In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series ’29 Black Stories in 29 Days.’ We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.
During the 1987 season, Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. It was a remarkable moment. But what’s often forgotten is what happened after that.
It would take 12 years for another Black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. That was Tennessee’s Steve McNair in the 1999 season. That’s a long time. After that it took another five years for a Black quarterback to start in the game and that was Donovan McNabb in the 2004 season. Then Colin Kaepernick started eight years later in 2012.
So from 1987 through the 2011 season there were just three Black starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, meaning 88% of the starting quarterbacks were white and 12% Black.
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Then came a mini-burst of Black Super Bowl starting quarterbacks that was a sort of sparkplug for change. Kaepernick in 2012, Russell Wilson the next two years and Cam Newton in 2015. Black quarterbacks were finally and consistently being viewed more positively (racism is a helluva thing) but still there hasn’t been a Black quarterback that led a dynasty … until now.
We are in the Patrick Mahomes Era. A Black quarterback has a dynastic, championship foothold, something we’ve never seen before. This is Mahomes’ fourth Super Bowl appearance and he’s just 28.
Why is this important? Williams was historic because he broke an original barrier. In a way, Mahomes is breaking through another type of barrier. The barrier of dominance. There hasn’t been a Black quarterback in the conversation as the best quarterback of all time. Not one of but the best. Period.
Warren Moon is perhaps the closest we’ve gotten to that but not even him.
If Mahomes wins this Super Bowl, he’d be 3-1, and the conversation of best QB of all time will be between him and Tom Brady. You are free to argue Joe Montana or John Elway or a few others but I’ll take Mahomes and sleep well at night.
Even if Mahomes loses and goes 2-2 in the Super Bowl, assuming he isn’t catastrophically injured in the future, he’s got bare minimum another five years left, and maybe a decade. You don’t think he’d reach another few Super Bowls over that time? Of course he will.
I think Mahomes will end up being better than Brady (I await the hate mail of Patriots fans) but along the way he will do something else. He’ll break another barrier for Black quarterbacks. The barrier of dominance.