Word: quarterback
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...central character of the interminable buildup, which customarily dwarfs the contest, figures to be the Redskins' Doug Williams, 32, the Super Bowl's first black starting quarterback. His initial reaction is to smile. "I can't go in there and tell the Broncos' defense I'm black and I'm doing this for black America," he says. "Maybe it's a little sweeter for me because of some of the things I've been through, but I'm doing it for the Washington Redskins and myself...
...quarterback whom Williams understudied, last year's young pro bowler Jay Schroeder, 26, was demoted, reinstated and then finally shelved this season in one of the most dramatic reversals of form in league history. Reports that the Redskin players were muttering for Williams on the sidelines have been denied, but he does say, "I've had a lot of encouragement from the guys on this team, white, black or whatever. They respect me." His completion percentage against the Vikings was ghastly (nine of 26), but as the citizens of Denver will agree, the result is what counts...
...only were the Broncos outshone by the Browns in their 38-33 shoot-out, but Denver's sublime John Elway also looked to be only the second-best quarterback on the field. Doing his awkward and wonderful impression of Johnny Unitas, Bernie Kosar was blithely leading the Browns back from a 21-3 half- time deficit when Runner Earnest Byner dropped the season on the three-yard ! line. In the locker room afterward, the Broncos players were unusually quiet, and not only because of the nature of their victory. They remembered last year...
...particularly the Three Amigos, Elway's merriest band of pass catchers: Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel. With Gerald Willhite among the fractured, honest workman Sammy Winder more or less constitutes Denver's running game (quarterback scrambles excluded). A lot depends again on the arm of Elway, though maybe also on the foot of Rich Karlis. If Karlis had made a couple of makable field goals in the first half of last year's Super Bowl, the game could have been much different. The Redskins' kicking game has been so shaky, Ali Haji-Sheikh and Jess Atkinson were still...
...earlier era, a black athlete, no matter how gifted, could not realistically hope to become a star pro quarterback. Coaches believed that blacks genetically did not have enough intellect to call plays. Also: white players would not accept the leadership of a black field general. And of course: blacks won't measure up in clutch situations -- a view revived by the Greek in his statement that the Redskins' Williams might "choke" under pressure. As black Basketball Player Isiah Thomas pointed out last year during a storm of opprobrium about his views on Larry Bird, sportswriters are always dubbing black stars...