African Americans and college football, Part 4: The “black” quarterback

The 1990s: Changing the game

If Charlie Ward played in this era, there’s no way he’d ever wear a New York Knicks jersey. He became the first — and only — former Heisman Trophy winner to play professional basketball. He would have been the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Consider that Kyler Murray was 5-11 and the Arizona Cardinals picked him No. 1, but one of the reasons Ward wasn’t drafted was his size — Ward is 6-foot-2. The way the legendary coach Bobby Bowden and the offensive staff designed the offense to emphasize Ward’s strength — no-huddle, tempo style offense — was a precursor to the way most teams play today. In addition to winning the Heisman, Ward also led his team to the 1993 National Championship.

Speaking of winners, Tommie Frazier is one of the great winning quarterbacks in the history of college football. He lost one game in his career as a full-time starter and was part of two national championship teams playing for three. Who could forget his iconic run in the Fiesta Bowl? During the 1990s black quarterbacks proved they could not only play, but they could win.

At this time in the college game, there were quarterbacks who could run, and quarterbacks who could throw. There weren’t any that could do both. You were either Andre Ware, or you were Frazier. Then there was Michael Vick.

Before Vick dazzled fans in Blacksburg, there was no such thing as the “dual-threat” quarterback. Despite this being an article about college football, Vick’s narrative begins on draft night. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. This was a signal, that times — and our perception of how a quarterback should play — were changing.

Vick could run like a sprinter and had elite arm talent. In fact, the only quarterback prospect with better pure arm talent to come out of college was John Elway.