Herb Trawick was born in Pittsburgh and played his college ball at Kentucky State where he was a three time All-American.  After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Trawick came to the CFL in 1946.  Trawick played 12 years in the CFL, all with Montreal, from 1946 (the first year for the Als) to 1957.   Trawick played guard and tackle, which in those days meant playing both sides of the line.

Trawick won seven East All-Stars (there were no CFL All-Stars until 1962).  Trawick was an All-Star at tackle in 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950, and at guard in 1954 and 1955.  Besides the "official" All-Star teams, Trawick was named to Ted Reeves's All-Star team in 1946, 1947 and 1950, the closest thing to an All-Canadian team at that time.  Trawick also played in the 1955 East-West Shrine All-Star game.  Trawick played in four Grey Cup games, including the 1949 victory by Montreal in which he scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery.

 While colour shouldn't matter when it comes to talent and football, it often did back in the days when Trawick played.  As Jackie Robinson was the pioneer in Major League Basebal, Herb Trawick was the first African-American to play in the CFL.  It should be noted that Jackie Robinson started his baseball career in the minors with the Montreal Royals at this time, and his popularity was part of the reason for the Al's Lew Hayman to recruit Trawick.  As with Robinson, Trawick did not have an easy time of it, having to endure his share of racial slurs and slights.  Two of the other East teams initially even threatened to boycot games if Trawick played for Montreal, but later backed down.

Trawick was popular with both the fans and his teammates as indicated by his being elected team captain in 1951. To this day, Trawick is still a legend in Montreal football and a park in the city has been named after him (see picture below).

There was never any doubt about the talent of Herb Trawick and he was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975..

Herb Trawick passed away in September 16, 1985.

Hall of Fame Biography of Herb Trawick

Wikipedia Article on Herb Trawick

Article on Herb Trawick from cfl.ca

Trawick Named Als Captain - August 7, 1951

Trawick In Team Picture of 1956 Montreal Als - November 20, 1956

Trawick Retires - May 19, 1958

Trawick is credited with one touchdown in 1957.