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Black Quarterbacks in the Super Bowl Reflect Progress and Lost Opportunity

Black quarterbacks will lead both teams in Sunday’s Super Bowl. But for much of pro football history, Black players were steered away from the position because of racist assumptions.

Sunday’s Super Bowl will be the first to feature two Black starting quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles.Credit...Matt Slocum/Associated Press, Chris Unger/Getty Images

PHOENIX — Onree Jackson was a star quarterback at Alabama A&M, a historically Black university, when the Boston Patriots drafted him in the fifth round in 1969.