California, in an area known as the projects. He was one of eight children. His father moved the family to the U.S. west coast to get away from the segregated south. Shivers suffered the pains of racism at a young age when he lost out a job to be quarterback for his high school team to a white person. In West Oakland black children were only allowed to play at DeFremery Park, the park could be considered as a national landmark for it has been home some of the best athletes and activists the world has seen. Shivers went to school with Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, Joe Morgan and Vada Pinson. He also grew up with the founding members of the Black Panthers, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and David Hilliard. Shivers graduated from Oakland Technical High School  in 1959, and left Oakland in 1960 to serve in the U.S. Army. In 1964, after serving four years in the army, Shivers went to Utah State where he became a star running back and then in 1966 was drafted first round in the supplemental draft to the St. Louis Cardinals. Shivers lead the Cardinals in kickoff return yards with 27 for 762 yards with one returned for a touchdown. Shivers played for seven years in the NFL before he began coaching at Merritt Junior College in Oakland. He also coached at the University of Nevada, University of Hawaii and University of Nevada, Las Vegas after which he accepted a job as an assistant coach for the B.C. Lions in the CFL. Shivers stayed with the Lions for six seasons and rose through the ranks of the Lions' front office. In 1985, the Lions won the Grey Cup. In 1989, Shivers left for the Calgary Stampeders to become the team's U.S. scout. In 1991, he became the team's assistant General Manager. Calgary won the Grey Cup in 1992. In 1995, Shivers left to become the General Manager of the expansion Birmingham Barracudas, but the team folded after one season, as did the rest of the American expansion teams. Shivers returned to Calgary in 1996, again as assistant GM.