Complete history of Black QBs in the Super Bowl, from Doug Williams to historic Chiefs vs. Eagles rematch​on January 31, 2025 at 6:47 pm

When Super Bowl LVII kicks off in New Orleans, it will be a historic matchup. The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to claim their third straight Lombardi Trophy, cementing their dynasty as one of the greatest of all time. The Philadelphia Eagles are aiming to avenge their 2022 title loss, and become world champions for the second time in eight years. The championship game is also significant from a cultural standpoint, marking just the second time in Super Bowl history that both starting quarterbacks are Black.

When the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts squared off with the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who is biracial, in Super Bowl LVII, they were publicly cognizant of the weight of their title clash, the first to ever hold such a label.

“I think it’s special,” Mahomes told reporters ahead of their first Super Bowl showdown. “I’m just glad that we can set the stage for kids that are coming up now.”

Hurts echoed Mahomes’ sentiments at the time: “I think it’s something worthy of being noted,” he told Philadelphia media. “It is history. It’s come a long way. I think there’s only been seven African-American quarterbacks to play in the Super Bowl, so to be the first for something is pretty cool.”

The upstart Eagles star was right: Only seven other Black quarterbacks have taken the Super Bowl stage as starters since the big game’s inception at the end of the 1966 season. Here’s a complete history of those starting signal-callers in the Super Bowl and their respective journeys to the promised land:

Doug Williams

Season: 1987 | Team: Washington | Super Bowl: XXII vs. Broncos

Williams became the first Black quarterback to be drafted in the first round when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him No. 17 overall in 1978. Nearly a decade later, after mixed results as Tampa’s starter, one year out of football and two seasons in the upstart USFL, he re-emerged off the bench for Washington, posting some of his best numbers (11 TDs, 5 INTs, 8.1 YPA) in place of an injured Jay Schroeder. Elevated to a starting role for the 1987 playoffs, Williams exploded on the biggest stage (18-29, 340 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) to outduel NFL MVP John Elway and rout the Broncos, 42-10, giving Washington its second Lombardi in six years. The first Black quarterback to both start and win a Super Bowl, he was named the game’s MVP and went on to a long career as an NFL coach and executive.

Steve McNair

Season: 1999 | Team: Tennessee Titans | Super Bowl: XXXIV vs. Rams

Drafted No. 3 overall out of Alcorn State in 1995, the highest-selected Black quarterback in NFL history at the time, McNair played sparingly to start his career before emerging as one of the top dual threats of his time, going 9-2 as a starter in 1999, the same year his team changed its name from the Oilers to the Titans. The “Music City Miracle,” a last-second kickoff-lateral score, propelled his squad toward the big game against the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams, where he found himself on the other end of a miracle, completing a potential game-winning pass to Kevin Dyson as time expired, only for Dyson to be stopped inches short of the goal line. McNair went on to play another eight seasons, including two with the Baltimore Ravens, logging four Pro Bowl nods and winning NFL MVP before his tragic murder at 36.

Donovan McNabb

Season: 2004 | Team: Philadelphia Eagles | Super Bowl: XXXIX vs. Patriots

Replacing McNair as the highest-drafted Black quarterback when the Eagles took him No. 2 overall in 1999, McNabb boasted a similar blend of size (6-2, 240) and athleticism, leading four straight NFC championship appearances under coach Andy Reid from 2001-2004. He finally got over the hump in the last one, fresh off a record 13-3 season in which he became the first quarterback to throw 30+ TDs (31) and fewer than 10 INTs (8). McNabb was infamously mercurial in the actual Super Bowl (357 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs), falling 24-21 to Tom Brady and the emerging New England Patriots dynasty. But he remains the most accomplished signal-caller in team history, battling injuries over his next five years to reach one more NFC title game. His 224 career passing touchdowns still rank in the top 40 of all time.

Season: 2012 | Team: San Francisco 49ers | Super Bowl: XLVII vs. Ravens

A second-round pick out of Nevada in 2011, Kaepernick was widely considered a dynamic but unpolished prospect. Halfway through his second season, the lanky dual threat replaced an injured Alex Smith and became the story of the year, taking an already-potent 49ers contender to the next level. Totaling 15 scores off the bench, he led San Francisco to an 11-4-1 finish before breaking Michael Vick’s single-game quarterback rushing record, with 181 yards against the Green Bay Packers. He suffered a 34-31 defeat to Ray Lewis and the Ravens in the Super Bowl, but only after nearly erasing a 21-3 deficit. Kaepernick had mixed results in his next — and final — four seasons. His legacy took on a different light in 2016, when he knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and kick off a transition to civil rights activism.

Season: 2013 | Team: Seattle Seahawks | Super Bowl: XLVIII vs. Broncos
Season: 2014 | Team: Seattle Seahawks | Super Bowl: XLIX vs. Patriots

The lowest-drafted quarterback of this collective, Wilson entered as a third-rounder out of Wisconsin, boasting a complete skill set but smaller stature (5-11, 215). He quickly made his mark, tying Peyton Manning’s record for most rookie passing scores (26). And his veteran-level poise was even more apparent in 2013, when he guided a 13-3 finish and became the third-youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, controlling the ball as the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defense dominated Manning and the Broncos, 43-8. Wilson was even better in 2014, topping 800 rushing yards, but he and the Seahawks infamously lost a 10-point third-quarter lead, then threw a game-ending interception at the goal line, in Super Bowl XLIX against the Patriots. One of his generation’s defining off-script playmakers, Wilson played 10 total MVP-caliber years in Seattle before his trade to the Denver Broncos in 2022.

Season: 2015 | Team: Carolina Panthers | Super Bowl: 50 vs. Broncos

Drafted No. 1 overall in 2011, Newton was a physical rarity at his position even in an era of more mobile quarterbacks, pairing a supersized frame (6-5, 245) with a rocket arm and busy legs. Named Offensive Rookie of the Year after throwing 4,000+ yards and rushing for a record 14 scores, he hit his peak as a fourth-year starter, nearly guiding Carolina to an undefeated 2015 campaign (15-1) while becoming the first Black QB to solely win MVP, with 45 combined touchdowns. He struggled in the Super Bowl against a Von Miller-led Broncos defense, falling 24-10, but returned Carolina to the playoffs two years later with a career rushing performance. Injuries hampered Newton’s remaining six seasons, which included a brief return to the Panthers, but he was one of the NFL’s most electric players and personalities in his prime.

Patrick Mahomes

Season: 2019 | Team: Kansas City Chiefs | Super Bowl: LIV vs. 49ers
Season: 2020 | Team: Kansas City Chiefs | Super Bowl: LV vs. Buccaneers
Season: 2022 | Team: Kansas City Chiefs | Super Bowl: LVII vs. Eagles
Season: 2023 | Team: Kansas City Chiefs | Super Bowl: LVIII vs. 49ers
Season: 2024 | Team: Kansas City Chiefs | Super Bowl: LIX vs. Eagles

The Chiefs traded up to draft Mahomes No. 10 overall in 2017, only to sit him behind Alex Smith for basically his entire rookie year. In the seven years since, he’s already all but secured his future Hall of Fame induction. An anomaly for his acrobatic throwing angles and clutch freestyling, he exploded for an NFL-leading 50 passing scores as a first-time starter in 2018, winning MVP at 24. A year later, he threw 10 playoff touchdowns en route to a 31-20 title win over the 49ers, becoming the youngest Super Bowl MVP ever. Mahomes returned to the Super Bowl the next year as the captain of Andy Reid’s high-octane offense, but fell 31-9 to the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers in the face of a relentless Tampa Bay pass rush. Four years later, he’s basically rewired his game to win on the margins, trading big plays for clutch ones. Fresh off a seventh straight AFC championship appearance and seeking his third straight Lombardi Trophy, no one since Tom Brady has been so inevitable when it counts.

Jalen Hurts

Season: 2022 | Team: Philadelphia Eagles | Super Bowl: LVII vs. Chiefs
Season: 2024 | Team: Philadelphia Eagles | Super Bowl: LIX vs. Chiefs

Alabama’s first true-freshman starter in more than 30 years, Hurts entered as a second-round pick of the Eagles in 2020. Months later, he replaced a struggling Carson Wentz, who had once drawn MVP consideration during Philly’s first Super Bowl run. Hurts was poised but inconsistent in his first go as a starter, but took a seismic leap in 2022, drawing his own MVP buzz with 35 total scores, including an NFL-leading 13 as a rusher, while going 16-1 as a starter. With a running back’s strength and vision, a smooth downfield touch and an unfazed businesslike attitude, he went blow for blow with Mahomes in Super Bowl LVII, albeit in a losing effort. Efficient in crunch time, he also helped the Eagles rebound from a 2023 collapse to get back to the big game. The youngest quarterback in Eagles history to start a Super Bowl back in 2022, he’s hoping to secure his first ring in a second go-round with Mahomes at age 26.