Grand Valley State University professor Louis Moore’s (left) new book, “The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback” explores the enduring challenges and triumphs of Black signal callers in a league where their presence remains a historic act.
Any time a Black quarterback lines up under center, it probably shouldn’t be a historic act.
Thanks to decades of racism and fear, a Black signal caller’s presence is, again, unfortunately, historic.
Grand Valley State University professor Louis Moore, the author of two books, is set to publish his third, “The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback.”
The Great Black Hope, which has a Sept. 24 pub day, digs deep into a 1979 historic event at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Evans, then Bears quarterback (1977-1983), faced off against Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making it the first time two Black quarterbacks started against each other in NFL history.
The book looks into the two quarterbacks’ upbringing, the forces surrounding them, and how both men dealt with being in a space where few Black men are given the chance to succeed.
“I wanted to write a book about the Black quarterback, and I was trying to figure out the best way to do it,” said Moore. “I realized I was looking at some old magazines, and one of them, it has Doug on the cover, but it has dual articles about Vince and Doug, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh. This is the perfect story.'”
“And then, when you dig deeper, you realize that they were born the same year. They grew up in the South, but then they went in different directions. And to me, it felt like the most perfect way to tell that story about the Black quarterback because they came up in a time when there wasn’t supposed to be Black quarterbacks,
“And then when they make the [NFL], they’re the pioneers. They’re two different styles. And so it allows me to talk about all the stereotypes they go through, but also connected to today with that dual-threat stuff about the Black quarterback that we still talk about.”
Perhaps most importantly, the book’s subject matter is evergreen due to last season’s controversy over then-Bears QB Justin Fields, who was later traded to the Steelers, making way for the team to draft Caleb Williams with the No.1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
During the season, NBC broadcaster Cris Collinsworth suggested that Fields could “learn something” from Bears backup QB Tyson Bagent, an undrafted Division II product.
During the Oct. 29, 2023 game between the Bears and Chargers, Bagent, the apple of Collinsworth’s eye, threw more interceptions (two) than touchdowns (zero).
“In the 70s and 80s, it was referenced as the “Black Quarterback Syndrome,” which is something that explains what happens on the football field and outside of the football field.
“In the 70s and 80s it was referenced as “The Black Quarterback Syndrome.” This idea that Black people understand that there’s only so high they can reach in society at a job or on the football field, they’ll be put down for reasons that a white person won’t,” said Moore. “And that’s why [Black] people root for the Black quarterback. You might not really like football, but you realize that if Doug or Vince gets a chance, then I’ll get a chance. But you also see what happens to them…”
“In Chicago, seeing how [the Bears] were always trying to replace Vince Evans with Jim McMahon, or somebody, and not really giving him a chance. I think a lot of people at that time felt that, and what happened with Justin just seemed familiar, even before they drafted Caleb, and even though everybody knew they were going to draft the quarterback, just seeing what they were doing to him in real-time–bringing in [Bagent] who wasn’t really good…I think a lot of folks in the area of Bears fans–Black Bears fans–felt that because they probably felt that in their own lives; that seemed familiar to them.”
“The Great Black Hope” illustrates the importance of the Black Press in spaces where Black athletes would rather go to them than white sportswriters who’ve historically misinterpreted their mannerisms.
In a Sept. 21, 1982 edition of The Chicago Defender, Evans, who privately fumed about his playing time, gave an exclusive interview to a reporter after taking up Bears coach Mike Ditka’s offer to players, saying his office was always open. When Evans went to speak with Ditka, he was told he was “too sleepy and tired” to meet with him:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”At the beginning of training camp, Ditka said, ‘I’m the No.1 quarterback until I play myself out of the position. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t done that. How could I play myself out of position after only nine plays?”[/perfectpullquote]
“Vince was pretty open with reporters, but I think at that point he realized how important the Black Press was. And I think it’s no knock on athletes at that time. But a lot of them have lost that sense of rapport because the Black Press, with integration, it starts to go away,” said Moore.
“It’s still there, but it’s not as prevalent, which makes his story even more enjoyable to study. Because the way you get it is you have to understand the Black Press in Chicago … So what was really enjoyable about this is that you can still rely on the Black Press.”
The city’s local Black Press has rebounded in recent years and is now able to tell the story of the Black athlete outside of the white sportswriter’s gaze.
As the aforementioned debate surrounding Fields’s future with the Bears raged on during the 2023 season, former NFL and University of Illinois quarterback Johnny Johnson Jr. didn’t need a watch to know what time it was when it came to the scrutiny Black quarterbacks face. He went through it at Illinois, where coaches and the local media often questioned his abilities as a Black quarterback in ways his white counterparts weren’t subjected to.
“I think with the quarterback position, you have to be the face of the program. So you have to mirror the image of the head coach and the coaching staff and what they want you to portray,” Johnson told The Triibe in January 2024. “I can say that standing in the Black quarterback shoes can be a traumatic experience for any individual for multiple reasons. A lot of it has to do with a mental block that people have about us as people.”
This column may read to some as top-heavy toward Vince Evans.
I’m a Chicago guy writing a column for a Chicago-based Black media outlet.
Now that I got that out of the way, Williams, who was the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, is much more well-known to sports fans—particularly Black football fans—because he’s at the center of a whole a– pivotal moment in Black History.
After all, one of his game-worn jerseys is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in an exhibit called “Sports: Leveling the Playing Field.”
Every Black person who watched Super Bowl XXII wasn’t a R——s fan; they were Doug Williams fans.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]We knew the stakes and what it would mean to all of us who want Black quarterbacks to succeed—even the one currently in Green Bay.[/perfectpullquote]
Well, sometimes.
As the Smithsonian exhibit’s name suggests, Williams effectively leveled the playing field for every Black quarterback going forward.
Donavon McNabb, Patrick Mahomes, Steve McNair, Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams, Justin Fields, Jayden Daniels, and many others have Vince Evans and Doug Williams in mind every time they line up under center.
Evans and Williams are probably thinking about them as well.
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