National Football League

Warren Moon, James Harris celebrate history as 2 Black QBs face off in Super Bowl

Updated Feb. 3, 2023 9:14 a.m. ET

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Eric Williams

NFC West Reporter

From his home in Seattle, Warren Moon had just finished watching Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game when it dawned on him: Two Black quarterbacks — Mahomes and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles — would square off in the Super Bowl for the first time in league history. 

"I'm like, wait a minute, this is history right now," said Moon, the lone Black quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "This is the first time this has ever happened. Immediately, I just got really proud and said, ‘This is big time, that two young guys are going to be leading their organizations into the biggest game, not only in the football season, but probably the biggest game in sports.’ And the whole world is going to get a chance to see that. It's so significant. It's something that you wish you didn't have to keep talking about, but it is significant because it's the first time. 

"And because of the history of it all, from when I started playing the game the stigma was we couldn't lead a team to the championship. That we couldn't be thinkers. That we couldn't be decision-makers. You couldn't be the face of a franchise. You've got all these African-American quarterbacks thriving now, and we've got two in the biggest game of the year." 

Mahomes and Hurts face off in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Arizona (6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). 

"To be on the world stage and have two Black quarterbacks start in the Super Bowl, I think it’s special," Mahomes said. "I’ve learned more and more about the history of Black quarterbacks since I’ve been in the league, and the guys that came before me and Jalen set the stage for this. And now I’m just glad we can kind of set the stage for kids that are coming up now." 

Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, in 1988 for Washington in Super Bowl XXII. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were the first Black head coaches in a Super Bowl, a win for Dungy's Indianapolis Colts in 2006. Following Williams, Russell Wilson was the second Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, with the Seattle Seahawks after the 2013 season. 

An NFL-record 21 Black quarterbacks took at least one snap for teams this season, but only four Black head coaches worked the sideline. Two were let go after the season: Houston's Lovie Smith and Carolina's Steve Wilks. The Texans recently hired San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to replace Smith. 

Moon served as a mentor for Wilson during his time in Seattle, something Moon believed was important because he had no one to lean on in that regard during his playing career. 

"That's what I always wanted to be once I left the game," Moon said. "I experienced so much when I played. I really didn't have anyone to mentor me when I was playing because there just wasn't that many of us. James ‘Shack’ Harris I met later on. Marlin Briscoe the same. Joe Gilliam had passed. I wish I would have had people I could have leaned on when I was playing the game, but I didn't because the numbers just weren't there." 

Harris, the first Black quarterback to start a season-opening game (1969 with the Bills) and an NFL playoff game (1974 with the Rams), said he reached out to his good friend Williams for a congratulatory conversation after the Super Bowl matchup was determined last weekend.

"We talked and kind of just enjoyed it," Harris said. "I was excited for a good game. Excited for two Black players getting the opportunity to play quarterback, and two of the better players at their position."

Harris said Black quarterbacks are emerging because they are getting more opportunities to play the position in high school instead of being moved to other positions. Staying at QB leads to a chance to continue to develop in college and ultimately land in the NFL. 

James Harris played for the Rams for four years and led the team to a divisional-round win over Washington in the 1974 playoffs. (Photo by Nate Fine/Getty Images)

Moon has also noticed another trend: developmental Black quarterbacks being signed onto the back end of rosters as prospects. 

"If they can play the game, we don't care what color they are, as long as they can help us win," Moon said. "There's always going to be that one owner or whatever that might not believe that, but for the most part I think many of the owners feel like, if the guy is good enough, let's make him our guy. And I'm hoping it improves more on the head coaching side of it. 

"But on the quarterback side of it, I think you see guys not only getting opportunities to be high draft picks, but you also see teams taking younger African-American guys in the later rounds, where they are going to develop those guys. And that shows they really have faith in them, because they are going to put the time and money into training them, to make them better for the future."

Mahomes and Hurts are two of the most accomplished players in the league. Mahomes led the NFL during the regular season in passing yards (5,250) and passing touchdowns (41) and is a front-runner to win his second MVP award. Mahomes has led Kansas City to five straight AFC Championship Games and three Super Bowl appearances since taking over as the starter in 2018. 

In his third season, Hurts had a breakthrough year with the Eagles, completing 66.5% of his passes for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns during the regular season, good for a 101.5 passer rating. He also rushed for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns.

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Moon says he's hopeful the league is reaching a point where two Black quarterbacks facing off in the Super Bowl doesn't warrant a headline. 

"We're kind of running out of firsts," Moon said. "This is the first time that it's ever happened. I don't know how many more firsts there can be, as far as the quarterback position because we've done pretty much everything. We've won MVPs and Super Bowls. So yeah, I think we're running out of reasons why we need to talk about this anymore. 

"And that's fine with me, because that shows that we've arrived. And hopefully we can be judged by how we play quarterback, and nothing else." 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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