Doug Williams, first Black QB to start a Super Bowl, calls Hurts-Mahomes matchup 'progress'

Doug Williams, first Black QB to start a Super Bowl, moved to tears by Hurts-Mahomes matchup

Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Kansas City Chiefs to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12. Hurts aims to become the fourth Black QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Williams, Mahomes and Russell Wilson.

PHILADELPHIA - Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, said he got emotional when he heard that Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes would make football history as the first Black quarterbacks to square off in a Super Bowl.

"I’m glad you didn’t call me when if first happened, because my emotions got the best of me," Williams told FOX 29's Chris O'Connell on Monday.

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Williams won the Most Valuable Player award in Super Bowl 22 as a member of the then-Washington Redskins. His NFL career spanned nine total seasons with stops in Washington and Tampa Bay from 1978-1989.

"You got two black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl, to me, I thought we made some progress, but we made a lot more progress last night," he said.

Williams isn't alone. Fellow Black athletes joined him in honoring the matchup, with Magic Johnson calling it "a historic moment" and former quarterback Warren Moon tweeting "We've come a long way."

Meanwhile, Williams said he would like to see more Black coaches on NFL sidelines and called the league's interview process a "sham" that he believes isn't giving Black coaches a fair shot. Last NFL season there were just three Black head coaches in the NFL.

"You bring in all of these coaches to interview for a sham, at end of the day you already know who you are going to hire," Williams said. "That’s the tragedy of what is going on in the NFL is the black coach isn’t getting a chance"

Williams, who now works for the Washington Commanders front office as an advisor, says in a town with quarterbacks like Randall Cunningham, Donovan and Micheal Vick, it’s not hard to see why Hurts is taking off with Eagles fans.

"I can’t lose, I can’t lose because we got exactly what we want to have," Williams said when asked who he's rooting for in the Super Bowl. "This is one game I wish would end in a tie."