Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts Make NFL History as First Head-to-Head Black QB Matchup

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by Eric Fulton
The Super Bowl LVII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles has many storylines leading up to the most anticipated Super Bowl perhaps ever. You have Jason and Travis Kelce facing each other (although both brothers play offense) – the first time brothers have faced off in Super Bowl history. There is Andy Reid, the winningest coach in Eagles history, looking to win a second Super Bowl title against his former team. The Chiefs and the Eagles had the best records in the NFL and were the number-one seed in their respective conferences. But what should be the biggest headline in this Super Bowl matchup is the starting quarterbacks for their respective teams.

Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are two of the eight black starting quarterbacks in the NFL. When they both step on the field for Super Bowl LVII, it will be the first time two black quarterbacks started against each other in a Super Bowl. It is a huge deal because Mahomes and Hurts were the two best quarterbacks in the NFL this season, and both quarterbacks are finalists for the NFL MVP award. For Mahomes, who is making his third appearance in the Super Bowl, a Super Bowl win would make it his second in just five years and would put him among the greatest to ever play in the NFL in a short amount of time. Hurts, who is only in his second full season as Philadelphia’s quarterback, could already become one of the greatest quarterbacks in Eagles franchise history.

Mahomes and Hurts both started their football journeys in the football-rich state of Texas. Mahomes grew up in a small Texas town called Whitehouse while Hurts grew up in the Houston area. In college, Hurts was building a legacy by winning national championships at Alabama. Although Hurts was successful as the Crimson Tide’s signal caller, he would eventually lose his job to Tua Tagovailoa and transfer to Oklahoma for his final year of college football. Mahomes went to Texas Tech in Lubbock and became the greatest quarterback in that school’s history. In three seasons of college football, Mahomes threw for 11,252 yards and 93 touchdowns. 

Though he did not win the National Championship in college like Hurts, Mahomes’ talent was not missed by scouts as he was drafted 10th overall by Kansas City in the 2017 NFL draft. Hurts spent four years in college football playing at two legendary powerhouses, throwing for 9.477 yards and 80 touchdowns. Hurts had a great college career but being benched and transferring probably hurt his draft stock. The Eagles drafted Hurts 53rd overall (2nd round) in the 2020 NFL draft. 

Even though Mahomes had a three-year head start over Hurts in his career, both quarterbacks would not start for their perspective teams right away. In 2017, Mahomes started one game for the Chiefs while Alex Smith became the main starter for most of the season. When Kansas City moved on from Smith, they named Mahomes the starting quarterback and never turned back. Since 2018, Mahomes has won 63 games, while throwing for nearly 24,000 yards and 192 touchdowns. He won the regular season MVP in his first full season in 2018, led the Chiefs to hosting five straight AFC championship games, playing in the Super Bowl twice, and winning MVP in Super Bowl LIV. Mahomes has also set 13 different NFL records in only five full seasons as a starting quarterback.

Hurts’ start to his NFL career started a little rocky. He made his NFL debut in Week 13 of the 2020 season relieving an ineffective Carson Wentz. In that game against the Green Bay Packers, Hurts threw for 109 yards and a touchdown in an Eagles loss. The next week, Hurts would get his first career start against the New Orleans Saints and would lead the Eagles to a 24-21 win. Hurts would get benched in the Week 17 finale which eventually led to the firing of head coach Doug Pederson. After hiring new head coach Nick Sirianni, Hurts would become the full-time starter in 2021.  He went 8-7 as a starter in 2021, but the Eagles made the playoffs losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round. For the season, Hurts threw for 3,144 yards and 16 touchdowns, while rushing for 784 yards on 139 attempts. He led all quarterbacks that season in rushing yards and rushing attempts. Hurts would have a breakout season in 2022. He tied Randall Cunningham for the most touchdown passes in a season in Eagles history with 35. He threw for 3,701 yards with a quarterback rating of 105.1. He would be selected to his first Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro for his great play in 2022.

The path of a black quarterback playing in the NFL has never been easy. When the first Super Bowl was played in 1966, there were no active black quarterbacks. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was not a single NFL game that featured two starting black quarterbacks, and by 2000, there were no black quarterbacks facing each other in a playoff game. When you look at the history of black quarterbacks starting in the Super Bowl, there is not a lot of history. Black quarterbacks starting in the Super Bowl have record of 3-3 all-time. A black quarterback's biggest and most important win was from Doug Williams in Super Bowl XXII. Williams, who was the first black quarterback drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in 1978, threw for four touchdowns in one quarter (still a Super Bowl record) in Washington’s 42-10 victory over Denver. Since Williams’ special night in 1988, only two other black starting quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl (Russell Wilson and Mahomes).  Having Mahomes and Hurts start Super Bowl LVII is already a major win for the NFL, sports fans, black quarterbacks, and the black community as a whole. I am very excited to see what talents both Patrick and Jalen will display for football’s biggest prize. 

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