Matchup between 2 good QBs ‘who happen to be Black’
Long before there was Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Doug Williams or even Warren Moon, there was Chuck Ealey.
When Mahomes and Hurts lead the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively, onto the field Sunday, it will mark the first Super Bowl featuring two Black starting quarterbacks. Adding emphasis to the historic matchup is that it comes during Black History Month.
Some 51 years after he came north to play quarterback in pro football, Ealey sees Sunday’s matchup as one featuring two quality quarterbacks who happen to be African-American.
“I think it (racial climate) is different in Canada,” Ealey said in a telephone interview. “But when you’re in the U.S., this has been an issue for many years … I understand both sides of the spectrum.
“For the bottom line, two very good guys who happen to be Black are playing in the Super Bowl. That’s what I see.”
Ealey wasted no time making CFL history. As a rookie, he led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to the ’72 Grey Cup, becoming the first Black quarterback to win a championship in Canada.
It wasn’t until Jan. 31, 1988, that Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, doing so with Washington.
The CFL was also ahead of the NFL in terms of having two Black starters in the Grey Cup. That first happened in 1981 when Moon rallied Edmonton to a 26-23 decision over an Ottawa Rough Riders team led by J.C. Watts, the former Oklahoma star who would go on to prominence in American politics after football.
Such was the case again in 1982 when Moon guided Edmonton to a 32-16 Grey Cup win over Condredge Holloway and the Toronto Argonauts.
After six seasons in Canada (1978-83), Moon played 17 NFL campaigns with Houston, (1984-93), Minnesota (1994-96),
Seattle (1997-98) and Kansas City (19992000). He’s the only player to be enshrined into both the Canadian Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Mike (Pinball) Clemons made pro football history when the Argos downed the B.C. Lions 27-19 in the Grey Cup game. That made Clemons the first Black head coach to win a title in either the CFL or NFL.
Bernie Custis holds the distinction of being the first Black pro quarterback in the modern era when he started for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1951.
He moved to halfback the following year, helping the Ticats win the ’53 Grey Cup before finishing his career with Ottawa in 1956.
Custis was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1998. He died in 2017 at age 88.
“The story is history when you bring that out to Canadians,” Ealey said. “But to Americans being on the other side of the border, it doesn’t have the same message.