The Athletic has live coverage of the Super Bowl halftime performance featuring Kendrick Lamar.
NEW ORLEANS — History will repeat itself on Sunday.
For only the second time, two Black quarterbacks will face off on the NFL’s biggest stage, the Super Bowl. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts reunite two years after they first achieved the feat, which at one point in the league’s dark history seemed impossible.
This time, Mahomes, 29, and Hurts, 26, meet with far lesser fanfare. Two years ago, each fielded repeated questions about the significance of their historic meeting, which took place 35 years after Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Now, although reporters from all over the world peppered them with questions about every topic imaginable, the two scarcely heard mention of this moment in Black history.
“It’s not mentioned as much now,” Hurts said Thursday when asked about the reunion with Mahomes. “It’s history again.”
Why is this meeting an afterthought? With the barrier broken, is such an accomplishment now taken for granted? Or should we take the minimal mention as a sign that after generations of heartbreak, the Black quarterback has finally achieved the only thing he ever wanted: to be viewed not as a Black man trying to prove he could play the game’s premier position, but as a field general who just happened to be Black?
“It still has significance,” Mahomes said.
Don’t tell Williams or other Black quarterback pioneers like Shack Harris, Vince Evans or Warren Moon that Sunday’s meeting no longer matters. Or Tony Dungy, Brian Mitchell and countless other outstanding college quarterbacks who were forced to play other positions in the NFL. And don’t try to diminish the moment for all of the young quarterbacks who look like and idolize Mahomes and Hurts.
“You embrace the opportunity,” Hurts said. “Embrace that stage, knowing that torch you carry. I literally just got a text from someone that is a Black quarterback aspiring professionally, talking about us leading the way and paving the way for the young Black kings coming up, and that means a lot because I know someone — everybody — is always watching.”
As was the case two years ago, this Hurts-Mahomes showdown represents a celebration of triumph. Today’s signal caller of color has reached the mountaintop. And as racial equality remains a very real problem on other fronts in the league, team owners and decision-makers would do well to learn from the lessons found in the evolution of the Black quarterback.
Sure, Hurts and Mahomes still experience criticism that makes little sense and can carry racial undertones. But the notion that Black quarterbacks couldn’t learn sophisticated offenses or read complex defensive coverages has long gone out the window. Hurts is playing for his fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons yet has responded by posting career-high completion percentages and passer ratings. And Mahomes is a wizard at the center of one of the most creative attacks in the game.
GO DEEPER
NFL coaches pick the Super Bowl: Eagles better on paper, but is Mahomes the difference?
As the 2024 season began, 15 of the league’s 32 starting quarterbacks were Black. Three of the four quarterbacks in the conference championship games were Black. Lamar Jackson was an MVP candidate and became the first quarterback in league history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 800 in the same season. Caleb Williams this season became the sixth Black quarterback and second in as many years to go first overall. Jayden Daniels, the 2024 No. 2 pick, dazzled as Offensive Rookie of the Year and the catalyst for Washington’s revival. Seven of the 13 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league are Black.
Quarterbacks of color at last are fully on equal footing with their White brethren, and Mahomes sees his meeting with Hurts as the reminder of an invaluable lesson for the NFL and for society.
“You want to showcase what we can do on the football field: throwing, running — whatever it takes to win football games,” he said Thursday. “And you’ve seen that kind of already, given the push forward in the NFL, where I think almost half the starting quarterbacks are Black. And so one big thing is, it showcases that if you give guys chances as coaches, quarterback, whatever it is — and in any profession, that we’re gonna go out there and execute at a very high level.”
There’s now a stark contrast between the way the NFL views quarterbacks of color and coaches and general managers of color. While Black quarterbacks are now fully embraced, the struggle remains for those of color who aspire to be head coaches, coordinators and general managers.
It’s still one-step-forward, two-steps-back for people of color striving to obtain — and hold onto — leadership positions in pro football. The number of Black coaches and executives spikes slowly and then plunges rapidly. There remains a hesitancy among owners and team presidents to entrust Black men with the running of their teams. And when teams do hire a person of color to one of those roles, those men don’t receive the same wholehearted support, investment and patience as White coaches or lead talent evaluators.
GO DEEPER
NFL to remove ‘End Racism’ messaging in end zone ahead of Super Bowl: Sources
This winter, the Titans fired general manager Ran Carthon after just two seasons. He acquired quality talent through the draft and free agency, yet Tennessee struggled as first-year head coach Brian Callahan worked through growing pains.
The New England Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after just one season despite acknowledgement from owner Robert Kraft that the rookie head coach didn’t have the talent and support necessary to succeed. Kraft then conducted what many around the NFL viewed as a sham hiring process — interviewing two out-of-work Black coaching candidates, Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton, to check the Rooney Rule box as quickly as possible so he could then hire top choice Mike Vrabel. Multiple assistant coaches around the league have expressed hesitancy to continue to accept invitations for interviews they suspect are simply fulfilling Rooney Rule requirements.
The Las Vegas Raiders fired Antonio Pierce after just one season of working with a talent-deficient roster. Pierce, like Mayo, didn’t receive time to grow into his role. And now, the former linebackers — both heralded at their hirings for strong leadership skills — likely will not receive another head coaching opportunity for some time, if ever. Second chances are far more difficult to come by for minorities in the NFL.
Black quarterbacks of old certainly can relate to the pain and frustrations today’s aspiring Black coaches and general managers experience. Some never received their deserved opportunities. Others saw their careers cut short due to a lack of support and patience.
But then things finally changed. Eventually NFL organizations and coaches realized Black quarterback prospects had just as much to offer. They worked to compose development plans and situations that capitalized on the quarterbacks’ strengths and skill sets while helping them overcome areas of deficiency. The payoff has been revolutionary offenses that confound defensive masterminds and create franchise-transforming successes.
Will we ever see the same for coaches and talent evaluators of color?
In his Super Bowl week news conference, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell declared an ongoing commitment to diversity and professed a belief that “diversity efforts have led to making the NFL better. … We always win on the field with the best talent and the best coaching, and I think the same is true off the field also.”
There’s a disconnect between the commissioner’s words and the actions of the owners, who may follow the letter of the NFL’s diversity efforts but not the spirit of those initiatives. In so doing, the lack of genuine commitment limits their teams and the league, just as the old narrow-minded thinking about Black quarterbacks did for generations. A removal of biases and prejudices around leadership positions could improve the league similarly, Hurts believes.
“Just thinking about leadership, thinking about those abilities and being able to lead a group of men, that was something that people didn’t think that a person like myself was capable of,” he said when asked about the parallels between the plight of the Black quarterback and that of coaches and general managers. “Now, there are certainly barriers you still try to overcome, but it’s a blessing and it’s an opportunity that you don’t take lightly.”
As they face off on Sunday, perhaps Hurts and Mahomes can serve as symbols of hope, not only for current and future quarterbacks, but also people of color aspiring to NFL leadership positions.
A long and painful road navigated by resilience and determination has led Black quarterbacks to the pinnacle on which they now stand. Maybe one day we’ll finally witness and celebrate similar equality for the NFL’s head coaches and lead executives.
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photo: Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Article by:Source:
