The 2024 NFL season kicks off Thursday night with the reigning two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens.
The game will feature two of the game’s best quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, who also happen to be Black.
The two signal-callers have combined to win four league MVPs (two each), not to mention Mahomes winning Super Bowl MVPs.
As they prepare to take the field, what’s even more amazing is they’ll be just two of an NFL-record 15 Black quarterbacks who’ll get the start this week. It’s something that’s been brewing for years, with 14 starting last year’s season openers.
The influx of melanated signal callers over the last couple of seasons has been a a welcomed sight as well. In 2023, the league saw history as two Black QBs (Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud) were drafted with the top two picks. This year was no different, with Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels doing the same thing. From the looks of it, the black signal-caller is here to stay, and that means everything for the NFL.
Doug Williams Talking Heavy
You can’t talk about Black quarterbacks without speaking of former NFL player Doug Williams. The Grambling State legend owns the distinction of being the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, when he also garnered the Super Bowl MVP trophy.
That was 36 years ago, and since his fateful night in San Diego leading the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 blowout win over the Denver Broncos, Williams has become a sort of pioneer for the generations to follow.
In an interview with Andscape, an elated Williams expounded on what this historic feat means.
“What you have now is that they’re part of the fabric of the game,” Williams said. “When you look across the league today, you see these guys are everywhere, leading their teams to the playoffs, to the Super Bowl, winning awards … it’s just obvious. What you’ve got is a new day. It’s not going back, so everybody needs to get used to it.”
Williams being so bullish about the rise of young Black quarterbacks is something he and James “Shack” Harris, two pioneers always envisioned when they left Grambling State and became household names in the NFL.
Era Of The Black QB
To have nearly half of the Week 1 starters be Black is further proof that the league has indeed shifted a bit. Since 1936 there have been 88 NFL drafts, and in that time frame 31 Black signal-callers have been chosen in the first round, but 19 of those have come since 2011. The only times one wasn’t picked in the past 13 seasons were 2016 and 2022. That’s a credit to the work being put in.
Point blank, they aren’t just considered athletes anymore, like that have so often in the past. Now they’re being looked at quality decision-makers with the ability to retain and process information. Mahomes, who’s considered the cream of the crop, has a chance to rework history books by becoming first quarterback to three-peat in the Super Bowl era.
Even better is three of the top ten 2025 high school recruits are Black quarterbacks, which includes the top two overall.
Further proof that the Black quarterback is here to stay.
