DENVER — Marlin Briscoe had to demand a tryout to be considered at quarterback when he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 1968. He ended up becoming the first black quarterback to start in the American Football League.
Briscoe says he sees parallels with his experiences in how black athletes are treated 50 years later.
His groundbreaking accomplishments were somewhat lost in the shuffle in 1968, one of the most transformative years in U.S. history. Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated that year. There were civil rights riots and numerous protests of the Vietnam War.