Thirteen local college students received $10,000 yearly scholarships in honor of the first Black player in the NFL’s modern era.
The Kenny Washington Memorial Scholarship — awarded by the Los Angeles Rams Foundation — honors the legacy of Washington, who integrated the league in 1946. Thirteen recipients were chosen as a salute to the number 13 he wore on his jersey.
“He broke barriers and he ultimately made change,” said Evan Williams, a scholarship recipient and former youth football player for the Watts Rams.
Williams said he never thought his connection to the Rams would extend past his playing days.
“The Kenny Washington Scholarship allows me to do what he did and go do something different,” Williams told The LA Local. “Show people who look like me what can be done.”
Williams, who’s heading to Morehouse College in Atlanta this fall, said he plans to study business administration before pursuing a career in the sports industry and he’s proud to be associated with a trailblazer like Washington.
Meryland Gonzalez Herrera, another of this year’s scholarship recipients, is a rising junior at UC Berkeley majoring in legal and media studies with a minor in Chinese. She’s also an amateur boxer hoping to someday make it to the Olympics.
“I went into college not knowing anything,” Gonzalez Herrera said. “I really feel like this program is the foundation affording me to pay it forward and help other kids.”
The inaugural cohort welcomed the new scholars to the Rams family at the team’s practice facility on June 20.
Johnathan Franklin, Rams senior director of social justice and football development, told The LA Local the recipients’ lives shined through on their applications.
“The stories that I read almost brought me to tears,” Franklin said. “From parents passing away, mental health issues, lacking confidence to abuse. It was mindblowing.”
Beyond financial assistance, the Kenny Washington Memorial Scholarship program provides first-generation college students from underserved LA communities with long-term support, including college advising, financial counseling and career coaching through the Rams’ partnership with the Fulfillment Fund. The initiative highlights Washington’s legacy by helping students overcome barriers to higher education while preparing them to become leaders in their own communities.
The scholarship recipients are also connected to local nonprofit organizations including Brotherhood Crusade, Heart of Los Angeles, Project Blue, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles and others through the program.
