McNabb is third Black quarterback in the Super Bowl

By Donald HuntSpecial to the NNPA from the Philadelphia Tribune PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) — When Donovan McNabb helped the Philadelphia Eagles overcome the albatross of losing three consecutive NFC championships by defeating the Atlanta Falcons, he immediately catapulted himself into the national spotlight. McNabb will be just the third Black quarterback in 39 years to play in a Super Bowl game as a starter. Even before Sunday’s title game, the match-up between McNabb and Atlanta’s Black quarterback, Michael Vick, meant the NFL was definitely going to have an African-American quarterback in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla., on Feb. 6. McNabb will have the honor of taking his place in history. With the Super Bowl being played in February, this accomplishment is quite noteworthy for Black History Month. McNabb saw this moment coming last week, and he was well aware of the progress Blacks have made at this position. “This is an opportunity for an African-American quarterback to represent in the Super Bowl,” he said. “We’ve kind of stepped over the negative steppingstone of people saying an African-American quarterback can’t lead his team to a Super Bowl. It hasn’t happened since Steve McNair.” McNair led the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV against the St. Louis Rams on Jan. 30, 2000. Tennessee came within an eyelash of defeating the Rams. McNair completed 22 of 36 passes for 214 yards and ran for another 74 yards in his only Super Bowl appearance. He hit wide receiver Kevin Dyson with a 10-yard pass, but Dyson was tackled just inches away from a touchdown that would have won the game as time expired, giving the Rams a 23-16 victory. A year ago, McNair had his best season, sharing co-MVP honors with Indianapolis Colts star Peyton Manning. The Titans quarterback missed most of this season with a bruised sternum. Doug Williams was the first Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Williams had the greatest day of his pro career when he led the Redskins to a 42-10 romp over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII on Jan. 31, 1988. He set four Super Bowl records – most yards passing in a game (340), most yards in a quarter (228), most TD passes (4) and longest completion (80 yards). There are 90 quarterbacks in the National Football League. Sixteen of them are Black. The starting quarterbacks who are African-American include: Daunte Culpepper (Minnesota Vikings), Aaron Brooks (New Orleans Saints), Bryon Leftwich (Jacksonville Jaguars), Vick, McNabb and McNair. The Jaguars have three Black quarterbacks – Leftwich, David Garrard and Quinn Gray. This season was the first time in NFL history that all of one team’s quarterbacks were Black. And now, with McNabb going to the Super Bowl, this has been a historic season for African-American quarterbacks.