Legacy of Black QBs on the Raiders and in the NFL

Legacy of Black QBs on the Raiders and in the NFL

Black QBs in the Super Bowl era

In the Super Bowl era, we have had plenty of Black starting quarterbacks in the NFL but only 24 have been lucky enough to start a playoff game for their teams. In 1974, James Harris became the first black quarterback to start and win an NFL playoff game and did so with the LA Rams.

Harris is also notable for being the first Black QB to enter a season as the team’s starter because he and Briscoe both won their jobs after the season had begun.

We had to wait all the way until Super Bowl 22 in 1988 for a Black quarterback to start and that was Doug Williams of the then-Washington Redskins. We had to wait another 12 years after that for Steve McNair to make it with the Tennessee Titans in 2000.

Since then it has become a more regular occurrence with the likes of Donovan McNabb, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson twice, Patrick Mahomes three times, and now Jalen Hurts.

Warren Moon, another notable historical figure in this context, made seven playoff appearances and was the first Black quarterback elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During his NFL career, he was the first Black quarterback on four different teams.

Despite a great college career with the Washington Huskies, Moon had to prove himself in the CFL, winning five Grey Cups, before getting a true shot in the NFL. He played 17 years in the league and his name is firmly etched in the record books, but he could have had an even more impressive career if he didn’t have to wait until he was 28 to play in the NFL.

In the long history of the NFL, we’ve only had four Black quarterbacks voted as league MVPs and three of them were in the last 10 years.  Steve McNair was the first in 2003 and he had to share the honor with Peyton Manning but in the last 10 years we had Cam Newton in 2015, Patrick Mahomes in 2018, Lamar Jackson in 2019, and likely either Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts in 2022.