Super Bowl Special: The First Black QB in the Super Bowl (feat. Doug Williams)

Sports History This Week

January 31, 1988. Quarterback Doug Williams steps onto the field in San Diego, California for the biggest game of his life. He's moments away from leading Washington into Super Bowl XXII against the John Elway-led Denver Broncos.

Today, Doug Williams becomes the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. Can he win it, too? His breakthrough has paved the way for Super Bowl LVII, where two Black quarterbacks—Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes—will face off for the first time in championship history in 2023.

We ask a roundtable of experts: why have Black quarterbacks been a rarity throughout the history of pro football? And in a conversation with Doug Williams himself, what does it mean to be a pioneer for so many Black quarterbacks to come?

Special thanks to our guests Kenneth Shropshire, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School; Bill Carroll, assistant director at the Family Legacy Foundation; Cyrus Mehri, civil rights attorney and co-founder of the Fritz Pollard Alliance; and Doug Williams, former NFL quarterback and longtime NFL personnel executive.

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