*There is a good reason for the euphoria legions of Blacks to feel and express about the historic first of two African American quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts facing off in the Super Bowl. It’s been a long, agonizing, painful road for them and the NFL to get to that historic point.
I still remember as if it was yesterday that warm fall evening at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1973. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback James “Shack” Harris, and African American, got the start in a preseason game against the then-San Diego Chargers. It seemed nearly all Black Los Angeles packed the Coliseum that night to see Shack’s performance. When he tossed a touchdown pass the Black fans exploded in near delirium. It was more than a pass, more than football, more even than a game to them. They saw this as striking a blow against the Jim Crow racism that for decades blighted one football position, the quarterback.
At least that memorable night, Shack to them seemed to refute something I often heard my uncle, a consummate NFL junky, say about the long-standing NFL bar to Blacks as quarterbacks, “They’d rather lose with a lousy quarterback than to win with a good Black quarterback.”
Though Shack in 1974 became the first Black quarterback to make the Pro Bowl it was still a rocky road ahead for Black quarterbacks.
The formal ban on Blacks in the NFL was firmly in place from 1934 to 1946. After the ban was lifted, an informal ban remained rigidly in place against Blacks at quarterback. It took another four years before George Taliaferro became the first Black to start for an NFL team at quarterback in 1950. During the next two decades, the number of Blacks that played the position sparingly could be counted on one hand.
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The NFL template to enforce the color bar at quarterback went like this. No matter how talented a Black college quarterback was during those years, no NFL team would draft him to play quarterback. If a team did draft him, he would get in the game only if there was an injury to the starting white quarterback, and he was the last resort. Then he would throw almost no passes. More commonly, if drafted he’d immediately be switched to another position, usually defensive back or wide receiver.
First Warren Moon after several record-breaking seasons in the Canadian Football League in the late 1970s and early 1980s made the major breakthrough for Black quarterbacks in the NFL when the Houston Oilers signed him. Later Lamar Jackson put his foot down and told the NFL he would play no other position than quarterback. Jackson refused to run dashes at the NFL combine. There was the very real suspicion that if he excelled that would be the excuse to try to shift him to running back.
This pointed to the age-old standard NFL rationales for regarding the quarterback position as “for whites only.” Blacks are great runners. They are great athletes. They are raw physical talents. But as for quarterbacking forget it. It’s a cerebral-thinking man’s, leadership position. It’s by far the most high-profile position on an NFL team.
Doug Williams’ record-breaking Super Bowl performance in 1987 is held up as the benchmark for the reversal of fortune for Black quarterbacks in the NFL. Since 1990, there have been at least five Black quarterbacks in the NFL every season.
Yet despite the near dozen relatively successful Black quarterbacks in the NFL led by Jackson, Hurts and Mahomes, the old notions die hard. In many circles, Black quarterbacks are still seen primarily as runners first, “dual threat” in the popular parlance, or branded as “great athletes” not as “great quarterbacks.” Hurts as late as 2020 was still asked if he would switch positions. His answer was a firm “no.”
Even though Mahomes is now widely perceived and touted as the face of the NFL, he has his story too about the doubters. He protested that all anyone seemed to want to talk about was his great throwing arm rather than his ability to make critical decisions on plays and direct the team. He reminded folk of Jackson’s initial plight, “He threw for over 30 touchdowns, but everybody just wanted to talk about the runs.”
A 2015 study in the Journal of Sports Economics pointed to one other lingering dilemma for Black quarterbacks the margin for failure for them is paper thin. The study found that Black quarterbacks in the NFL were far more likely to be benched for any real or perceived failure on the field than white quarterbacks.
Much is being made about the “historic first” of a Super Bowl with two Black quarterbacks facing off. This is the greatest cautionary reminder about the NFL’s sordid past treatment of Black quarterbacks. Fortunately, at least for this game anyway, that has seemingly changed.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the host of the weekly Earl Ofari Hutchinson Show on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network and publisher of the Hutchinsonreport.net
Marlin Briscoe-The first Black Quarterback in Pro Football
Marlin Briscoe was 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) and 177 pounds (80 kg) when the AFL’s Denver Broncos took him in the fourteenth round of the 1968 draft at age 22. The AFL was an innovative league. Willie Lanier was the first black to play middle linebacker. Before him, it was a position reserved for whites.
The Broncos wanted to convert him to cornerback, but Briscoe had negotiated for a chance to compete for the quarterback position. His chance came on September 29, 1968, starter Steve Tensi suffered a broken collarbone, and backup Joe DiVito was spotty. Head coach Lou Saban summoned Briscoe from the sidelines in the fourth quarter against the Boston Patriots to see what he could do. Briscoe’s first play was a 22-yard completion. On his second series, he orchestrated an 80-yard touchdown drive. He completed a 21-yard pass and ran for 38 more himself, carrying it the last 12 yards for the score.
A week later, on October 6, Briscoe became the first starting African-American quarterback in the AFL. He threw 14 touchdown passes that year in just five starts, including four on November 24 against Buffalo; both are still Broncos rookie records. He also threw for 335 yards in that game, a rookie record that stood until John Elway broke it in 1983, and one of only three 300+ yard rookie games in franchise history. He completed 41.5 percent of his passes and averaged 7.1 yards per attempt and his 17.1 yards per completion led the American Football League (and ranks 18th all-time). He also ran for 308 yards and three touchdowns.*
Afterward, the rest of his career was spent as a running back and a receiver. He never played quarterback again.
He later played for the Buffalo Bills (1969–1971), Miami Dolphins (1972–1974), San Diego Chargers (1975), Detroit Lions (1975), New England Patriots (1976).
Marlin Briscoe transitioned on June 27, 2022, at the age of 76. *Wikipedia
Pedro Baez is the Executive Producer of “The Earl Ofari Hutchinson Show” heard every Saturday morning at 9:00 AM Pacific on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and is the host and moderator for “These Times with Pedro” heard on Friday mornings at 9:00 AM Pacific on Blogttalk Radio.
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