PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Black quarterbacks have come a long way in the NFL since Fritz Pollard became the first to play in the league in 1923 and Doug Williams was the first to start and win a Super Bowl following the 1987 season.
Now, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts will be the first Black QBs to face off in a Super Bowl.
It’s fitting that a season that began with 11 Black QBs starting in Week 1 will end with a historic matchup.
Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Kansas City Chiefs to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12. Hurts aims to become the fourth Black QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Williams, Mahomes, and Russell Wilson.
Steve McNair, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton, and Wilson also started in the Super Bowl and lost.
Michael Vick was the first Black QB selected No. 1 overall in the draft in 2001. McNair became the first Black QB to win MVP in 2003. Mahomes and Lamar Jackson won it back-to-back years.
They all had to overcome stereotypes to get to this point.
Jackson said a scout from the Los Angeles Chargers asked him to run routes at the NFL combine in 2018. The Baltimore Ravens ended up selecting him with the 32nd pick in the first round and he was MVP in his second season.
Donovan McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowl QB who started five NFC championship games for the Eagles, was told by some college scouts that he had to play running back or wide receiver. He wouldn’t switch positions, went to Syracuse to play quarterback, and was drafted No. 2 overall in 1999 by Philadelphia.
Hurts began his NFL career in 2020 as an all-purpose QB after the Eagles took him in the second round. Playing behind Carson Wentz, Hurts had 12 rushing attempts, one catch, and threw just three passes in his first nine games before taking over as Philadelphia’s QB.
He clearly has not forgotten that the decision to draft him in the second round of the 2020 draft was widely criticized by reporters and fans.
“My first year here,…
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