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 after the 1987 season.
Now, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts will be the first black QBs to meet in a Super Bowl.
It’s fitting that a season that began with 11 Black QBs as of Week 1 ends with a historic matchup.
Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Kansas City Chiefs to a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on February 12. Hurts is bidding 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.
Everyone had to overcome stereotypes to get to this point.
Jackson said he was asked by a Los Angeles Chargers scout 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 the 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 change positions, he 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-round quarterback after he was taken by the Eagles 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 at quarterback for Philadelphia.
He clearly hasn’t forgotten that the decision to select him in the second round of the 2020 draft was heavily criticized by reporters and fans.
“In my first year here, (people) probably didn’t even want to recruit me here,” Hurts said Sunday. “It was probably one of those things. But it always manages itself.”
Neither Hurts nor Mahomes celebrated their conference championship wins too much. The main objective is still ahead. Each one wants one more win.
Hurts puffed on a victory cigar after the Eagles defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 but he showed little emotion, as usual, in his postgame press conference.
“I really don’t know how to feel to be honest. You work so hard to put yourself in this position and I will be forever grateful,” Hurts said. “God only knows what each individual on this team has been able to overcome for us to come together as a team and do something special as a group. That’s what it means the most. I always want to go out and do my best no matter what’s going on because I don’t want to let down the one next to me. That makes us all try harder.”
Hurts, a finalist along with Mahomes for AP NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, missed two games late in the season with a shoulder injury. The Eagles haven’t had to lean on him in two lopsided playoff victories. He has just 275 passing yards and two TDs to go along with 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“I know I’ve been through a lot personally, but I don’t want to veer from the direction of how good this team has been playing together, being together and challenging each other,” Hurts said. “When we go through painful moments and difficult moments, we always find a way to overcome them. You want to go into a situation like this, and we have an opportunity to go out there and win it all, so we want to prepare to do that.”
Mahomes battled through an ankle injury to help the The Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to advance to his third Super Bowl appearance in four years.
He had no intention of lighting a victory cigar after a hard-fought victory.
“I don’t think we’ll have cigars, but we’ll be ready to go to the Super Bowl,” Mahomes said, mocking Joe Burrow’s penchant for smoking them after big wins.
Only a QB can win the Super Bowl. Whether it’s Hurts or Mahomes, it’s another win for black QBs who were overlooked over the years.
