IIRC, His college football team refused to play against a segregated school.
You recall incorrectly.
Georgia Tech initially refused to play the University of Michigan in a scheduled 1934 football game because Michigan had an outstanding receiver, Willis Ward, who was black. A compromise was reached in which Michigan withheld Ward from playing in the game and Georgia Tech withheld one of its star players. Michigan didn’t display much courage by agreeing to this compromise.