Blacks star as quarterbacks: in the National Football League

Jet, Nov 13, 1995 by Dobie Holland

The most rare and precious commodity in the National Football League (NFL) has to be the Black quarterback.

Despite their small numbers (6), Blacks have managed to carve a niche, and some have even become stars in the league.

Thanks to current NFL signal-callers such as Warren Moon of the Minnesota Vikings, Randall Cunningham and Rodney Peete of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeff Blake of the Cincinnati Bengals, Vince Evans of the Oakland Raiders and Steve McNair of the Houston Oilers, Blacks are slowly pushing the envelope of racial tolerance and succeeding in what many call the most important position on the team.

"I knew I could play in the NFL. I always wondered if I would ever get the opportunity," Moon told JET in a telephone interview from the Vkings' training facility in Eden Prairie, MN.

Moon is the first quarter-back--of any race--to pass for more than 60,000 yards in his career.

He was able to break into the NFL only after leading the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to six consecutive Grey Cup Championships.

Since Moon entered the NFL in 1984 with the Houston Oilers, he has consistently been one of the league's highest-rated passers.

The 38-year-old, 18-year veteran adds that his proven success as a Black Q.B. hasn't provided an equal opportunity for Blacks in the league.

"I think we need more opportunities," Moon said. "There should be more opportunities for Black quarterbacks. That's my biggest criticism of the league."

Blake, who recently signed a four-year, $12.4 million deal with the Bengals, reiterated Moon's assertion.

"At this point in time, there are not enough starters or backup Black quarterbacks in the NFL," Blake told JET.

Of the six Black quarterbacks currently in the NFL, Moon, Blake and Peete are regular starters.

Evans, the NFL's oldest quarterback at age 40, recently passed for 353 yards in a start for Raiders' injured Q.B. Jeff Hostetler. They won 30-17 over the Indianapolis Colts.

Blake, 24, out of East Carolina, avoided playing wide receiver or running back at a larger big-name college for the sole purpose of playing quarterback. His gamble and hard work have paid off.

"It's the only position I've ever played," Blake noted. "If you were a contractor who built swimming pools, how would you feel if someone hired you to do stucco all of a sudden?"

Peete, an eight-year pro from the Univ. of Southern Calif. (USC), was an on-again, off-again starter with the Detroit Lions for six years. Last season he was an impressive backup to Dallas Cowboys star Troy Aikman. He signed with the Eagles as a backup to Randall Cunningham this year.

But when the Eagles sputtered early in the season, Peete was given the starting job by head coach Ray Rhodes, who is also Black.

Cunningham and Peete became the season's biggest quarterback controversy to date.

"That's usually what happens. We always get stacked in certain positions," observed Moon. "It happened the same way in Detroit with Andre (Ware) and Rodney Peete. Now it's Randall and Rodney."

Ware, the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner and the first Black quarterback to win the Heisman, hasn't played a regular season NFL game in two years. He was cut from the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars roster prior to the start of the 1995 season.

The only other Black quarterback to win the Heisman, Charlie Ward, opted to play in the NBA with the New York Knicks, despite a very favorable rating as a quarterback.

When Moon left the University of Washington in 1977, his Black quarterback role model was James Harris, who piloted the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams.

There was another young Black quarterback in the NFL named Doug Williams, who had a distinguished NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. He won Super Bowl XXII as a Redskin (JET, Feb. 15, 1988).

And now Moonand Evans have become role models for some of the younger Black quarterbacks.

McNair, the rookie signal-caller with the Oilers, could probably use some advice from the elder Moon.

McNair, 22, who holds the NCAA record for total offense with more than 15,000 yards as Alcorn State's quarterback, has yet to see action in a regular season game at JET press time.

"I hope he doesn't play this year To tell you the truth," said Moon.

"There's a lot of talk about whether he should be playing but I hope he doesn't, because I don't think he's ready to play, for one. And two, I don't think the team is good enough around him for him to have the sucess he should have to lifthis confidence," Moon said.

"It's a big adjustment going from college to the pros. There's not many quarterbacks who come in this league and set in on fire--we're talking about Troy Aikman all the way down," he added.

Moon advises McNair and aspiring college-level quarterbacks to work on their fundamentals.

"What Jeff (Blake) did is what every young quarterback should do, is study the offense. When he wasn't playing, he knew that offense better (than then Bengals starter) Boomer Esiason. He just studied and worked on his game, and when the opportunity came he just stepped in and did the job and he hasn't looked back," Moon said.