It’s been 35 years since Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. Williams was exceptional in that 42-10 rout of the Denver Broncos in 1988, taking home MVP honors after completing 18 of his 29 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns, with all of his scoring tosses coming during an incredible second-quarter explosion.

It was a watershed moment of affirmation for the plight of the African American quarterbacks who came before him, men who had to fight against ignorance and racism for a chance to play what many call the most difficult position in all of sports.

Playing quarterback was considered off-limits, with over 100 years of racial stereotyping going back to when the NFL was founded in 1920 that said Black men did not have the intelligence, leadership ability or mental fortitude to handle the rigors of the position.

Overt discrimination and racial bias played a huge role in talented players being denied opportunities, and thus America had to wait until Super Bowl XXII, when Williams engineered 35 points in only 18 plays, to see a Black quarterback at the helm of a championship team.

It would take another 26 years before the NFL had another man of color, Russell Wilson with the Seattle Seahawks, lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes followed suit six years later with the Kansas City Chiefs.

As the excitement builds for Sunday’s much-anticipated Super Bowl LVII matchup between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, many have been celebrating the fact that this is the first time on the NFL’s ultimate Sunday that both teams are starting Black quarterbacks: Mahomes and Philly’s Jalen Hurts, both of whom happen to be leading candidates for season MVP honors.

And while it is a cause for celebration, it’s also an opportunity to reflect on the NFL’s sordid history of bias and why it’s taken so long for this moment to arrive. While others are handed opportunities on a silver platter, African American have often had to fight and claw their way toward the chance to prove that they simply belonged.

When the name Warren Moon comes up, you might recall that he was the first Black quarterback elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But what you might not remember is that after leading the University of Washington to a Pac-8 title and a 27-20 upset win over the University of Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl, the rifle-armed signal caller went undrafted by the NFL. He was told that if to have a future in the league, he needed to consider changing positions

Moon had to take his talents to Canada, where he led the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos to five consecutive Grey Cup championships and became the first pro quarterback to pass for over 5,000 yards in a single season. Moon earned his shot at the NFL by amassing 21,228 passing yards and 144 touchdown passes during his six years with Edmonton.

There were many other Warren Moons who were told they didn’t have the capacity to play the position and were forced to find another place on the field if they wanted to be an NFL player. I was fortunate to spend an afternoon with Tony Dungy, the Super Bowl winning coach with the Indianapolis Colts, a few years back, and he personally shared his frustration when coming out of college.

Dungy played quarterback at the University of Minnesota and was disheartened when NFL scouts told him if he wanted to play in the league, he’d have to switch over to defense.

“I felt like I could play quarterback in the NFL and thought I could have been successful if given the opportunity to practice and prepare for the role,” Dungy told me. “But back then, that’s how it was. There were plenty of talented Black quarterbacks who were forced to change positions if they wanted a chance to play in the NFL.”

Those implicit biases are not a thing of the past, either. We only have to go back as far as Lamar Jackson at the NFL combine when he was coming out of the University of Louisville, when some teams insisted that he work out as a wide receiver. The most prominent voice in that discussion was respected former NFL General Manager Bill Polian, who insisted that Jackson had no future as an NFL quarterback.

Appearing on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” show, Polian said Jackson was limited in his accuracy and his build was too slight. When asked what position he should play, Polian said, “I think wide receiver. Exceptional athlete. Exceptional ability to make you miss. Exceptional acceleration. Exceptional instinct with the ball in his hand — and that’s rare for wide receivers,” Polian said. “Name me another one who’s like that. Julio’s [Jones] not like that. This guy is incredible in the open field. Great ability to separate. Short and a little bit slight and clearly, clearly not the thrower the other guys are. The accuracy isn’t there. Don’t wait to make that change. Don’t be like the kid from Ohio State [Terrelle Pryor] and be 29 when you make that change.”

It’s a good thing the Ravens brain trust didn’t succumb to that level of ignorance, because Jackson has been a marvel during his tenure in Baltimore, capturing league MVP honors — the youngest ever to do so — during his second season in the NFL.

As we settle into our seats for the big game on Sunday, let’s take a moment to pay homage to the likes of Fritz Pollard, George Taliaferro, Willie Thrower, Marlin Briscoe, James Harris, Vince Evans and the other trailblazers who opened the door to men like Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, Michael Vick, Steve McNair and others.

And let’s also, as we celebrate this next watershed moment for Black NFL quarterbacks, when Mahomes and Hurts lead their respective squads onto the field, take some time to hold the NFL accountable for the deplorable racism and bias that kept many qualified and rare talents away from the position because they supposedly weren’t smart enough.

It’s great to see Mahomes and Hurts on the big stage together. But the larger question we should be asking is: Why did it take this damn long?

alejandro.danois@thebaltimorebanner.com