The Giants, on the other hand, have had black quarterbacks. Since then, they've signed Anthony Wright and selected Andre Woodson. Wright completed seven passes in 2007, but Woodson was never given the opportunity during his brief tenure with the organization. You'll notice something if you look around the league...the only black quarterbacks who have success are ones who play for minority-owned teams. If the Giants were owned by a black person, maybe they would have kept one already.
In conclusion, the only thing black about Eli Manning is that he's white/Hispanic. He's not even really black.
Over the course of their 100-year history, the Bears have had just a few black quarterbacks. Fields is just the franchise's second black quarterback draft pick, and the first since Vince Evans in 1977. Prior to that, the last black quarterback was Ron McBride who played for the team from 1963 to 1967. He died at the age of 36 after suffering multiple brain injuries in a car accident.
Evans finished his one-season career with the Bears with 754 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also ran for two more scores while serving as the backup to Mike Phipps during their loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Championship Game.
Phipps started eight games for the Bears in 1977 and went 3-4 as a starter. He threw for 1,366 yards, nine touchdowns, and seven interceptions while being sacked 42 times. He ended up losing out on a chance to play in the NFL Championship game when he suffered an injury late in the fourth quarter of the finale against the Dallas Cowboys.
That year, the Bears drafted Evans with their first-round pick (sixth overall). He went on to appear in three games for them in 1978 before finishing his career with the New York Jets. There, he started five games in 1979 before being released by the team at the end of the season.
The New York Giants are the final NFL team without an African-American quarterback (Amber Matsumoto). The first black quarterback in the NFL was Jackie Robinson, who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. There have been several other black quarterbacks in the league since then, but no more recent examples.
The last black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl was Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns in 1966. He was also considered one of the best running backs in football at the time. The Baltimore Colts had the only other black quarterback in the Super Bowl at that time: Johnny Unitas.
In 1978, Larry Csonka and Fred Biletnikoff were the only black players on any NFL team. Since then, almost every other black player has been a running back. The last regular season game with a black quarterback was in 2002, when Doug Williams played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The last post-season game was in 2008, when Sage Rosenfels led the St. Louis Rams to a victory over the Chicago Bears.
There have been several notable black quarterbacks in NFL history including Earl Morrall, Kenny O'Brien, Don McLean, Ken O'Brien, Doug Williams, Aaron Murray, and Colin Kaepernick.
Ten of the league's 32 starting quarterbacks were black at the start of the 2020 NFL season, the most in a single week in NFL history. First and foremost by team (Super Bowl era)
| No. | 32 |
|---|---|
| Date | December 3, 2017 |
| Team | New York Giants |
| Quarterback | Geno Smith |
Only two black starting quarterbacks have won Super Bowls to date: Doug Williams with the Redskins and Patrick Mahomes (mixed race, I believe) with the Chiefs last year. Another man of color, Jim Plunkett, won a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback with the Raiders. He's not considered black because his skin was white.
There have been other black quarterbacks who have played in Super Bowls. They include Ken O'Brien, Kenny Albert, Jeff Hostetler, Aaron Rodgers, and Mahomes. All but O'Brien were members of the Washington team that Williams led to victory over the San Francisco 49ers in 1989. That's one of only two undefeated teams to ever meet in the Super Bowl, the other being the 1986 Miami Dolphins.
So, there have been two black quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls. Both played for teams that were composed primarily of white players. One of them is considered white too because he had white skin. That's not very many black people who have won the Super Bowl as quarterbacks!
Here's a list of all the black quarterbacks who have been given opportunities to play in the NFL postseason up until now:
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
Evans, Vince Vince Evans made history by becoming the Bears' first black starting quarterback. Vince Evans took a stance when it came time to negotiate his contract with the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him in the sixth round in 1977. With the strike looming, the Bears were looking for ways to save money, so they offered Evans a deal he couldn't refuse: $15,000 for the season. Evans refused to report without a new contract, and the season was canceled. The next year, the league approved the formation of a rookie players association. In order to get around their leader, the Bears decided to go with another rookie as their starter.
Evans finished with two touchdowns against eight interceptions in three games played. He also attempted one pass which was intercepted. Evans' absence turned out to be beneficial for the Bears as they went on to win the Super Bowl. After the season, Evans signed with the New York Jets for $125,000 over two years. He never played a down for the Jets due to a knee injury that ended his career.
Even though Evans didn't last long in Chicago, he did play well enough to earn himself a spot on the All-Rookie Team. He was also the only Bear to start all three games during the 1977 season.
Aaron Brooks and Jeff Blake discuss the Saints' quarterback position's tumultuous past. In honor of Black History Month, John DeShazier looks back at the Saints' first two black quarterbacks, Jeff Blake and Aaron Brooks.
The first black quarterback for the New Orleans Saints was Jeff Blake. Born in Mississippi, he played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU). He was drafted by the Saints in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. Over the course of his career, Blake appeared in 40 games for the Saints, starting eight of them. He completed 156 of 265 passes for 1,812 yards with 13 touchdowns vs. nine interceptions. He also ran for three scores. His best season was 2004 when he started 12 games for the Saints and finished with 2,894 yards passing and 14 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions. He ended up winning the Saints' Most Valuable Player Award that year. After leaving the Saints as a free agent following the 2005 season, he signed with the Miami Dolphins. There, he reunited with former LSU coach Nick Saban who was then the Dolphins' head coach. The two had previously worked together on LSU's 1999 National Championship team. Blake died of a heart attack at age 29.
After Blake, there was no clear-cut choice for the next black quarterback of the Saints.
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