The Ubangi Blackhawks were a predominantly black semi-pro football team in Seattle playing in the Community League in 1937 and 1938.  Sponsored by nightclub owner Russell "Noodles" Smith, who was said to be present for every game, the team was also helped by Bruce Rowell who looked after the team's financial and physical health.  Ted Williams was also a financial backer.

Coming over from the 1935 and 1936 league champion Italian Club were all-city end Brennan King, all-city halfback Sammy Bruce, all-city halfback Dan Allen, 3-time all-city guard John Burton, and hardest-hitting fullback Gearge "Switchy" Height.  Paul Chappell joined from the Uptown Club and most of the recent Garfield High championship stars.

The 1937 Blackhawks were considered the most sensational team in the league and during this time the community rallied behind such stars as Height, King, Rhino Nakamura and Joe Staton.  The Blackhawks played the first sixy games of the season without allowing a single score, leading many to think they were unstoppable.  There was some question as to whether the nightlife of some of the players and internal dissent among the team would sabotage the season after being upset by the National Guardsmen in Game 7.  There were no such misgivings after the 'Hawks came back and defeated the Guardsmen 13-0 in the league finals, winning the Seattle Community League crown.  After the game Brennan King was awarded the James Scavotto trophy, which he promptly handed over to "Noodles" Smith to display at the Ubangi Club.

1937 Seattle Community League Champions

Players (in picture - back row) Dave "Babe" Wilson, Joe Staton (E), Scotty Brown, Bob (Red) Parsons, Sammy Bruce (QB), Ernie Lewis (E), Reino Nakamura (T), Brennan King, Bob Flowers, Bill Dozier (C), Otis Reese, Frank "Doghouse" Houston, Danny Allen (G), George (Switchy) Height (HB), Paul Chappell (HB), Abby Perkins, Carl Bentley, Lester Catlett, Mark Allen (FB), Bert Allen, Harber Gaston, Jack Tanner, and Paul Chinn.

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The Blackhawks were so popular at this time that after the league championship game, the Northwest Enterprise claimed "that there will not be another performance of any kind in the near future that will draw the number of colored fans that the Ubangi championship game did".

Excitement was short-lived when on Feburary 25th, 1938 the Northwest Enterprise announced the closure of the Ubangi Club effective Feburary 27th, after the sale of the hotel housing it.

Brennan King would also appear in games with the Renton Rams in 1937 and in 1938 he and Sam Bruce would help their former high school and Italian Club coach Leon Brigham win the 1938 Northwest Championship with the West Seattle Yellowjackets.

Attached at the hip, King and Brennan would both leave for North Carolina A&T in 1939 with Bruce volunteering to become a pilot at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in early 1940.  Bruce would be one of the first black fighter pilots killed in action in Italy in 1944.

Bruce Rowell would rekindle the team as the Black and Tan Blackhawks for the 1938 season, with Ernie Lewis as captain, the 1937 Community League scoring champion.  Without their star players, the new Blackhawks struggled and ended the season with a 2-6-1 record.  In a bizarre coincidence, in March of 1939, once again the team sponsor, the time the Black and Tan Cabaret, closed it's doors.

Danny Allen, Willie Stockard, Charlie Winston, Jack Tanner, Paul Chappell, Hank Allen, Carl Bently ('37) and Bob Flowers ('37) would continue on playing for the 160lb Brown Bombers.

Greater Northwest Hall of Fame Inductees

Brennan King	Sam Bruce

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