Doug Williams played in a time when the vast majority of quarterbacks were white. Photograph: Rick Stewart/Getty Images
Two years ago, under a cloudless sky in north central Louisiana, Doug Williams and Michael Vick met on the football field at Grambling University’s Eddie G Robinson Memorial Stadium to reflect on the NFL trail they helped blaze. In 1988 Williams led Washington past Denver in Super Bowl XXII, breaking fresh ground: he was the first Black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl and finished the game as MVP. In 2001 Vick was the top pick in the NFL draft. All were landmark firsts for Black quarterbacks – and they didn’t stop there.
“Look around this league now,” Williams told Vick in his stubborn Louisiana drawl. “I could be wrong, but in the next five to seven years? Half of the quarterbacks in this league gon’ be Black.” In his day Williams was famous for his deep shots – but he could well wind up three years long of this mark.
When the NFL regular-season began in September, Black quarterbacks made up a record 15 of the league’s 32 starters; that included three – Carolina’s Bryce Young, Houston’s CJ Stroud and Indianapolis’ Anthony Richardson – who were taken with the first three picks in the 2023 draft. The historic milestones stamped the dawn of the Black quarterback era – a heady time that officially kicked off when Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes met Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts in the 2023 Super Bowl. Now the 29-year-old Mahomes, bidding for a third straight Super Bowl title, projects as the greatest QB of all time in the eyes of many – even though he’s only been starting for the past seven seasons. Dak Prescott, the league’s highest-paid player, is the face of the Dallas Cowboys, America’s team. Last year, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson won his second league MVP. The Black quarterback is pro football’s leading man.
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No longer does…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/black-quarterback-now-nfl-leading-090004605.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-10-04 09:00:04
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