Episode 9: Not Bad for a 'Running Back'

Exploring the evolution of Black quarterbacks with Lamar Jackson, Hall of Famer Warren Moon, Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, Steelers backup Joshua Dobbs and Jackson's personal coach, Joshua Harris.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nearly forty years ago, as a young sportswriter in South Florida,
I covered a black high school quarterback named Derek Crudup.
Like Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Derek was a dynamic athlete,
one of the best high school quarterbacks I've ever seen.
If you had told me back then that Derek would
never start a game as a college quarterback, I wouldn't

(00:21):
have believed it. But that's exactly what happened. One day
during his sophomore year, he called me from the University
of Florida and told me he had won the spring
competition to be the Gator starting quarterback. But a few
weeks later, Derek told me that some boosters at Florida
weren't quite ready to see a black quarterback starting in

(00:43):
the early nineteen eighties, he was no longer going to
be the starter. Countless black quarterbacks have encountered similar roadblocks
during football's history, denied the opportunity to play the game's
most glamorous and demanding position. When he wasn't the starter
in Florida, Dirt was deeply disappointed, and his trust in

(01:04):
the program was broken. He transferred to Oklahoma and now
Derek's focus changed from playing quarterback to make it into
the NFL anyway he could. He switched from quarterback to safety,
and he was good enough to start for a national
championship team. He eventually made it to the NFL for
a couple of seasons, and to his credit, he did

(01:25):
it playing his second best position. Six years ago, Derek
met Lamar Jackson by chance at a banquet in South
Florida when Jackson was honored as a South Florida high
school Player of the Year. Derek will never know how
his career would have played out if he had to
be made a quarterback. But when he turns on the
television in South Florida and watches Lamar Jackson played quarterback

(01:48):
for the Ravens, Derek Crudup is smiling. Welcome to Black
in the NFL. I'm your host, Clifton Brown. Today's episode
is pretty good for a running back. My guests are
Lamar Jackson, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, Lamar Jackson's

(02:11):
personal quarterback coach Joshua Harris, and Pittsburgh Steeler's backup quarterback
Joshua Dobbs. Will also hear from Patrick Mahomes of the
Kansas City Chiefs, who was good enough to answer a
question for me during a recent press conference. Black quarterbacks
are facing an uphill battle during the history of football,
sometimes told they lacked the leadership, intelligence, and other attributes

(02:35):
to play the position effectively at the game's highest level. However,
the success of current black quarterbacks like Jackson, Mahomes, Watson,
Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, and others is dismissing that narrative,
hopefully for good. Raven's executive vice president Ozzy Newsom, the
first black general manager in NFL history, talked about the

(02:58):
impact of today's black quarter backs when he was the
subject of episode seven of Black in the NFL. Newstom
drafted Labar in the first round of his final draft
as general manager. I have to ask you about Lamar,
especially since he was a part of your last draft.

(03:19):
There have been so many barriers for black quarterbacks to overcome.
NFL has to be How proud are you of what
he's been able to do so quickly in his career,
especially when he entered the league with some doubts about
what he could do. The credit goes to Lamar the person.
Lamar's mental quarterback, his whole career. I think he changed
high school because they wanted to change his position. He's

(03:41):
a very humble person. He has a unique way of leading,
and he has some god gifted talent, you know, and
he knows how to utilize that talent out on the field.
To me, it goes back to a young guy that
I played against from the University of Tennessee by the
name of Condred Holloway, who ended up having to you know,

(04:02):
his most of his care career was up in Canada.
But having played against him when he was at the
University of Tennessee and now of the University of Alabama,
I saw the impact that a guy that could have
not only with his brain, with his arm, but also
with his feet. And I used to talk with Steve
McNab when we had him and he would always say, Hey,

(04:24):
you know what, if they play all that man courage,
I'm gonna get you three or four first downs with
my feet. So you know, that's where our game has
has evolved to. I never thought we would get to
that point, but because what's coming out of college right now,
a guy like Lamar, a guy like Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes,
and you could just go ahead and end up Jalen

(04:45):
Hurst Murray. Those are the guys that are playing in
college football and having success, and so that is the
reason why they ended up coming on our level having successful.
We're here from Lamar Shortley, but my first guest is
Warren Moon, the only black quarterback in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. Moon spent his first six professional seasons

(05:08):
in the Canadian Football League, where he won five Great
Cup championships. Despite his dominance in Canada, there were still
people skeptical of Moon's ability. When he signed his first
NFL contract with the Houston Orleans in nineteen eighty four.
Moona raised all doubt during his seventeen year NFL career,
passing for almost fifty thousand yards. Mood is an important

(05:31):
figure in NFL history, a link between black quarterbacks in
the past who were denied opportunity, and today's quarterbacks who
still seek him out for advice. He had a great
college career at the University of Washington, but headed to
the CFL when no NFL team selected him in the
nineteen seventy eight draft, even though he was the MVP

(05:51):
of the Rose Bowl just a few months before the draft.
How early did you realize it being black was going
to make it harder for you to convince some people
that you should play quarterback. Well, I kind of realized
that when I first started playing back in Pop Warner
football as early as eleven years old, that I followed

(06:15):
the NFL. I followed college football, and it was just
a position. You just didn't see a lot of people
that looked like me at especially in the professional ranks.
You know, I grew up in Los Angeles. Roman Gabriel
was a quarterback at that time who was an Indian,
So I knew, as a minority, maybe there was a
chance for me because he was minority. But you looked
around college football and there was a lot of African

(06:37):
Americans playing quarterback, but they were running the wishbone, they
were running the beer, they weren't passing quarterbacks. So those
guys you never saw him go into the NFL, and
the ones that I think did have a chance to
go to the NFL ended up going to Canada, like
a Jimmy Jones or a Condridge Holloway or Chuck Geely.
All those guys ended up north of the border. So

(06:59):
I knew it was going to be difficult for me
playing that position when I first took it over. But
it was still a position that I loved playing. I
knew I was good at it, and I was going
to continue to keep playing at and it is hopefully
that if my opportunity ever came, I'd be ready. Do
you remember the first time anyone suggested you play a
different position? Yeah, when I went to high school. When

(07:22):
I first went into high school, I was suggested to
move positions, but that was something I was not going
to do. And to the point where I was the
third string freshman quarterback, the guy just did not want
to play me at quarterback. He wanted to play me
anywhere else. But the only time he put me in
the game is when we were way behind and we
had this posial spread formation where I could just throw

(07:44):
the ball all over the place to try and get
back into the football game. But he was not going
to let me play as a starter. And then I
wasn't even the backup. And but again he wanted to
use my arm talent at the end of all games
if we didn't have a chance to win. Now, after
your great career of Washington, you know Window Rose Bowl,

(08:06):
you're ready to intern NFL at that point in time.
How many teams did you think feared having a black
quarterback in the NFL. Well, there wasn't very many in
the league at that time. I think Vince Evans was
in the league at that time. Doug Williams was coming
out in the draft with me, and he was a
top rated quarterback in the draft, but he didn't go

(08:28):
unto I think the thirteenth pick or something like that,
to Tampa Bay to where John McKay was the coach
there and he was used to having African American quarterbacks
at USC. So if John McKay wouldn't have drafted Doug
at thirteen, who knows where he would have felt too.
So again, I knew it wasn't allowed opportunities for me,
but I also felt like I at least deserved an

(08:51):
opportunity to get a chance to play quarterback in the
NFL just because of what I had done in college.
You didn't get draft at all. Just to me about
that draft and then how you ultimately end up making
a decision to go to the CFL. Well, you know,
I had an attorney and agent at Lee Steinberg at
that time, and he did all of his due diligence

(09:11):
around the league with all the connections that he had
through scouting, through general managers, through coaches, and the feeling
was that I wasn't if I was going to get
drafted as a quarterback, it was going to be way
down the line or A lot of teams were suggested
maybe I changed positions to a defensive back of wide receiver.
So that came up again, and I was definitely opposed

(09:34):
to that. I felt like, you know, I was the
Pack eight Player of the Year that year, I was
the Rose Bowls MVP. I had a really good college season,
and there was no reason why I shouldn't get a
chance to play quarterback, and I felt like I could
play it now. There were people that said I didn't
come out of a strict drop back passing offense. Well
I could. I couldn't help the offense that I was in.

(09:55):
I was in the offense that gave up the best
chance to win. But I also knew I could throw
the football. Have given the opportunity after going through all
the pros and cons of whether I should stay or leave,
because the Canadian Football League came to my door and
was offering me a great opportunity to come up there,
and they were going to pay me the money equivalent
of about a second round draft pick. They were going

(10:17):
to give me a chance to play quarterback, and I
was going to a really good organization. So I've weighed
all of the obstacles and I felt like Canada was
my best option to be able to continue to keep
playing quarterbacks. So that's what I did, and that's why
I went to the CFL as opposed to, you know,
wanting to realize my dream of being drafted on draft Day.

(10:38):
Like every other college player that plays college football. Now,
just starting your career that way, put any kind of
chip on your shoulder during your career, Well, I had
a chip on my shoulder from the time I was
in high school. So that chip just continued to grow
and became more more like a bowlder by the time

(10:58):
I got to the point where I was going to
go to the Canadian Football League. You know, I loved
that I had an opportunity to play pro ball. I
love that I had an opportunity to continue to play quarterback,
but I hated the fact that I had to leave
my own country to go do it. I hated the
fact that my own country didn't realize that I had
the ability to play the position. So there was bitterness

(11:19):
on top of loving the opportunity to just continue to
keep playing a game that I loved. Yeah, you spent
six years in the CFL and won five great Cups.
Why did you think it took that long for you
to get back to the NFL. Well, one of the
reasons I was under contract and I ended up signing
a second contract up there because I really enjoyed playing

(11:42):
up there. I enjoyed not filling the pressure of, you know,
what the fans had to say, because I dealt with
a lot of that in college when I first got
to the University of Washington. Then the name calling, the booing,
all those things that went along with it. In Canada,
I never experienced any of that. You got booed when
you were on the road because you're you're the road team.

(12:05):
But I didn't get booed individually because of my position
and because of my skin color. So I enjoyed it.
And we were winning. We were winning championships, and winning
really solves a lot of problems when you're when you're
playing football, if you're being paid well and winning games.
But then it got to a point where I had
so much success that there so early and I still

(12:27):
had this gnawing in my stomach that can I really
play with the best players in the world in the NFL.
And that was a curiosity of mine, and I wanted
to see if if I was actually good enough to
play in the NFL, even though people had told me
I couldn't. So that was one of the reasons why
I decided to come back. So I was under contract,
but I was able to negotiate myself out of my

(12:47):
last year of my contract, and that's why I was
able to get free after the sixth year. Now, there
were mobile white quarterbacks in the past, like fran Target
and Steve Young who had success. Do you think they
were judged differently than some mobile black quarterbacks of past
years or not? Oh, no question about it. I don't

(13:09):
think mobility had anything to do with it. It was
all about what was between year ears and then what
your skin color looked like. We were always told that
we didn't have the intelligence, we didn't have the ability
to play under pressure, and then you were going to

(13:29):
be asked to be the face of a franchise, and
most franchises that were owned by white owners didn't want
to African American be in the face the representative of
their franchise. So uh, those were the reasons why we
had such a tough time play in the position. It
had nothing to do with mobility or ability of any kind. Now,

(13:51):
when you first got back in the NFL with Houston,
how much pressure did you feel to succeed, not only
for yourself but for black quarterback in general. I did
feel pressure. I won't tell you that I didn't because
I was the highest paid player in the league at
that time. I'm going to an organization that's basically in
the South in Texas that never had an African American

(14:13):
quarterback before. They were two and fourteen the year before
I got there, so not a very good football team.
So I knew that it was going to be an
uphill battle trying to turn this franchise around. But I
was up to the task because when I went to
the University of Washington, they were a two and nine
team when I went there to play, and we turned
that around and became Rose Bowl champions. So I felt

(14:33):
like we could do the same thing in Houston. But
I knew it was going to be a tough journey. Today,
the atmosphere is a lot different. We've got a number
of black quarterbacks that selling in the NFL. Do you
think we finally reached a point where a black quarterback
are being judged the same and have the same opportunity
to succeed as white quarterback. I think initially African American

(14:56):
quarterbacks today are getting a much more you know, fair
opportunity to compete and get opportunities. And you see that
throughout the league, and you see that by the way
these guys are being paid, by the way they're being endorsed,
how many are in the league at this particular time,
not only starters, but also backups and guys where they're
developing for the future. So I think it's much better there,

(15:17):
But there's still teams that still judge guys the same way.
There's still society that still judges African American quarterbacks the
same way, especially in the media and some in scouting
and things like that. So when you have a guy
like Lamar Jackson who's already won an MVP, but you
have some very smart personnel people that said when he
was coming out of college that he should be a

(15:39):
wide receiver or change positions. That tells you that there's
still some of that thinking. So it's not totally gone away,
and I don't think it ever will go away. But
we just have to keep proving ourselves and keep going
out and playing. And the great thing is we're getting
the opportunities to do that. As long as we're getting
the opportunities. Now it's on our shoulders to make things happen.
You mentioned the bar and here in Bottom or the

(16:02):
Ravens have tailored their offense to accentuate his strengths. Why
don't you think more teams are willing to do that
when they drafted quarterback? And also do you think if
more teams have been willing to do that back in here,
we would have seen more black quarterbacks. Well, I do
think if more teams would have done that back in

(16:23):
the day, you would have saw more black quarterbacks be successful.
But I think teams today are now smart enough to
see that they need to do what these young guys
have been doing, not only in college, but they've been
doing them as far back as junior high school and
high school. Running these RPO offenses, running these read options,
all these different things that you're seeing in the NFL

(16:45):
now it's all been adapted because they saw these kids
have success with it in college and they're making the adjustments.
So they're finally doing the right thing, which is taking
advantage of what your best player who is using your quarterback,
can do and make that offense geared around what his
strengths are. And you're seeing a lot of teams around

(17:05):
the National Football League do that. Now, you've already seen Lamar.
We have seen him able to silence a lot of
his critics. If his success continues. What effect could you
see him having on the game of football, not just
on the Ravens. Well, he's already had an effect on
football just by the way he's able to play. But

(17:25):
there's not a lot of Lamar Jackson's walking around this
that's the problem. If you find another one, Yeah, you
take your offense and you adapted to what he can do,
but there's not a lot of those guys walking around.
He is a very very special human being, a very
special athlete, and the Baltimore Ravens were smart enough to
change what they were doing and gear their whole offense

(17:47):
around what he's doing. Now, if you find another guy
like him, you should be smart enough to do whatever
it takes to get the best out of him. Do
you see his progress that we're seeing a few more
black backup orter acts like RG three, like Guino Smith,
Tyrod Taylor, who aren't just going from being starters to
being out of the league. Yeah, I love that. I

(18:09):
love the fact not only that you have the top
guys in the league that are African Americans starting, but
it's really important that you can have African Americans in
those backup roles or in those developmental roles as I
talked about earlier, where they might be the next guy up,
or an organization that they see, Okay, maybe this guy
needs a year or two under under our belt before

(18:31):
he's really ready to play. Those are the types of
situations I like even more because that really shows that
an organization is committed to a guy even though he's
not ready to play right now. It's easy to take
a guy with great talent like a Patrick Mahomes or
or somebody like that and put them out there and
let them play as a starter. But what about the
guy who's not maybe ready to play right now, but

(18:53):
you're going to put the time, in effort and development
time into him to getting ready to play and he's
African American. That shows me a lot about that organization.
You're the first black quarterback to reach the Hall of Fame,
which obviously is going to secure your legacy for all time.
What legacy do you hope you've left for black quarterbacks
in the NFL. I think the biggest thing for me

(19:15):
is that I never gave up on the position, that
I continued to keep striving forward to try and play
it and played at a very high level of knowing
that there was generations of young guys out there that
were watching to see how well I did in order
for them to get an opportunity. So one of the
biggest things I'm most proud of is I was able
to help make change at this most important position in

(19:38):
team sports. Myself, Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, we played kind
of during the same time at a very high level,
and I think because of the way we played in
our accomplishments are the reasons why that next generation of
guys I got an opportunity to play this position. That's
something I'm very very proud of, and I took that
responsibility very very seriously. During Moon's career, there were times

(20:05):
when he was the only black quarterbacks starting in the league.
Now that's far from the case. Mahomes is one of
the NFL's brightest stars after leading the Chiefs to two
straight Super Bowls. He won one then lost one to
the Goat Tom Brady. Maholes is only the third black
quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Doug Williams and

(20:25):
Russell Wilson and starting with the Ravens twenty thirteen win
in Super Bowl forty seven over Colin Kaepernick in the
forty nine Ers. Six of the last nine Super Bowls
have featured a black starting quarterback. As part of the
young contingent of star black quarterbacks, Mahomes is proud that
the position has become much more inclusive than it has

(20:46):
been in the past. Patrick, I just want to know
how much pride you take in being among a group
like the self Lamar Deshaw. The guys were kids black
and white. Now I can look at you guys, and
the quarterbacks are all different ways as opposed to back
when your grandfathers for Doug Williams, and you know, the
numbers of black quarterbacks are few and far between. Yeah,

(21:09):
I mean you said it, I mean exactly how you
said it. It shows that no matter what your skill
set is, what the color of your skin is, where
you grew up at, you can go out there and
be an NFL quarterback. You just have to work hard.
You have to be the perseveran through adversity. You have
to make sure that you just go out there and
be who you are every single day, and if you
do that, you have a chance of achieving your dreams,
no matter what that is. The emergence of black quarterbacks

(21:31):
has been one of the biggest advancements when it comes
to race in the NFL, and it's been accomplished by
the work, talent, and persistence of the players. Those players
came together for a documentary or What it Needs to
Be a Black Quarterback in the NFL, and a four
minute segment aired during Super Bowl Sunday, a time slot
testament to how much the league wants to trump at

(21:53):
this advancement in a country in which race has taken
set of stage. The NFL shows the highlight that many
of the game's biggest stars playing the most prominent and
challenge position are black. There is a new feast for
the National Football that Patrick Mahomes and a pret good
quarterback on the other side as well, in DeShawn watching

(22:15):
this a new era, we got a lot of great quarterbacks,
black quarterbacks in the league. Just for me to be
one of those black quarterbacks that starts just god, you know,
because it wasn't on that one point. I think it
shows that that times are changing, that no matter where
you come from, what the color of your skin is,
what your background is, that you can be whoever you

(22:35):
want to be if you really go out there and
dedicate yourself to achieving your dream. Mahomes fire is it
for the end zone touchdown? When I was coming of
age as a football fan, you just never saw any
black quarterbacks, almost to the point where you wonder was
there this secret memo that went out this said that

(22:56):
black quarterbacks weren't a thing or a Black people could
not play this position. Watching football college football, I would
see a bunch of black quarterbacks, but when it got
time to the NFL, it was a handful and not
a whole hand, maybe one or two fingers. And just
watching that, it was mind boggling to see these great

(23:18):
quarterbacks in college do they thing and then not giving
the opportunity in the NFL. They say Art imitates life.
Our sports or reform of art. Our sports also reflect
our civilization and they reflect our society. If a black

(23:43):
person can't go drink at a certain water fountain, you
think that they're going to let that person lead the team.
Hell no, that wasn't going to happen at that point.
Being able to think, being able to make quick decisions
in pressurized times, questioning our intelligence. It was a stigma

(24:07):
that was set up not only about African Americans in
football playing quarterback, but just in general and life. It
was just something that was societal. You know, let's look
at Warren Moon. Warren Moon had to go to the
Canadian Football League for the first five years of his
professional career to get an opportunity to come play in

(24:29):
the NFL. We're talking about his prime years as a
quarterback being played in the CFL before giving the opportunity
to come here to the NFL. And then when he did,
did he do a job Randall Cunningham doing what he did.

(24:57):
It was step by step, a process that didn't happen overnight.
But it's just like in baseball you had your Jackie Robinsons,
where Warren and them were like that for us and
they had a lot of pressure on them. We're celebrating
the day those that paved the way. They wouldn't be
ten now if there wasn't for the one or two

(25:19):
that showed that we could do this. The ball comes,
your white back looks right. Touchdowns hit the insode. Touchdown
they throws is one of the touchdowns. Patrick Mahomes is

(25:42):
a wizard. He's probably one of the greatest quarterbacks to
Africame in the league. Unreal Mahomes truck across this party
on four thousand and nine for forty eight yards. Patrick
Mahomes gets four hundred and fifty million dollars. I love
seeing Patrick Mahomes signed the biggest contract in the NFL. Hit.
I love seeing these amazing, talented, great leaders get the

(26:06):
opportunity to be paid what they're worth. Give me a call, Pad,
I need to live and leave two bugs dob this ship.
We had ten stars. That's great in its self. When
we give to the point that we stop asking the question,
I think that's the most important thing. I don't feel
any added pressure, but I do understand that I need

(26:26):
to go out there and be the best Patrick Mahomes
that I can be every single day not only for myself,
but for the people that come after me, to show
that no matter what your skin tone is, that you
can play this position and succeed at this position every
single day. And I understand that people for me, I've
done that to put me in this position, So I'm
gonna give everything that I have to maximize this opportunity
for the people coming behind me. My next guest, Steelers

(26:52):
quarterback josh With Dobbs, is at a different stage of
his career than Mahomes and Watson. Dobspent the twenty twenty
season as a number three quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and
Mason Rudolph Dallas participated in a groundbreaking Black Quarterback Summit
in the summer of twenty nineteen, the brainchild of Quincy Avery,

(27:13):
who is Deshan Watson's personal quarterback coach. Watson, Moon, Dobbs,
Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Ohio State quarterbacks
Justin Fields all participated in the summit as councilors during
the weekend quarterback camp for kids around the country, everyone
of kids to hear real talk from black quarterbacks who

(27:35):
had made it to the NFL. With more college teams
opening up their offenses and encouraging quarterbacks to use their mobility.
More of the college game has morphed into the NFL.
Instead of an assembly line of pocket passes entering the league,
quarterbacks with a dual threat skill set are being given
the freedom to use their talents. When Moon spoke at

(27:57):
the Quarterback Summit, he told kids to take advantage of
the opportunities to play a quarterback that didn't exist when
he was their age. Dobbs was listening. He had now
standing in college career at Tennessee and he wants to
be a starting quarterback in the NFL. But unlike Moon,
who had the door slammed in his face by the
league for years, Dobbs is being developed by an NFL

(28:21):
team even though he's not a starter. The Steelers also
recently signed quarterback Dwayne Hanskins, a young player who was
released by the Washington football team but who was getting
a second chance after making mistakes on and off the
field during his first two NFL seasons. That gives the
Steelers two black quarterbacks who are number three at number

(28:42):
four on the depth chart. That's something you didn't see
twenty or thirty years ago. Let's talk to Dobbs, a
bright young man who is using his NFL platform to
give back to youngsters who wants to follow in his footsteps.
Can you remember when you first started hearing stories about
black quarterbacks back in the day being discouraged from playing

(29:06):
the quarterback position. I don't. I don't know if there's
a specific moment. I think just through the entirety of
playing football and costs and pass with various people, especially
specifically black quarterbacks. You know, you see it, and I've
experienced it myself growing up. You know, I think is

(29:26):
that the position? Of course, for recently there's been such
a jolt of energy put into the position buying black quarterbacks,
and we see it across the league. But each of
us have our own story growing up of you know,
kind of being discouraged and asked the change position. Extra
obstacles place in front of us to get to where

(29:47):
we want to get to. And then when you interact
with guys that come before you, you know, of course,
I got a chance to sit down with Warren Moon
a couple offseasons ago, being from tennessee the direct line
with how Dr tall Away, the first African American quarterback
in the sec Tony Robinson. He was a side at

(30:08):
the University of Tennessee. So throughout my college career, interacting
with them, hearing their stories. So each of us have
our own story, and I think the obstacles that we faced,
the roadblocks that were attempted to be put in our
way or helped us achieve our dreams and our goals
and get to where we wanted to be in our careers. Now,
can you describe the Black Quarterback Summit that you participate in.

(30:30):
I think it was a summer two down to nineteen
with your quarterback Quizy Abe. Just to give an idea
of what that was like and what went on there. Yeah,
So the Black Quarterback Summit, it was held here in Atlanta.
First started off just a conversation between me, DeShawn, Warren Moon,
and e j Emanuel, which was really cool because EJ

(30:52):
Manuel of course you know Warren Moon answer. Deshan grew
up both in an Atlanta area and named EJ. Manuel
was my counselor at the Elite eleven Camp High School
socafly actually sit down with him outside of a competitive environment.
Here a story here everything his trials, distribulations as well
and then from there, you know, it was teaching and

(31:15):
speaking with the campers. You know, the next generation of
talented quarterbacks that will come into college and into the
NFL and set it on fire. So to be able
to share our stories with them, to inspire them, to
show them, you know, the type of dedication and hard work.
And at the end of the day, you know, everyone's

(31:37):
going to have a diversity in direction. Everyone's going to
have naysayers and doubters who don't believe that they are
good enough to achieve their goals. And at the end
of the day, you know, the opinions of others, that
doesn't really matter. If you're willing to put in the
hard work, you're you're willing to put in the extra effort,
you're willing to go the extra model. And at the

(31:57):
end of the day, if you're willing to outcompete whoever's
placed in front of you, you're able to do those things,
then you're able to achieve holds in your dreams. Now,
I've heard you talk about not taking the victim approach
to being a black quarterback. What do you mean by that? Yeah,
you know, I think a lot of times, you know,

(32:18):
when you're placed in you know, difficult situations. You know
some people where they go into their protective show and
then they take the victim side of it, where it saying,
you know, oo is MEO, the world's against MEO, looking
for every in my opinion, excuse not to excel. And
you know, when you take the victim mentality, you know

(32:40):
you're not confident, you're still stabilities, and you're probably weren't
prepared for the situation and at the end that you
probably were the reason you didn't achieve your dreams and goals.
But when you're able to confidantly step on the field
and know that when you step on the field, you're
the best player out there, and whether you get two
reps or whether you get one hundred reps, those laps

(33:00):
you are going to make the most of them and
you're going to show the type of skill that you have,
the type of quarterback you are and will be. And
when you have that type of confidence level, then there's
no victim approach. You're you're taking advantage of the opportunities
in front of you, and when you do that, that's
when you'll achieve, that's when you'll be successful. So I
think that's my biggest sentiment to young quarterbacks because the

(33:23):
road is difficult. I mean, at the end of the day,
when you get to the the NFL, there's only there's less
than one hundred people in the world playing a quarterback position.
So there's people who aren't black quarterbacks that have roadblocks
in their way, and that the a journey's difficult. Yeah,
you're my journey might be a little bit more difficult
than them. But if you take the victim side of it,
you'll never achieve your dreams. When you attack it the

(33:46):
confidence and you just attack the situation, then the balls
in your court. You had a four point on GPA
and major aerospace engineering. So am I correct in assuming
that no one ever told you you're not enough to
play a quarterback? You are correct in saying that. But
one thing you might be surprised to hear is I

(34:06):
did hear you know? Is he too smart to play
a quarterback? What does that mean? I don't I don't
know what that means. I don't know how you could
possibly be too smart to play the most intellectual game
in all sports. You know, you can't control the people's opinions,
no matter how a wild and preposterous They may be,

(34:28):
but you can't control how you show up, how you
present yourself, and they how you execute the QBA position.
Do you think guys like Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray obviously
guys who can run, but they're also having success at
the NFL level is changing the perception of what a
quarterback has to be and how a quarterback has to

(34:51):
play to win. I think so, you know, I think
just seeing their game and how dynamic it is and
how consistent it is is showing you know, people there's
there's there's a different ways to cut the pie, you know,
and the end of the day, I think a quarterback
should be evaluated off of wins. That's the most important

(35:12):
statin in football. You know, you can throw for a
trillion yards, you can run for a trillion dollars, but
at the end of the day, you know, are you
a competitor and are you winning football games? You know
you are winning football games. That's the only stat that
needs to be evaluated. So you know, there's various ways
to play the position. And especially for me being behind

(35:34):
Um and learning from Big Ben, you know, that's been
productive and learning how he sees the game and plays
the game. You know. So there's various ways to play
the position, and at the end of the day, let
the player play, put that position, put that player in
a in an offense and a scheme that best suits
their skills and abilities, and if there's a sex when
they're winning games, then keep finding ways to essentially those traits. Yeah,

(35:59):
you mentioned play big Ben. I know that you want
to be a starting quarterback. All players do. Is the
fact that we're seeing a few more black quarterbacks who
aren't starting, who aren't star players. Is that a sign
of progress to you or not? I think so. Yeah,
And as you said, of course I do want to
be a starter. I know that time will come and

(36:22):
I'm preparing for that moment. But I do think so,
you know, I think just to see, like the diversity
in the league, especially the quarterback position, is healthy, is
very healthy, and it keeps the competition genuine. I think
no matter what color someone's skin is, what type coun
they are, the best players should be on the team.
Best players should play. So they're not saying teams need to,

(36:45):
you know, seek out ways to have black quarterbacks for sympathy.
I think the best players should be on the team
and given an opportunity to play at the end of
the day. So seeing you know, guys genuinely winning out competition,
playing at a high level, no matter where they are
in the depth chart, being prepared for the opportunity is

(37:07):
I think it's healthy because the showing year of the
league is just getting to where it should be, a
true competitors league where the best players play. You've been terrific.
Is there anything else you want to say, Josh about
the journey the black quarterback in the NFL, past president
future where you see the position headed and the opportunities
for a lot of kids who want to be in

(37:28):
your issues. Yeah, I think like the last thing I'll
say is you know that for the next generation, at
the end of the day, no matter what obstacles, roadblox, discouragements,
negative opinions, negativity, whatever it may be, no matter what
put in front of you or throwing in your way,

(37:49):
and then day you still write your own story. You
still control your own destiny. And that comes through your
the hard work that you put in, that comes to
the extra hours that you put in, that comes with
the type of teammate that are you are, that comes
with the type of leader you are at the end
of the day out no matter what level you know,
winners play. If you win football games, if you constantly

(38:12):
show up and give your team the best opportunity to
win games, whether you're playing JV on Thursdays, Bar City
on Fridays, or college football on Saturdays and eventually Sunday,
then you'll you'll achieve your goals, you'll make it to
where you want to be, and you'll be in the
National Football League. So hopefully my story can serve as
that been thrown every type of obstacles. Hopefully other people's

(38:35):
journey and stories that are currently successful in the league
as well can be an inspiration to that. And I'm
excited to see how the position continues to grow and
where it goes from here. My names gets really these though.
Introduction Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. He is the

(38:57):
youngest Hisman Trophy winner in history, and in his first
full season as the Ravens starter, he became the youngest
quarterback to win the MVP Award. As the only quarterback
in league history with two one thousand yard rushing seasons,
Jackson is changing the way success if the quarterback position
is defined. Jackson hasn't won a Super Bowl yet, but

(39:20):
he's thirty and seven during the regular season as a starter,
and critics could no longer say he's never won a
playoff game. He also led the league in touchdown passes
in twenty nineteen, so while he still hopes to improve
as a passer, he could already dominate games at times
with his arm along with his legs. Many questioned Lamar's

(39:41):
ability to become a star in the NFL when he
entered the league, one of the reasons he almost fell
out of the first round of the NFL Draft. He
hasn't forgotten, and some people suggested he should switch to
wide receiver in the NFL. Jackson said on The Lounge,
another one of our Baltimore Ravens podcasts, that it was
a Charger scout who told him he should run routes

(40:02):
at the twenty eighteen NFL combine. Jackson rarely reacts to criticism,
but after he began his MVP season by throwing five
touchdown passes against the Miami Dolphins, Jackson sent a message
to his critics when he said, quote not bad for
a running back end quote let's hear from Lamar talking

(40:24):
about why I played quarterback became important to him at
a young age. You played safety and peewee football as
well as quarterback. But when did you decide the quarterback
was a position you wanted to play moving forward? What
it was? It my third year in the league. Yeah,
my third year and m S y Field Football, and
I was training with my former first QB coach, coach

(40:47):
Peanut Coursing Warren, and you know I was I was
pretty much lazy out there. You know, I'm like, man,
I want to go out for and like playing with
my friends and stuff like that. But I was crying,
you know, like but I was nine years old at
the time, and you put them to the side. He
was like, what she's gonna be Like, you're gonna waste
um mom, like called my mom. He called her mom too,
like just first bad even though he's older, but like,

(41:07):
you're gonna waste my time in mon time or you're
gonna choose between QB or whatever else you want to do,
like be you know, any other position. I said, I
want to be a quarterback, but he said you better
stop pouting and let's do it. And that's all she
wrote right there. Nine years old. Wow, Now when did
you start hearing stories about the hardships at black quarterbacks
before you hit a phase with people wanting your hits,

(41:28):
switched them positions and denying them opportunities to play quarterback.
Pretty much when I start, you know, getting older and
you know, getting too football even more, because you know,
when I first set off, I wasn't really like drawing
into it, like I watched it and stuff like that,
but I really didn't like watching it, to be honest
with you, Like I was forced to watch it, like
by my father, like watching just watch it this, and
I'm I mean, I don't want to watch it, but
I go play it outside with no problem. So when

(41:50):
I got older, I started, you know, realizing all the
um you know, the changing of qbs, you know when
you get to the next level and stuff like that.
And what was your reaction to that when you heard
about that, I'm not changing my pass. I'm gonna get
a quarterback, That's all I was saying. Now, when you
were choosing to college, Louisville told you you'd have a
true shot to be their quarterback, how much did that
play into your decision to go there? Pretty much? All

(42:13):
of it, you know, because I wanted to get a
chance to play my freshman year. You know, I could
have went to another school or anything like that and
shot out a year, but I wanted to, you know,
get started right away, so I show my time for
the professional level and opportune pretty much told my mom,
you know, in my living room, like, you know, I'm
gonna give them opportunity to play, but you just gotta
be doed then, And that's what it was. Now. I

(42:33):
know you were inspired by Michael Vick as a kid
watching what he could do on the field, and also
when you were playing mad And how do you feel
knowing that there are kids right now, black and white
looking at you the same way that you looked at
Vic Man, That's pretty cool. You know. I just gotta
keep being a positive role model for those kids and
let them know you know, you can. You can make

(42:54):
it from any phase of life, any adversity, and you know,
just be strong, strong minded, and don't ever believe in
people telling you know you can't do something. You know,
just mind over matter, never what they seem. Now, even
after winning the MVP, there's still credits of your game.
I know you're a positive person. Yeah, what's the one criticism?
Of your game that you hear the most that bothers

(43:16):
you all of it. You know, it's just like he's
just annoying. It's annoying, you know, because at the end
of the day, I feel you know, the Ravens organization,
you know, they don't see a lot of quarterbacks before me,
and they wouldn't believe to me if they felt. You know,
how do these people feel. But it's all good. I've
seen Michael Jordan had the same thing going with him
and his career. Brian James and those guys. It's just

(43:38):
part of the game. You know, you're gonna you're gonna
face adversity and doubters, so you just gotta prove them wrong.
You mentioned the Ravens. How much does it mean to
you that not only they drafted you, but believe in
you strong enough to build an offense that suits your
style of play, that they let you be you. It
means a lot to me, you know, because some other
organizations might not change that, you know, they might just

(43:58):
want to keep everything original. And I appreciate that from
step Procida himself. You know, mister Ozzie, those guys coach
hardball umbelieving in me so I just appreciate that. Are
we passed the point of with what you and my
homes doing, Deshaun Russell Wilson, the negative stereo attacks of
black quarterbacks or do you think there's still some of
that going on? Oh, it's gonna still be some of

(44:21):
that going on, you know, But it died down a lot,
you know, because each and every Sunday or whenever any
one of us playing, you know, we were showing up
and were putting on the show. You know, we're not
just out there just playing football and just doing anything.
We out there winning games and I feel putting our
team in best situations, you know. So I guess we
changed the narrative as we're going, just like the guys
before us did. If you do wait the super Bowl

(44:44):
or when you do well super Bowl, let me facing
like that. Do you think that's gonna end the criticism
or are you still thinking you're gonna hear something? Um, hopefully,
I I hope it ends, but I'm still finding to
get that. So when I get that, we will see
all right as one of the faces of the NFL,
and you know, being a quarterback of black quarterback and

(45:05):
so many people looking at you when you're done. Other
than being a winner, what do you want people to
say about you and your career? He was one of
the greatest ever. I want to be known as one
of the greatest, you know, forever remember because you know,
it's a lot of guys who was great throughout the league,
you know, for years, passed and some some people forgot
about those guys. So I just want to be remembered

(45:26):
as one of the greats. Guy who wanted super Bowl
probably super bowls, you know, and his NFL professional career.
I want to be one of those guys like Brady
we get drafted number thirty two. Did that motivate you
coming into the league or not? Oh? For sure? For
sure did it? Definitely? Did? You know? Because I wanted
Hosman in twenty sixteen. You know, miss a team effort.
Don't get me wrong, it's a team effort. But you know,

(45:46):
I want it, and I pretty much had a better
season than I did before. It probably just our team
overall record because we didn't dominate how we did the
year before, you know, but we had a lot of
key guys hurt my junior year. But I guess we
was overlooked or my team was overlooked. So they just
made me overlook in the draft. And it was a
lot of doubt going on when I declared. After I declared,

(46:07):
because before I declared, you know, they were saying I've
been top five coming out of stuff like that. But
you know, they definitely motivated me, you know, going into
the season like it was God's getting drafted. I'm like, man,
I heard about these guys while I was in college.
But you know it's all good. You know God had
a better plan too. I'm just stay farming. I'm in Baltimore,
and you know we're doing what we're doing here, no question.
I wouldn't change the thing about you, Lamar. So thanks

(46:27):
for doing this, Yes, sir, thanks for coming on Black
and NFL. Best of luck moving forward. I appreciate you,
mister Clifton. My final guests is Lamar's personal quarterback coach,
Joshua Harris, another South Florida native who had seen Jackson's
impact on youngsters in the area where he grew up.

(46:50):
Josh ses junsters wearing the number eight jersey, many of
them black, who idolized Jackson. Josh Let me ask you this.
Can you talk about the impact that Lamar is having
on kids playing youth football in South Florida. How much
of an impact is Lamar having on them? One of
the things I'll say about South Florida. You know, it's

(47:11):
kind of like New York City basketball, you know, or
any of those areas where you kind of think of,
this is what kids do. So I would say more
Lamar is a byproduct of being from South Florida. We
play football in South Florida. It's it's kind of a
young man's rite of passage. So every kid's playing. But
when you see a Lamar, who's so I want to say,

(47:34):
I guess genuinely authentically a South Florida guy. From his dress,
from his talk, from the way he carries himself. He's
never tried to hide his South Florida roots. I think
it empowers kids to be more individualistic and be themselves,
not feeling that you have to get to a certain
level and then have to change who you are or

(47:56):
your game. When kids seem are playing in the NFL
having so much success with his style of play, do
you think that's influencing them as well? From a football standpoint, Yeah,
I got I got two sides on it. I guess
two points number one. I think Lamar's game is a
game we see often in South Florida, but that has

(48:19):
been told won't make it on the next level. And
you know, even going back to just what we've seen
historically as the African American quarterback right in South Florida,
we have a lot of guys, maybe not as talented
as Lamar, but who play a similar game who then
feel like, because they've been told as narrative, that hey,

(48:40):
this won't work on the next level, and so they
either change positions or they don't get a shot at quarterback.
I think when you're seeing Lamar with the success that
he's having, I think more kids are believing that, hey,
I can play this type of style, that this is
real quarterbacking. But I also say, I see it, man.

(49:02):
The narrative has become so strong that kids still kind
of see Lamar as an anomaly. You know, they still
believe this thing of how that a quarterback is supposed
to play a certain way, that the only legitimate quarterback
yards are passing yards. And that is a little disheartening.
So as a coach, how do you verbalize and coach

(49:23):
kids who you feel are thinking what you just said,
did Hey, at some point I'm gonna have to change
to play in the NFL because I can't do it
this way. I've come up with this phrase that I'm
using lately, But a yard is a yard. If that
yard is through the air, if it's on the ground,
it's still a yard. Your goal as a quarterback is
to orchestrate your offense and get them to score, and

(49:46):
that can be by any means necessary. Right, And I
try to show young men that I know, we hear this,
you know, IQ and so forth, But it takes a
lot of football IQ to know when to tuck it,
when to run it, when to throw. That's the same
intelligence it takes to break down a defense. It's the
same type of intelligence when the pool, if you're doing

(50:07):
his own read when the pool when they go. That's
the same brain power and skill that we praise a
Tom Brady and the Drew Brees for in the traditional
role of quarterbacking. And so what I try to tell
these young men is you play the game that you're
familiar with, you get as good as you can at
that game. And what we're seeing now is the game

(50:28):
on the highest level is changing and coaches are appreciating
that that they understand the mental makeup and the mental
dexterity it takes to know when to make the right
decision when the passer run. It's about decision making, not
so necessarily do you have the skill set to sit
in the pocket and read the defense and get to

(50:48):
your fifth check down, because most people aren't doing that anyway. Now,
correct me if I'm wrong. But you have a son
who plays quarterback, and obviously you're Lamar's personal quarterback coach.
Can you talk a little bit the relationship they have
and the impact that Lamar has on him. Honestly, that's
probably my favorite part of all of this is that

(51:09):
Number one is my son coming up as a kid,
he was a fan of Lamar Jackson, right, And then
you know, I trained Lamar and I always I tell
the story that some people Lamar's like, you know, my
son's named his nickname is Champ. He said, who's his
favorite player? And I'm like, you, dully, what do you
mean he loves He's like what and so, But I
think that's the nature of the relationship. It's a big

(51:30):
brother little brother role. Right. They trained together a lot
of times. Lamar first one, he gets out there here,
He's like, where's Champ? Because Champ pushes him. Right, Champ
throws a good ball, Lamar say, Man, good ball. I
gotta get better than that. And then so they push
each other because Lamar so genuine and my son just started.
He's a sophomore and he took over as the varsity

(51:51):
starter the last two games of the season. So I'll
text Lamar and I said, hey, man, Champ got his
first start. First thing, he said, Man, send me the
film coach, and you know he got the field. He said,
oh Man, what college is my boy going to? He
was just so excited. So he gives him advice. Right now,
my son has a he drew himself with a marker
on the wall. But it's like win a state championship.

(52:14):
Why because Lamar said, hey man, I didn't win a
state championship, so you gotta win one for the both
of us. So Lamar is a big brother, but he's
also like this this standard to achieve, and I'm so
fair grateful for the relationship he has with my son.
With this current range of black quarterbacks come into the league,
young black quarterback, how is it important is it that

(52:35):
Lamar Mahomes Russell Wilson to mention three are not only
great players, but they have great character. It's immensely important
because whatever you want to say, as a minority, and
as even in that position, we're still a minority. Of
the statistics of the position, they're going to be looked

(52:56):
at with a microscope. They have a smaller margin of error.
And for all those years in decades where people said,
you know, because really the quarterback position is the leadership position, right,
and I believe that the doubts of the black quarterback
was more we had such historically do we want to
have an African American man leading a team or being

(53:19):
the face of a billion dollar corporation? And so I
think with these young men not only being ballers but
being wonderful men of character, is starting to change the
mindset of people that know, an African American male can
be the face of a franchise, he can be the
leader of men, and also you can trust him in

(53:41):
your community and everywhere else. So I think it's huge.
It's immensely important for them and the next generation, and
just for people to start to get used to seeing
African American quarterbacks. How long ago we have seeing this
wave a black quarterback if not for racism. Yeah, I mean,
what else can you say? You know, it's just a

(54:03):
belief that has been passed down for decades, and even
if people may not have seen it, it was there subconsciously.
It's just the belief. If you don't see it, you
don't think it. And because of things put in place
and narratives put apart, that we're birth out of racism.
And I'm not saying that. You know, executives and so
forth have been racist over the last few decades, but

(54:23):
I believe it's birth out of racism where there weren't
opportunities and people go with what they know. And what
people know is, let me see the tall, blond hair,
blue eyed, you know, suburban all American quarterback who happens
to be white, and they weren't used to seeing a
black man play that position. Do you remember during the

(54:44):
twenty eighteen NFL Draft what you were thinking when it
looked like Lamar was going to fall all the way
out of first round until the Ravens grabbed him at
number thirty two. Yes, and you I'll never forget it.
People may not believe me. I was the optimist at
the table, so going into it now. I just you know,

(55:07):
after all the conversations, man, I felt like the Ravens
was the best organization for him, you know, just I
felt like they had a good understanding of who he was.
So I was rooting for the Ravens. When you know
in the middle round they traded back, trade it down, right,
I was like, okay, And this is what I was
telling him. I said, all right, the team's here, don't

(55:29):
need a quarterback. So the Ravens are being smart and
they can save some money. That's the business part of it, right.
Then they drafted Hayden Hurst and I was like, oh,
I sounded like an idiot, you know what I mean,
because they went with hers. So then I remember New
England was there towards the second to last pick. You know,
they had good conversations. So I was like, okay, maybe

(55:49):
New England. But then I remember, you know, Lamar was
starting to be like dang man, you know, and we
had only came. We were prepared there for just that day.
And then I started telling him. One of the things
that the NFL franchises do is that a team will
trade back into that last spot to secure that fifth
year four quarterback and so I told him and his

(56:11):
mother that, and that was kind of the only optimistic
string we were hanging on too. And I'll never forget
how close it is because we're sitting there and we're
one of the last people on the table and Darius
guys from LSU his party was at a table in
the catacorner and their phone rings and basically when you're
in the groom room and the phone rings, that's the team.

(56:33):
And so it looks like it's over and they're celebrating,
you know, because all the family who's not on the
phone is like, oh if the phone rings, is it?
And so we're like, oh, man, I'm like Dan, and
I'm kind of like, okay, I've been the one preaching
this optimism. What am I going to say now now
that it's over and we didn't get drafted, Like it's
this real? And then the phone rings and nobody's answering it,

(56:55):
and I had to hear them. I said, fat, answer
the phone. We were all just shocked, and even Lamar's
mother said, yeah, you know, coach Josh, he just forgot
for us, right, I'm just like, man, answer the phone.
So he picks it up and they were all like,
who is it? Who is it? And then it was
the raven. So yes, I'll never forget that moment, because man,
it looked like it was going down and I had

(57:16):
to be optimistic and then it came man with a
great moment. How much did it helped Lamar to have
someone like his mother in his corner growing up, who
wasn't going to let any coach get away with switching
him to a different position. I think it's everything, you know.
Even even when I talked to him, he telled me
because I wasn't in his life when he was a child.
But he'll say I didn't really like football, you know.

(57:39):
He says, Hey, my dad would make me sit down
and watch it, but I didn't really enjoy it, you know.
And then his father past. But and then you tell
the story, man, my mother would put us in the
backyard and tackle us. My mother would make me run.
His mother bought a big tire so they could hit it, like,
you know, like she was the driving force. And so
I think that's why he gives her honor. And she

(57:59):
would like we've heard the stories, you know, when people
try to move his position. It's almost like she had
Antenna's up wait what and she would shut all of
that down all the way up to college. So I think, man,
that is that's crucial to the story of him staying
the course and being what we're seeing now. Now. Obviously,

(58:19):
in his position, Lamar has to answer so many questions
and he's kind of carrying the torch along with these
other black quarterbacks of the new era black quarterbacks. Do
you feel he feels pressure in any way along those veins,
because he's a lot of times he doesn't really seem,
you know, real eager to talk about that aspect of

(58:41):
his journey. Yeah, I think he's aware of what he
is in his place, right, But then again, I don't
think he feels pressure because I do think and I
think this is with probably with most elite athletes. He
knows what he can do and he's just trying to
go out and play ball, right, And I don't think
he's focused on the societal aspect of it. But is

(59:03):
he aware of who he is and sticking to his identity,
of course, But I do not think he feels pressure
to be something. You know, he wants to be himself
and he knows who he is a young black man
from South Florida in a dreamlike situation, and I think
he honors that in everything he does, his preparation, how
he lives off his life. But I don't think there's
any pressure. And he has mentioned a couple of times

(59:25):
that you know, he saw so many talented kids growing up,
some of them never made out in neighborhood. Do you
feel like, maybe not only during his career, but after
his career, he's going to try to help more kids
to find success, whether it's in athletics or something else

(59:49):
from the place where he rucked. I don't have to
even think I know he is. That's been on his
mind and his mother's mind from the very beginning of
this process when they saw that, you know, the NFL
was there. And I'll give you an example. Number one
right now is Forever Dreamers organization is holding seven on
seven tryouts in his neighborhood. Everything is paid for for

(01:00:12):
kids in his neighborhood and they'll be able to travel
and do seven on seven tournaments. And it's held at
the park where he played youth football. So that's and
he did that last year. He's doing it again. So
that's one thing, and I think the biggest thing was.
It's been written about the organization that we trained. You know,
when it started it it was coach Van Warren and

(01:00:33):
Lamar's mother, Felicia Jones, and they would train on Sundays
at the park where he played youth football. Every Sunday
for about three or four hours, they would train and
any kids were invited. Well, when Lamar went off to college,
what Felicia and Van said was, Hey, we got to
keep this going for the next generation. So even since

(01:00:55):
Lamar has been in college, every Sunday in Pompano Beach
at McNair Park you can find Coach Warren and Felicia
until they moved to Baltimore and me. Now you can
find a Sunday training the next generation and just teaching them.
And they always say this, Lamar says A two. There

(01:01:15):
were a lot of talented kids out here. Lamar just
kept working, you know, And so that's the mantra to
the kids. So yes, I know he'll do it, and
he's doing it now, trying to inspire and give us
support to the next generation. And lastly, I just just
hit me. At his youth part that he played at
they have an MVP Trophy and it is the Lamar

(01:01:36):
Jackson trophy that they give to the kid who was
the best player on the team is named after him,
and when he's in town, he actually signs it and
takes a picture with the kids. So still inspiring them.
It's not lost on me that I began my sportswriting

(01:01:58):
career covering a d a young black quarterback, Derek Crude,
whose path to becoming an NFL quarterback was sidetracked by
race before it even began. Now near the end of
my career covering Lamar Jackson, a young black quarterback who
so joyfully plays the position in the NFL with a
style all his own. Lamar has an undeniable carrisbon that

(01:02:22):
attracts people from all races, and he's playing for a
team that had the foresight to redesign its offense to
accentuate his unique skill set. The Ravens had three black
quarterbacks take regular season snaps last season, Lamar, Robert Griffin
the Third, and Tyler Huntley. I view that as progress.

(01:02:43):
The racism endured by Warren Moon and some of the
NFL's earliest starting black quarterbacks like Marlon Briscoe, James Shack Harris,
and others was not for naught all the great quarterback
once is the ball in his hands, with enough time
left on the cloud. For the young black quarterbacks you're
seeing today, their time is down. Join us for the

(01:03:11):
next episode of Black in the NFL. It will be
the season finale, in which we will look back on
the past year and the progress made or lack thereof,
and look ahead to the long term vision when it
comes to racing the NFL. I will be joined by
two of the most powerful black men in the NFL,
nfl PA Executive Director Debree Smith, an NFL Executive Vice

(01:03:35):
President of Football Operations Troy Vincent, among others. Black in
the NFL is powered by Blue Wire. The show is
produced and edited by Noah Eberhard, An executive produced by
Michelle Andres, Ryan Mink, John Yales, and Peter Moses. Tutor

(01:03:59):
to the Raven podcast Network for two other podcasts, The
Lounge hosted by Garrett Downy and Ryan Mink and What
Happened to That Guy? Hosted by John Isenburg. Thanks so all,
my guests, and join us for the next episode of
Black in the NFL. Until then, be blessed and thanks

(01:04:21):
for listening.