Nine Decades After NFL Banned Black Players, Super Bowl LVII Is The First To Feature Two Black Starting Quarterbacks as Patrick Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes : Banned from super bowl | Banned
Patrick Mahomes is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL).
The son of former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Pat Mahomes, he initially played college football and baseball at Texas Tech. Following his sophomore year, he quit baseball to focus solely on football.
In his junior year, he led all NCAA Division I FBS players in multiple categories including passing yards (5,052) and total touchdowns (53). He was selected 10th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Patrick Mahomes Banned from Super Bowl
Sunday’s championship game will pit the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes against the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts. Only seven Black quarterbacks have played in a Super Bowl, and just three—including Mahomes—have won.
That a record 11 NFL teams had Black starting quarterbacks on opening day of the current season suggests that matchups like this year’s will soon be commonplace.
But the fact that no such game has taken place before Super Bowl LVII underscores the plight of the Black quarterback for most of the NFL’s century-long history.
Even though most NFL athletes are Black, most teams have been slow to put Black men in a position to call plays. The Eagles, to their credit, have been more willing to offer opportunities than other teams.
“I think about all of the [Black] quarterbacks that came through Philly: Randall Cunningham, Rodney Peete, Donovan McNabb, Mike Vick,” Hurts told reporters during a pre–Super Bowl media session. “This franchise, the history we have of African American quarterbacks—that speaks for itself. I told those guys I want to carry that torch for them.”
Like Black Americans in general, Black players in the NFL have long struggled to have their talents and aspirations taken seriously. In 1920, Fritz Pollard became the first Black quarterback in what was then known as the American Professional Football Association. In his rookie season, Pollard led the Akron Pros to the league championship.
But in 1934, the NFL banned Black players at the initiative of the former Washington owner George Preston Marshall, who once said, “We’ll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites.” The ban remained in place for 12 years.
Banned
The Chiefs quarterback admitted that he forgot about Valentine’s Day as he prepares to play in Super Bowl 2023 against the Eagles on Sunday.
Mahomes, who tied the knot with Brittany in Hawaii last March, appeared caught off guard when he was asked about the holiday while speaking to reporters on radio row in Arizona.
“I didn’t even notice it was coming up, so don’t tell her I said that but I’ll make sure I have some plans now,” Mahomes said. “I don’t know when it is, I know it’s February 14, but I don’t know what day of the week [it is]. I’ll make sure to make plans. I appreciate you reminding me.”
Last year, Brittany shared photos of the couple posing together with the caption, “My forever Valentine.”
They celebrated daughter Sterling Skye’s first birthday a few days later on Feb. 20.
Mahomes and Brittany — who welcomed their son, Patrick “Bronze” Lavon Mahomes III in November — have a lot to celebrate. Their daughter’s second birthday is later this month, followed by their first wedding anniversary in March.
It’s understandable that Valentine’s Day would slip Mahomes’ mind as he is just days away from playing in his third Super Bowl.