BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — To Western New York, Leslie Frazier is a talented coach who turned the Bills defense around. However, there's so much history behind Frazier's journey to Buffalo that the world doesn't see.
"When I was coming out of high school," said Leslie Frazier. "It was right on the edge of when things were beginning to change from an integration standpoint."
In 1954 Brown vs. Board of education outlawed segregation, but that transition wasn't accepted by many. Frazier attended his first year at Alcorn State University 24 years later in 1978.
"There weren't a lot of guys that looked like me playing on Mississippi State or Ole Miss where I came from."
Frazier's talent on the gridiron was enough to catch the HBCU recruiter's attention. It only took one visit to Alcorn for Frazier to feel at home.
"I went to visit a game, and I saw the atmosphere, and I was like, wow. The way people treated me on my visit really sold me."
From 1978 to 1980, Frazier became a defensive force for the Braves, setting school records. In addition, Frazier was lining up with his former roommate and first-round pick Roynell Young.
"Those relationships, and the way faculty members and the teachers taught me things. I don't know if I would've learned that in other venues."
Frazier's greatest accomplishment was what happened off the field.
"I met my wife at Alcorn. So, that's a big one."
The two would go on to raise three children and never could've predicted the impact Frazier's footprint would leave on the game of football.
"I always dreamed of playing in the NFL, but to be a coach and to be in this environment, we have a really good team and have a chance to do some special things in 2022."
On the hunt for a Super Bowl ring and building one of the top defenses in the NFL, Frazier can mark another accomplishment.
He was recently named a 2023 Black College Football Hall of Fame finalist.
"If I were to be chosen, that would be one the highest honors of my life."
The inductees for the 2023 class with be announced on Dec. 8th.
