A Quarterblack Super Bowl

New Orleans, LA (News4usOnline) – Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia Eagles signal-caller Jalen Hurts made history as the first two African Americans to face off against one another in a Super Bowl. That was not too long ago. It was historic stuff.

Super Bowl LVII turned out to be one of the more thrilling championship games ever with Mahomes and the Chiefs prevailing 38-35 against Hurts and the Eagles.

Now we’re back for round two. It’s a good thing. For decades, the plight of the African American quarterback has been met with callous and cruel name-calling and/or simply discarded for a perceived lack of intelligence.

The history of the Black quarterback comes back in full bloom when those in political power are trying their best to wash away Black history.

For that matter, the whitewashing of people of color, more specifically Black people, through avenues of book-banning and erasing diversity, equity and inclusion measures, has added more value to the second Super Bowl encounter between Mahomes and Hurts.

You can’t erase history no matter how hard you try. And the simple fact that Hurts and Mahomes are back on this global stage where the entire world will see two Black men leading their teams is yet another reminder to those who would try to navigate and push the history button back another 60 years to the days of Jim Crow, that society evolves.

The NFL has evolved from a sport that did not include Black men to be quarterbacks or head coaches to a sport where inclusion was not handed down but had the door kicked in by talented individuals who refused to continue to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to opportunity to compete at the highest levels in the most leaderlike position: the quarterback position.

That would be Marlin Briscoe, who became the first modern day quarterback to happened to be Black and started games as a member of the Denver Broncos way back in 1968. That would be Joe Gilliam, the hotshot Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.

That would be James “Shack” Harris, the first Black quarterback to start for the Los Angeles Rams. And that would be Doug Williams, the man who shuttered all doors of hatred with his 1988 Super Bowl-winning performance.

Williams earned MVP honors after leading the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) to a 42-10 rout of John Elway and the Denver Broncos, making him the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl. Warren Moon is still the only Black quarterback to make it to the Hall.

That will eventually change. Thanks to Moon, the breakthrough has already come to past. And now with nearly half of the 2024 opening day quarterbacks being Black, the Lamar Jacksons and Patrick Mahomes of the world will likely join Moon. The triumphs of the Black quarterback have been a slow trajectory.

The goal posts that keep shifting in determining their success, though, is starting to become a lot more stabilized. The influx of Black quarterbacks starting and playing in the National Football League is here to stay.

Leadership is not about color as a Daunte Culpepper, Rodney Peete, Randall Cunningham, Mike Vick, CJ Stroud, Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, Jordan Love, Jackson, Mahomes, and Hurts have shown.

It’s about the content of their character. With the opportunity to present itself, these individuals have displayed that they are indeed leaders of men. And once again, we have two Black quarterbacks as the main attraction on the NFL’s biggest stage in the form of the Super Bowl. History has been made again.