When Doug Williams walked off the field victorious at Jack Murphy Stadium after a 42-10 beat down over John Elway and the Denver Broncos 35 years ago, he headed for one man; Eddie Robinson.
Together, the two of them, player and coach, made history.
Williams broke barriers by becoming the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl. But Robinson, his legendary coach at Grambling, made the moment possible.
The coaching icon was a racial optimist who believed that a successful Black pro quarterback could ease integration across the nation. With every passing touchdown, Black leadership and intelligence would be proven and terrible tropes would dissipate.
This wasn’t about Robinson’s ego. This was about America’s heart and Williams’s victory was just the beginning.
In the last thirty-five years, we have witnessed other memorable and historical Black moments in Super Bowl history. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith becoming the first two Black head coaches to face off. Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb and Colin Kaepernick coming up just short in their quest to be only the second Black QB to win a Super Bowl. Russell Wilson accomplishing that feat in 2014, and Patrick Mahomes’ thrilling victory over the 49ers.
But what we’re about to witness at SB LVII, where two Black starting quarterbacks will face off for the first time in Super Bowl history, manifests a sight Black football fans have been dreaming about for decades.
Yet none of those moments would be possible without Eddie Robinson.
And when Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts meet Sunday night, they will be stepping through a door that Robinson pried open sixty years ago.
Eddie Robinson’s Quest
In the middle of the civil rights movement, Eddie Robinson set out to change professional football.
He wanted to develop a professional Black quarterback, one so good that the pros could not use one of their familiar and lazy excuses to deny him an opportunity. In the past, the pros claimed the Black quarterback couldn’t lead. They couldn’t read defenses, learn a playbook, throw accurate passes, or communicate effectively with teammates.
Why waste your time on developing a Black quarterback that might not pan out, some asked, when you could play him right away at another position? Merit mattered, but a man’s color counted more. For the Black quarterback, there was a special equation.
Quarterback + Black = Cornerback.
Robinson, however, remained unfettered.
At Grambling, he modified his run-oriented offense to become more pro-oriented. He integrated long bombs and recruited quarterbacks that fit the mold of a pro quarterback.
And to further eliminate doubt, Robinson told his guys not to run. That’s why we have running backs, he’d tell his field generals. Over the years, Robinson produced great ones like James Harris, Matthew Reed, and Doug Williams. While Harris got his shot, Matthew Reed’s 4.5 forty had NFL teams trying to move him to tight end.
Then came Doug Williams, the best of the bunch.
Doug Williams Cometh
Called the Rifleman, the Grambling Gunner, and the Bayou Bullet, Williams entered the NFL in 1978 as the best college quarterback ever.
“Doug Williams,” Robinson said, “walks the earth holding the distinction of having thrown more touchdowns in four years than any man in organized football.”
Like Patrick Mahomes, Williams could put the ball anywhere he wanted. Yet doubts still lingered.
Could he read the defenses? Could he throw with touch and accuracy? Could he lead? Would white fans embrace a black quarterback?
Doug had all the pressures of being a trailblazing Black quarterback while having to lead a Tampa franchise that went 2-26 in their first two seasons. He did his best to dodge questions about race and symbolism. He was Black, yes, but he played for the Buccaneers.
Deep down inside his soul, however, he also knew that he played for Black America.
Yet despite the hate mail, the racist fandom, and the constant media critiques, Williams led the Bucs to the NFC championship in just two years. Every time he stayed in the pocket, stared down the defense, and unleashed a bomb with his quick trigger, he opened the door just a little bit more for another Black quarterback.
In just his second season, he played in one of the most important games in league history.
On September 30, 1979, his Buccaneers landed in Chicago to take on Vince Evans and the Chicago Bears. It was the first time two Black quarterbacks started against each other in a regular season game. The media tried to downplay the significance of the moment, one writer stating, “The most interesting thing about it is that nobody seems to care.”
But there was no denying that this game mattered.
It mattered for young Black quarterbacks.
It mattered for the future of the league.
Doug Williams and Vince Evans
While Williams was made in the mold of a classic pro quarterback, Evans built himself out of the scraps the league said they didn’t want. A single-wing quarterback in high school and a rollout quarterback in college coming out of USC in 1977 with a 4.5 forty, the league told Evans to switch positions.
But he refused.
Evans represented a generation of young Black men that would no longer let the league dictate their quarterbacking future. It was quarterback or bust. He had the Bears put it in writing. He was a quarterback only, and if they wanted to switch his position, they had to ask Evans.
Vince Evans made Jalen Hurts possible. It didn’t matter that Evans lacked touch. It didn’t matter that he threw the ball without holding the laces. Evans was determined to be a quarterback, so he made himself a quarterback. The Bears let him develop, demonstrating that if a team chose patience over prejudice more Black quarterbacks would get a legit chance.
While Williams and the Bucs left Chicago with a victory that day, he left Evans with a message, “Tell him to keep it in the league, add some more to it. There’s only a few of us.”
The message was clear. Black quarterbacks had to build a future for Black quarterbacks.
Nearly a decade later, as Williams walked off the Super Bowl field triumphant, he was still playing for the brothers to get a chance.
Since Williams and Evans had their first battle in 1979, the total current number of Black quarterbacks had only increased by one. Evans was still around with the Raiders, but now they were joined by superstars Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon. Williams, well-schooled by Robinson, understood what this moment meant to them and all of the future Black quarterbacks.
“I never had an opportunity to watch a black quarterback in the Super Bowl, but now I think players like Don McPherson (Syracuse) and Rodney Peete (USC) and all the others see they have the opportunity. They see doors are open,” said Williams.
Mahomes, Hurts and Super Bowl LVII
Thirty-five years after Williams’ victory, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have completed Robinson’s Black QB mission.
In 1974, Robinson made a bold prediction; he said that within a decade half of the starting quarterbacks would be Black. With more Black quarterbacks playing in college, Robinson assumed that the pros move past their prejudices.
He was right in relation to Mahomes, but wrong when it comes to Hurts.
For far too long pundits, GMs, and coaches have looked at quarterbacks like Hurts and suggested they switch positions. But like Vince Evans, Hurts believed in his own abilities more than he did stereotypes about Black quarterbacks. The Eagles built around his talents and Hurts rewarded them by leading Philadelphia to Super Bowl LVII.
Like Williams did thirty-five years prior, Hurts will have to carry the heavy burden of opening the door for others. Win or lose, this time the NFL better be on the other end holding the door.
