Posted on 01/20/2005 5:42:47 AM PST by randita
Posted on Thu, Jan. 20, 2005
McNabb, Vick set for milestone game
NFC title game is first with two black QBs By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
NOBODY HAD to remind Jeff Blake that this weekend's matchup of Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick in the NFC Championship Game ensures that an African-American will start at quarterback in the Super Bowl, for only the third time in 39 years.
"There's only been two, in NFL history. That's a lot of football, for only two. And only one's won it," said Blake, an Eagles backup who is both African-American and a QB. "It's a very big deal. When you think about it, there's 90 quarterbacks in the league. There's maybe 15 or 16 [at the most, at any given time] who are African-American. Of those, maybe seven or eight start."
To white America, this stopped being an issue when Doug Williams won the Super Bowl with the Redskins in 1988. But the fact is, 17 years later, Tennessee's Steve McNair, who lost to the Rams in 2000, is Williams' only Super Bowl successor. As several African-American players, including McNabb and Vick, said yesterday, it apparently hasn't stopped being an issue to them.
The feeling in the Eagles' locker room was a little like the feeling in September 2003 when (mostly white) reporters started asking (mostly black) players what they thought about Rush Limbaugh's comments demeaning McNabb. It wasn't a surprise that players took exception to Limbaugh saying McNabb was overrated by the liberal media. The depth of their feelings, the extent of their frustration, really was a surprise. And so it was yesterday, with an issue most reporters hadn't even considered, among the many angles present this week.
"It's a special weekend for myself and for him," McNabb said yesterday, referring to Vick. "This is kind of the new generation of quarterbacks, guys that are able to do a little bit more than just sit back in the pocket and pass the ball. Things have changed, and it's going to be an exciting day Sunday."
Vick said being matched against another African-American QB in the NFC title game "was always a thought." In fact, it was a certainty once Vick's Atlanta Falcons dispatched the St. Louis Rams last Saturday night. The Eagles and McNabb were playing the Vikings and their African-American QB, Daunte Culpepper, in Sunday's NFC semifinal.
"It shows how far we've come, how far this league has come," Vick told a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters yesterday. "I knew at some point it would happen."
Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse said it hit him right after the Eagles dispatched the Vikings Sunday.
"I was talking to some of my teammates after the game and said, 'Wow, an African-American quarterback is going to be in the Super Bowl'... It's going to be an honor for me, if we get there, just to be on the team with [McNabb] and just be a part of it, because it is going to be history, and it is big," Kearse said.
Williams, who now works for the Tampa Bay Bucs, certainly has noticed that African-American QBs will face off in a conference championship game this weekend for the first time.
"It's a great weekend, not only for guys like myself, and James Harris, Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham, but for the NFL," Williams told the Washington Post this week. "It helps the league move even further away from the old stereotypes that a lot of us had to deal with coming up: not smart enough, can't lead, that kind of garbage."
And yet, African-American QBs still feel they deal with stereotypes, perhaps more subtle than the ones Williams battled two decades ago. McNabb, asked yesterday whether Sunday's predicted snowfall would bother a "running quarterback," smiled and said, "I wouldn't know."
Later, on the conference call, Vick bristled at the notion that he quickly abandons the pass in order to run, a perception many Eagles, including African-Americans, endorsed this week when discussing the challenge they face on Sunday.
"[McNabb is] looking to put the ball in the air and throw the ball first," Eagles free safety Brian Dawkins said yesterday. "He's looking to get the ball to seven or eight different receivers in this offense. When the opportunity presents itself and everybody is covered, he'll tuck that thing and get 20 yards. With Mike, he goes through his first read, and if that's not open, he's tucking the ball and running it. Sometimes, he'll sit back in the pocket and go through all of his progressions, but a lot of times he's going through that first and second progression, and he's getting out of there and tucking it. To me, you really can't compare the two right now."
The last two seasons, McNabb has seemed to accept the notion that to be taken seriously as a top quarterback by traditionalists, he must really minimize his running.
"Early on, that's all anybody ever talked about, was how fast he was, how great his legs were," Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas said yesterday. "How he was a threat to take the ball and run it. I think he really took it upon himself to get back there and really learn his position."
Douglas suggested Vick, who at 24 is 3 years, 5 months younger than McNabb, still fights that battle.
"Every time you hear about Michael Vick, you never hear about his quarterbacking skills, whether they're good or bad. You always hear about his athletic abilities," Douglas said. "When you talk about a Peyton Manning, you always talk about how smart he is and how great he is at picking up blitzes, reading defenses. That's the biggest difference. Whether or not [the media] know it, they're always stereotyping the black quarterback, as opposed to the white quarterback."
Blake, 34, questioned the premise that an athletic QB should have to turn himself into a drop-back passer to be called great.
"Why not have a guy who's the complete package, instead of a guy who's one-dimensional?" Blake asked. "Why not have a guy who can throw and run and be spontaneous and make plays, and be big and strong, and break tackles?... You think Eli Manning [last year's first overall draft pick] can do what Daunte Culpepper can do? Peyton Manning can't even do what Daunte Culpepper can do."
McNabb, who said yesterday he has a "very close relationship" with Vick, noted that the title game also matches two of the NFL's most marketable superstars - perhaps an indication of how the game is changing, regardless of what traditionalists think.
"I've never received my ticket to the 'Michael Vick experience,' " said McNabb, referring to the Nike commercial in which Vick is compared to a thrill ride. McNabb endorses Nike rival Reebok. "I'll have to ask him about that. This is Reebok vs. Nike, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm looking forward to this. It's not like I'm trying to outdo Michael Vick... I'm just looking forward to this opportunity."
Birdseed
Linebacker Mark Simoneau (ankle/foot) practiced yesterday but is still listed as questionable... Offensive tackle Jon Runyan (knee) did not practice but is probable... Andy Reid made a point of listing wide receiver Terrell Owens (ankle) as "out," perhaps because of all the rumors about a miraculous recovery that would allow T.O. to play this week... Neither Reid nor Falcons coach Jim Mora thought bad weather would be much of a factor for either team... Mora said his father, former Philadelphia Stars coach Jim Mora, plans to attend the game. He is trying to talk his father out of sitting in the stands, feeling that Eagles fans' antipathy toward the Falcons might outweigh any warm memories from the Stars' USFL titles.
© 2005 Philadelphia Daily News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.philly.com
They better enjoy this milestone, because neither one is going to be a Super Bowl winning quarterback. The NFC stinks.
Let us not forget that one of the most prolific passers ever was a black QB (Warren Moon) and that Randall Cunningham wasnt too shabby himself...
I honestly hadnt even given a thought that there were 2 black QBs in this game. I see 2 teams with good defenses were the QB play will make the difference...thats about it...
I think an article like this one proves Rush's point.
Not this sh** again. Let's just call 'em quarterbacks and enjoy the game.
I was waiting for this irrelevent point to be mentioned.
Maybe Senator Byrd can delay or stop this.
Racist BS... just like all the Pandercrats asking the NSA if she had ever met Dr. King, and fawning over her "roots"?
Eagles will win.
I remember a time when we believed that blacks were incapable of being QB's. When they started playing QB, we said it couldn't happen at white colleges. When it started happening at white colleges, we said it couldn't happen in the NFL. When it happened in the NFL, we said one would never play in the Super Bowl. When Doug Williams won the Super Bowl, we quit saying anything.
The Eagles BETTER win. Four straight NFC Championship losses at home would be a record of futility, and probably cost one of the best coaching staffs in the game their jobs. Actually, no other city with three or more pro teams has gone longer without a Championship than Philadelphia. It's been since the 82-83 Sixers.
I would love to see the Falcons and Steelers in the SB. That would be fun to watch. But I'm guessing it will be the Eagles Vs Patriots.
I think either NFC team will have a hard time just scoring any points, because both AFC team defenses are playing great ball right now.
Well, thats one way of getting a black quarterbakc to win the superbowl again.... 3 out of the remaing 4 teams in the NFC had black QB's. No black QB has won the Super Bowl since Doug Williams... A black Head Coach has never won, soon the NFL will flood one conference like they did with the QB's. None of the 4 remaining AFC teams had a black starting QB...
McNabb will go down as usual, despite his Chunky soup beforehand.
My feelings exactly. Give it a rest!
Rush himself is overrated. Can't take his repetitive drivel any more.
Ditto -- and honestly I'm surprised that this is the first time two black QB's will square off in the NFC championship. Long gone are the days when a black quarterback was a novelty (or even unheard of) -- and that should be all that need be said on the subject.
Apparently, this Philly rag doesn't care for that 'color-blind society' we've heard about over the past few decades.
But we all know that McNabb is there because the media wants him there.
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