Quarterbacks Jordan Love and C.J. Stroud threw darts all over the field in leading their respective teams to wildcard round playoff wins. Stroud led the Houston Texans to a win over the Cleveland Browns with a performance for the ages.
The youngest QB to ever win a postseason game tossed for 260 yards and three TDs in the first half. Love was equally effective in leading the Green Bay Packers to a dominating, 48-32 whipping of the Super Bowl hopeful Dallas Cowboys by going 16-for-21 with 272 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Black Quarterback Is Dead
For much of the NFL’s existence as a professional sports league and more specifically since the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, the lack of Black quarterbacks and the false narratives surrounding signal-callers of color and their cognitive and leadership abilities, has been a thing. Most recently with Lamar Jackson, who some general managers suggested should be a running back instead of the MVP quarterback he is today.
Once a record 14 Black quarterbacks started this 2023 NFL season, which comprised nearly half of the 32-team league, it could no longer be disputed that the overall tone of the NFL toward Black quarterbacks had shifted. Almost to the point where identifying a quarterback by his color has no point.
Love compiled a near-max 157.2 efficiency rate. It was Love’s first playoff win in his first season as a starter. The 26th pick in the 2020 draft sat behind Aaron Rodgers for three seasons and he came in and rocked America’s team.
“Man, Jordan Love, wow,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “That’s about all I can say is, wow.”
Unfortunately, that would be the same reaction if we compared the fits that each quarterback wore in his postgame presser.
C.J. Stroud vs. Jordan Love Was A Fashion No-Contest In Postgame Pressers
Love came out for his postgame press conference in his Green Bay Packers uniform, minus the pads, helmet and jersey. His hair was just wild and unmanicured — which is not an unusual style — but with his sleeveless, Green Bay undershirt, he looked more like the losing quarterback after just stepping off the field.
CJ Stroud on the other hand came out looking like a quarterback that’s ready to become the face of the league. His braids sat neatly, he had a boisterous black and gold Louis Vuitton shirt with an array of images resembling a fleur-de-lis. He had the iced-out gold chain with his 7 pendant sitting prominently on a black T.
Not knocking Love’s choice to come straight from the locker room to the podium. He was probably excited to face the media for a change. It’s been an up-and-down season for the Packers, who are at their highest point coming off the win. But Stroud understood the assignment and executed with his postgame wears.
Both quarterbacks will get a shot to face the media for at least one more postseason game. Let’s see if Love can give us some of fashion flair befitting of a rising star in the NFL. We know he has a stash, but he rarely seems to show it postgame. Staying humble is cool, but it’s OK for the new Packers superstar QB to give us a bit of spice every now and then.
So race isn’t an issue, but fashion still is, and Stroud was definitely more culturally aware than Love in the way he approached his attire for his postgame presser.
Judge Them By The Drip, Not The Skin
Even after Doug Williams became the first Black QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl by tossing a single-game record of 340 passing yards in leading the Washington Redskins to a resounding victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII during the 1987-88 season, the African-American quarterback was still put in a box, in his own category. Judged by ridiculous racial standards as much as ability on the field.
The fact that the next Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl ring came with the unexpected rise of Russell Wilson — almost three decades later in the 2013-14 season — kept the conversation about a lack of opportunities for Black quarterbacks going.
Once Patrick Mahomes hit the scene and took the Kansas City Chiefs to three Super Bowls in four years (2019, 2020, 2022) and won two of them, it was clear that the game had changed.
Mahomes was able to put together a chill ensemble after playing in freezing conditions while leading his Kansas City Chiefs to a blowout win over the Miami Dolphins.
Come To The Podium Correct
With the rise of Black quarterbacks taking the podium on the biggest stages in the game, expect to see the culture of quarterback wear change with it. Some are just a little late to the party.
