Three decades ago Charlie Ward led Florida State to the national title. He became the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner and also won every possible award given at that time to an offensive football player.
Ward would go on to a 10-year professional career. But it wasn’t in his favorite sport, football. Instead, he became a pro basketball player after no team in the NFL deemed him good enough to play quarterback for them.
Flash forward to this season and there are 14 Blacks starting at QB for NFL teams (although one got hurt Sunday and may be out a while).
Some are All-Pros or former MVPs like Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Others are rookies like CJ Stroud in Houston and Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. Some play for good teams, others for bad ones.
In Baltimore the entire QB room, starter, backups, coaches is Black, a league first.
Considering that the top QB prospect in college this year is also Black, USC’s Caleb Williams, also the defending Heisman Trophy winner, that number may increase next season.
This is something that could have happened a long time ago. But for decades, the rigid feeling in NFL circles about QBs reinforced a very obvious racism, though coaches would never come out and say it publicly.
The polite reason given for this was that Black college QBs were such gifted athletes that teams preferred to use their talents in other skill positions like running back and wide receiver.
The impolite (but far more likely) reason was many white coaches felt Black QBs didn’t have the intelligence to read defenses and find open receivers. They felt Black QBs would rather run first and pass second.
Pioneers like Marlin Briscoe and James Harris had to put up with that nonsense. Warren Moon lost valuable years playing in Canada and helping teams win titles before getting a chance at the NFL.
Eldredge Dickey and Joe Gilliam didn’t get fair chances to prove themselves.
But finally Doug Williams won a Super Bowl. Later Russell Wilson won another. Patrick Mahomes has now won two.
Another thing that happened was the ascension of Black QBs in mainstream college ranks. It’s no longer a strange thing to see a Black QB at any major college.
Offensive football now employs the run/pass option across the board, college and pro. Contemporary defensive linemen and linebackers are bigger and faster, and defensive schemes are now designed to maximize the pass rush.
Despite rule changes designed to benefit the offense, mobile QBs are now a necessity, not a luxury.
Certainly passing accuracy remains important, as well as reading defenses. But in today’s football, Offensive coordinators call the plays. Savvy QBs can recognize defensive adjustments and make audible calls to change plays. But athletic ability as a QB has never been more important, and the rise of the Black QB is playing a big role in that as well.
Charlie Ward would be welcome in today’s NFL. Fortunately the racist ignorance that kept him out of the NFL seems to at least lessened, if not completely disappeared.
