“The day we signed him we told him he would be given every opportunity to play quarterback,” Denver Broncos coach Lou Saban said. “He would rise and fall only on his merits.” [1]
“Merit” was the myth that Marlin “The Magician” Briscoe had to cut through. It was the word that supposedly explained why no Black man had started in modern prol football before Briscoe earned his start against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 6, 1968.
Briscoe knew what he faced.
He knew that NFL teams had switched great black quarterbacks to other positions because white leadership didn’t believe in a Black man’s ability to play quarterback. He knew that pro football teams consisted of white southerners that would refuse to follow Black leadership.
But all that didn’t bother Briscoe, because in his heart he believed “a black man could play quarterback as well as any other position.”[2]
And why wouldn’t he?
He was the best quarterback in Nebraska when he starred at Omaha South. And at Omaha University (now the University of Nebraska-Omaha), he was an NAIA All-American in 1967. Although small for a “typical” pro quarterback, Briscoe was blessed with unbelievable athletic ability.
As Gil Brandt, the Dallas Cowboys director of player personnel said, “Marlin has the greatest quickness of any college quarterback we’ve ever seen.” He also added, “He’s as good as any big time quarterback in college right now and just one heck of a football player.”
The New Orleans Saints agreed.
Their scout said, “He’s got the greatest arm I have ever seen on any quarterback—college or pro. He’s the only man I have ever seen who can run to his left and throw the ball right handed through the air with complete accuracy.”[3] That ability was on full display in a game against the Buffalo Bills when the rookie threw for 335 yards and 4 TDs, including a 59-yard bomb where he rolled left and threw right hitting running back Floyd Little to set up a game winning field goal.
Briscoe also believed that pro sports were changing.
“Professional sports are becoming broad-minded,” he said before the 1968 draft. “There are some coaches who are looking for talent, not at the color of skin. I definitely feel I can make it as a quarterback.”[4]
At first, the Denver Broncos weren’t as convinced and selected him in the 14th round to play defensive back. The other Black quarterbacks that draft, Eldridge Dickey (1st round) and Jimmy Raye (16th round), were converted to receiver and defensive back, respectively. Dickey, who many thought would be the first starting Black quarterback, never received a fair shot from the Raiders. But in Denver, with starting quarterback Steve Tensi injured and ineffective to start the season, coach Lou Saban turned to the Magician.
“Go change your uniform,” he said, “you’re going to play quarterback.”[5]
Saban, who warned Marlin about the magnitude of the moment, didn’t have to remind him. Marlin Briscoe knew what it was like being a black man playing quarterback. No matter how good you were, the world would put you in your place. Just ask that white lady sitting in section 306 hurling racial epithets at him as the Broncos battled Miami on October 27 in Denver. She couldn’t stand the sight of a Black man playing quarterback.[6] Thankfully, the cheers drowned out the racism.
That was the game the Magician showcased one of his greatest talents; improv.
With his team trailing 14-0 early in the 2nd half, his coach subbed in Briscoe looking to spark the team. Within 9 minutes, the game was tied at 14. He finished the game with two touchdowns, including the game-winner. On his first touchdown run, he took a called play that was supposed to be a rollout pass to his right, changed directions, and scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown, covering nearly 40 yards with his blazing 4.5 40 speed. Tied at 14, Briscoe led his team on a 75-yard drive, capped off by a quarterback sneak that caught the Dolphins off guard. That play was supposed to be a sweep to the right.
After the game, fans started chanting “We want Marlin, We want Marlin.” He earned AFL Player of the Week. That’s Magic.
In the end, however, that didn’t matter. The Broncos and Lou Saban couldn’t get past his color. Before the start of the 1969 season, they released him. No other team wanted him as a quarterback.
He knew why.
When asked in 1973 about the lack of Black quarterbacks, he answered “It’s definitely racism.”[7]
If he wanted a career in professional football, he had to play wide receiver. Despite never playing the position, he made himself into a top-notch receiver, earning a Pro Bowl nod with the Bills and two championships with the Dolphins.
Yet The Magician couldn’t come up with a trick to break the spell of being a barrier breaker in a racist society.
Martin Luther King Jr., once said of Jackie Robinson, “he was a sit-inner before the sit-ins. He was a freedom rider, before the freedom rides,” for a reason.
Briscoe was thrust into the spotlight during a tumultuous 1968.
The nation was reeling from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, and the riots during the Democratic Convention in Chicago. While in Denver, as Briscoe broke barriers, the city was in the middle of a nasty school integration battle and hosted racist presidential candidate George Wallace. At the end of the football season, one outside observer complained, “The Denver area doesn’t have much use for Negroes. They don’t deserve a man like Briscoe representing the Broncos.”[8]
A decade later, Briscoe would become a drug addict.
Thankfully he got clean, but it was not lost on him that other early pioneers like Eldridge Dickey and Joe Gilliam struggled too. This is important to consider as we celebrate Briscoe’s life and legacy. While players and teams heap praise on him for being a barrier breaker, they omit the fact that his role was tough.
Briscoe knew he had the burden to bear.
Black Americans had been waiting for this moment. As he noted just days before he first played quarterback for the Broncos, “I realize it will be the first, just like Jackie Robinson going into baseball, I’ll have to perform as well.”[9]
There’s no magic potion for this type of pressure. He had to read defenses, elude defenders, and carry the hopes of his race.
Marlin Briscoe is dead now, but what he did in the fall of 1968 will live on forever.
The Magician broke through the illusion that a black man couldn’t play quarterback in the pros.
And that was what was most important to him.
“Being the first gave me a lot of satisfaction, but not just for that reason,” he said in 1968. “Maybe there are great black quarterbacks coming out of college now who won’t get switched. It’s nice knowing you helped.”[10]
Marlin Briscoe ran so other Black quarterbacks could fly, and now he gets to rest.
[1] “Briscoe Blazes Trail for Black of Future,” World-Herald, November 10, 1968.
[2] “Briscoe Blazes Trail for Black of Future,” World-Herald, November 10, 1968.
[3] “Marlin Briscoe Gains Award as State College Athlete of the Year,” World-Herald, January 21, 1968.
[4] “Marlin Briscoe Gains Award as State College Athlete of the Year,” World-Herald, January 21, 1968.
[5] “Briscoe Blazes Trail for Black of Future,” World-Herald, November 10, 1968.
[6] “Many Jokers Silenced,” Denver Post, November 10, 1968.
[7] “The Blackout,” Atlanta Constitution, February 21, 1973.
[8]“Could be Rough,” Omaha World, December 16, 1968.
[9] “Briscoe to Be AFL’s First Negro QB?” Denver Post, September 27, 1968.
[10] “Briscoe Blazes Trail for Black of Future,” World-Herald, November 10, 1968.
This story is brought to you by First and Pen in collaboration with Vanderbilt Sports & Society Initiative. The Vanderbilt Sports & Society Initiative was founded in 2018 by the late Vanderbilt Athletic Director David Williams to study the intersection of sports, race, gender, and politics. Follow the Initiative on Twitter @SportsSocietyVU and subscribe to the weekly e-newsletter by emailing Andrew.J.Maraniss@
