Super Bowl 57 is set up to be the first where two Black quarterbacks will face off, with Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes taking center stage. Only three Black QBs have ever won the Super Bowl, one being Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl 54, so he’ll be looking to be the first to win twice.
On Jan. 31, 1988, Super Bowl XXII was played at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
Washington beat Denver, 42-10. Leading the way for Washington was quarterback Doug Williams, who, after passing for 340 yards and 4 touchdowns, was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
But the real story wasn't the statistics or the MVP award, it was Williams himself, or, more specifically, the color of his skin.
At the time, Williams was the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. Twenty-one times before, there had never been a starting Black QB. The 1988 Super Bowl in San Diego was groundbreaking.
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"You gotta look at it, 'cause it was," said Williams earlier this week from his executive office with the Washington Commanders.
"You look at it realistically, it had never happened," Williams said.
Since Williams broke the Super Bowl color barrier, there have been six different Black starting quarterbacks in the games, but never two in the same game. That will change Sunday.
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In Super Bowl LVII, both the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will have Black starting quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes for the Chiefs, Jalen Hurts for the Eagles.
Williams said that, when it comes to two Black starting QBs in the Super Bowl, it's been a long time coming.
"Whichever one of these guys wins is great, but I am just happy to get this over with," Williams said. "We've passed that, just like we passed Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith as two black coaches."
Dungy's Colts and Smith's Bears faced off against each in 2007, the first Super Bowl featuring two Black head coaches.
Williams acknowledges Hurts and Mahomes is progress, but he said that there are still stereotypes of Black quarterbacks that need to be eliminated.
"They don't give you credit for the pocket passing and mentality that it takes to play the game," Williams said. "They just give you the athletic ability because you can run, and I think that's the part we need to get over."
With the Philadelphia-Washington NFC East rivalry still going strong, you might figure Williams will be pulling for Mahomes and the Chiefs, but Williams said he's actually pulling for more progress.
"I'm pulling for whoever wins it, and I'm pulling for the guy that doesn't win it," Willaims said. "I am just glad to see them battle it out on the field."
