By Walter L. Hilliard III –
USA Today’s Pat Yasinskas (USA Today Sports) ranks the NFL’s top 11 backup quarterbacks for 2019; however, what’s interesting is three of the top four are Black and all three were previously really good starters— two for their former teams, and one, Brissett, replaced Andrew Luck in 2017 when he was rehabbing.
The old story is that if you’re Black, be it in the workplace or sports arena, you have to be two-to-three— and sometimes even 10 times better than the competing White person. On the surface, it appears that there is no better merit-based profession to prove one’s superior talent than sports, especially when it comes to the quarterback position in a league that’s over 70 percent Black — yet the number of starting Black quarterbacks fluctuates on the low end, sometimes being at a level of only three, four, sometimes more, starting Black quarterbacks?
But speaking of merit, race, the quarterback position, and controversy, Colin Kaepernick (2.4) is 4th among NFL quarterbacks in Touchdown-to-interception ratio, right behind Aaron Rogers (4.22), Russell Wilson (3.11), and Tom Brady (3.02) — three of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. But some jackasses among sportswriters, analyst, and fans try to scam us and say he’s not good enough to play in the league. Laughable! Biased! Racist! Kaepernick, who has since been banned by the NFL for taking a knee and protesting the police shooting innocent Black men without being held accountable, was on his way to being a great quarterback— and the combination of his running and passing abilities had literally changed the game and how defenses had to adjust after he began starting. He led his teams to 2 NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl, coming within a dropped pass of winning the Superbowl. And he has two NFL records, one for having the most rushing yards for a quarterback in a single game (181 yards); another record for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a postseason game (264 yards).
Here’s the top 5 on the backup quarterback list: 1. Teddy Bridgewater, New Orleans Saints. 2. Josh McCowan, Philadelphia Eagles. 3. Tyrod Taylor, Los Angeles Chargers. 4. Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis Colts. 5. Daniel Jones, New York Giants.
Tyrod Taylor, who went to the NFL Pro Bowl in 2015 and is a former starter with the Buffalo Bills has 53 career touchdowns and only 20 interceptions, and also took the Bills to the playoffs in 2017, only to be traded. Additionally, Taylor holds the Bill passing completion percentage record, 62.6%, even better than Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly. And he holds the Bills record for the most consecutive passes without an interception, 222 passes; Taylor actually holds six Bills franchise records— yet they couldn’t wait to run him out of town.
Jacoby Brissett (ranked 4th on the backup quarterback list) of the Indianapolis Colts, who once backed up New England Patriot great Tom Brady, currently backs up Andrew Luck. But the question is why didn’t every team that needed a starting quarterback not go and get Brissett the way they did the White QBs who were good enough to back up a Tom Brady? No need to discuss a bunch of stats because you don’t become a backup to Tom Brady, handpicked by the great Bill Belichick unless you can really play.
In a 2016 NFL Wild Card game, Teddy Bridgwater let his Vikings to a playoff win over the great Russell Wilson, another Black quarterback. Bridgewater owns two NFL records — Highest completion percentage in a single game by a rookie quarterback with at least 40 attempts: 75.6%; and first rookie quarterback to ever complete over 70% of his passes in four straight games. He also owns 10 Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback records and, again, took the Vikings to the playoffs before a knee injury. Nonetheless, they couldn’t wait to trade him and get a White quarterback in. After his stint in Minnesota, Bridgewater ended up backing up the great Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, arguably the best NFL quarterback, ever, holding the NFL’s all-time passing yardage record of 74,437 yards.
