BV Sports | Four Black Quarterbacks You Should Know
Field Generals Keep Black QB Legacy Alive
By Ray Holloman, AOL BlackVoices
It was one of the happiest days of Warren Moon’s career. It was the day his lifelong dream ended.
"I got about as emotional about a football game as I’ve ever been," Moon says. "First, because my goal was to be the first black quarterback in the Super Bowl and win it. But second because I knew it was more important that it happen regardless of who did it. Doug did it and it made me incredibly proud. Watching him come off the field and being announced as the most valuable player … right there I knew a lot of things were broken down."
Moon played 17 seasons in the NFL and finished his career among the top five all-time in completions and touchdowns, yet he never once played in the Super Bowl. But now, as a founding member of the Field Generals, he’ll guarantee that no one else forgets that Doug Williams did.
Founded by Moon, Williams, Marlin Briscoe, James Harris, Randall Cunningham and Vince Evans, the Field Generals seeks to teach and preserve the history of the African-American quarterback, promoting the memory of pioneers like Willie Thrower. They want to prove that despite what advertising might tell you, black quarterbacks didn’t start with Michael Vick.
In its earliest iteration, it was a tribute to Joe Gilliam, the former Tennessee State and Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback who died of an apparent heart attack Dec. 25, 2000.
"Twenty-two of us showed up [for the Gilliam fund-raiser]," Moon says. "It was the first time we were all together like that. There was an immediate feeling of camaraderie. The younger guys were able to meet some of the older guys they had only heard about, the older guys met the younger guys they watched play."
The impromptu reunion quickly developed into a more tactile expression of that camaraderie. Fittingly, the birth of the Field Generals was at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, which may be the only place in the world that has sent more objects into the air than the trio that sat on the concourse that day. On that day, Williams, Harris and Moon first kicked around the idea that would become the Field Generals.
"We just said we need to keep this thing going," Moon recalls "We need to get together at least once a year. I thought we could do positive things as well. More and more guys are becoming successful in this league and we can teach them what we’ve learned as a black athlete at the quarterback position."
And just like the challenges their on-field brothers faced years before, the Field Generals are out to prove that African Americans have the leadership skills to be a quarterback even if they never pick up a football.
"We want to bring it into the community and help black kids, not just quarterbacks," Moon says, "We want to take this into our communities and get kids into leadership positions, because that’s what being a quarterback really is, a leader."
While African-American quarterbacks have come a long way since the days of Thrower or Briscoe or even Moon, they’re still a long way from first-and-goal.
"I think for Donovan [McNabb] and guys of today, it’s a lot easier to be accepted," Moon says. "Guys like Doug Williams broke the ice. They broke stereotypes that blacks couldn’t lead. But then people said he was just a product of good team. It may not be as significant as it was 10 or 15 years ago, but the success of black quarterbacks helps bring down stereotypes, remove excuses.
"But where I think the biggest strides have been made is not the star quarterback, but the project quarterback that teams are now willing to take on and groom him. It’s the same with backups. We’ve seen older guys become backups, which is historically a position for intelligent, older guys to come in and make big plays when needed. So while it doesn’t get as much attention, that’s where we’re really seeing progress, not just with the stars."
Although it has long been the last great color line in all sports, the myth of the black quarterback as an unworthy leader is fading into the backwaters of cultural reference. No longer a curiosity, black quarterbacks have developed into citywide faces and organizational focal points.
"What goes along with being a quarterback in the NFL, isn’t just being a leader on the field, it’s being a leader in the community and a face of the organization," Moon says. "Now it’s much more accepted. Owners want to introduce their quarterback, show them off to the upper echelon of society. That’s accepted now."
Accepted, but the Field Generals will remind just how great the price of admission was.