Yet all of these black quarterbacks, including those I have not mentioned, have struggled in the League and in College in how they are perceived and ultimately how they are used in their team's offensive schemes. Most of them have been utilized for their scrambling ability and their ability to run the ball rather than train them for passing. This utilization is not used for white Pro Bowl QBs such as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, or Tom Brady who are mostly pocket passers not scramblers. This is evident in college where Vince Young used his athleticism to scramble and run the football rather than pass in the pocket. This was also noticeable in Randall Cunningham's early career where he was trained how to scramble rather than pass. Now, what difference does this make that these QB's are black? Should we not account for white QB's utilized for their scrambling ability like Steve Young or Tim Tebow?
While black QB's are not the only ones who are victim to being scramblers they are the most prevalent. This stems from the perceptions that because a QB like Donovan McNabb is black, conceivably because he is black he should be faster and more athletic than white quarterbacks. In fact, Donovan McNabb himself has tried to avoid these perceptions of being a mobile scrambling QB who runs first and passes second. Because of this he has had a successful professional career getting to the NFC championship 5 times and reaching the Super Bowl.
But why is the prevalence of black QB's being scramblers significant to the lack of success of Black QB's in the NFL? It's simple: a running quarterback (black, white, or otherwise) who cannot pass in the pocket has no chance of success in the league. The reason is because in the NFL, the defenses are far more athletic and more complex than those in college. Because of this quarterbacks who run the ball up field tend to get injured when colliding with hard hitting linebackers and safeties. QB's like Michael Vick and Vince Young were ran like workhorses in college because they were more athletic than the college defenses. They had to create plays with their feet in space rather than using their arm and intellect to make successful more complex passes. As soon as they entered the NFL, they struggled in passing which is fundamental to running a successful offense. Vince Young threw more interceptions than touchdowns and was injury prone his first three seasons. Michael Vick has success with running ability but also had problems with passing the ball deep downfield.
Yet improvement has been seen today, which I have seen Black Quarterbacks such as Michael Vick, Vince Young, David Gerrard, and Dennis Dixon who have long struggled creating plays passing do really well in throwing the ball. Some like Vick and Young created plays successfully passing and running. All of these QBs have taken initiative in being successful pocket passers during the offseason and thus improvement has been made in their offensive game.
The issue still remains in college and in high school where black QBs are being utilized for their scrambling and running ability rather than their pocket passing ability. Black college quarterbacks such as Michigan's Denard Robinson and Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor are examples of this as well as others. They may dominate the college game with their speed but as history has shown these qualities will not help them succeed at a high level in the pros. But as we look at the Hall of Fame careers of Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, and Randall Cunningham, and from watching the black QB's perform today, hopefully continue to make progress in the future, it is not impossible for a black Quarterback to succeed at a high level. It will only be a matter of time before these perceptions of Black QB's as scramblers rather than successful pocket passers change for the better. Hopefully another Black QB, like Doug Williams past, can reach ultimate success: the Lombardi Trophy.
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