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The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback
The story of two pioneering Black NFL football players that changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.
There is no position in pro sports more important than an NFL quarterback. But quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years, and when Doug Williams and Vince Evans arrived in the league in the late 1970s, they got death threats, faced racist questions, and knew that a single mistake could end their careers. The Great Black Hope tells the twin stories of Vince Evans, an electrifying dual-threat quarterback ahead of his time, and of Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to become a champion. Moore shows how easily Williams' triumphant story could have gone wrong and how his success changed the game and the country.
A skillful blend of game-time drama and social commentary, this book captures unheralded heroes of the NFL and all that they meant, both on the field and off.
There is no position in pro sports more important than an NFL quarterback. But quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years, and when Doug Williams and Vince Evans arrived in the league in the late 1970s, they got death threats, faced racist questions, and knew that a single mistake could end their careers. The Great Black Hope tells the twin stories of Vince Evans, an electrifying dual-threat quarterback ahead of his time, and of Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to become a champion. Moore shows how easily Williams' triumphant story could have gone wrong and how his success changed the game and the country.
A skillful blend of game-time drama and social commentary, this book captures unheralded heroes of the NFL and all that they meant, both on the field and off.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 24, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 12, 2024
I know what you are thinking.
You (very sarcastically): "Brendan, you are the perfect person to review a book about Black NFL quarterbacks. I've always wondered what a pasty, uncoordinated history nerd would think about a book on this topic."
Me: "Ok, first of all, I played football in high school. The fact that I was one of the worst football players to ever exist is immaterial. I am a huge football fan and have loved the Giants since I was born (and even now when they SUCK). And I'm not pasty. I was at the beach recently so I would argue I am closer to a lighter shade of super white. And none of this has to do with book reviewing so back off, dude."
Now that you and I are back on track, let's talk about The Great Black Hope by Louis Moore. The basic gist is this. The NFL, for a very long time, did not think Black men could be quarterbacks for various racist reasons and actively made them switch to other positions on the field. I remember this controversy from when Rush Limbaugh (yes, that Rush Limbaugh) made comments on ESPN (because he WORKED there at one point) about this topic and had to immediately resign after. (Seriously, does everyone remember when ESPN hired him? The early 2000s were WILD!) Moore traces these issues back much further than that incident and what was most eye opening about the subject was the number of quotes Moore could pull from major newspapers for decades about this subject.
Moore makes the narrative an easy read from a prose perspective. He's done some excellent research and I think he definitely makes his arguments for the most part. There are certain sections where I felt he tried too hard to not make it the fault of certain players he was talking up. Football historians could probably have a field day arguing about the merits of all the Black quarterbacks listed in here, but most are well before my time.
The book is best when Moore focuses on his two main QBs which are Doug Williams and Vince Evans. This is almost a dual biography of the two and the narrative somewhat revolves around a game they played against each other. The game is not nearly as impactful to the overall narrative because there is still a good amount of story left after the game. It's not a problem as the book is interesting throughout.
As for how impactful these two men had on the Black communities around them, I am completely unqualified to answer that question. All I know is that I'd kill to have Patrick Mahomes on my team and I wouldn't dare ask him to change positions.
(This book was provided as a review copy by PublicAffairs.)
You (very sarcastically): "Brendan, you are the perfect person to review a book about Black NFL quarterbacks. I've always wondered what a pasty, uncoordinated history nerd would think about a book on this topic."
Me: "Ok, first of all, I played football in high school. The fact that I was one of the worst football players to ever exist is immaterial. I am a huge football fan and have loved the Giants since I was born (and even now when they SUCK). And I'm not pasty. I was at the beach recently so I would argue I am closer to a lighter shade of super white. And none of this has to do with book reviewing so back off, dude."
Now that you and I are back on track, let's talk about The Great Black Hope by Louis Moore. The basic gist is this. The NFL, for a very long time, did not think Black men could be quarterbacks for various racist reasons and actively made them switch to other positions on the field. I remember this controversy from when Rush Limbaugh (yes, that Rush Limbaugh) made comments on ESPN (because he WORKED there at one point) about this topic and had to immediately resign after. (Seriously, does everyone remember when ESPN hired him? The early 2000s were WILD!) Moore traces these issues back much further than that incident and what was most eye opening about the subject was the number of quotes Moore could pull from major newspapers for decades about this subject.
Moore makes the narrative an easy read from a prose perspective. He's done some excellent research and I think he definitely makes his arguments for the most part. There are certain sections where I felt he tried too hard to not make it the fault of certain players he was talking up. Football historians could probably have a field day arguing about the merits of all the Black quarterbacks listed in here, but most are well before my time.
The book is best when Moore focuses on his two main QBs which are Doug Williams and Vince Evans. This is almost a dual biography of the two and the narrative somewhat revolves around a game they played against each other. The game is not nearly as impactful to the overall narrative because there is still a good amount of story left after the game. It's not a problem as the book is interesting throughout.
As for how impactful these two men had on the Black communities around them, I am completely unqualified to answer that question. All I know is that I'd kill to have Patrick Mahomes on my team and I wouldn't dare ask him to change positions.
(This book was provided as a review copy by PublicAffairs.)
April 21, 2025
I know literally nothing about football, so a lot of the technical talk of the game went over my head, but even taking that into consideration, this was a phenomenal read. This book did an amazing job telling the story of the creation of the Black quarterback and all the barriers put in the way of Black athletes like Doug Williams and Vince Evans. Well-researched and entertaining (Louis Moore makes some great quips throughout), this was an enjoyable read that taught me a lot about the history of America's most popular sport.
October 12, 2024
This was an interesting look at a major racial dynamic in the history of sports: race and the quarterback. The QB might be the most iconic position in all of American sports. The QB is the leader, the field marshal, the coolest guy on campus. It is a difficult position requiring not just judgment and athleticism but leadership abilities as well. For much of the history of football, coaches and other authority figures believed (to varying levels of consciousness) that black people did not have these qualities and would be better used in more "athletic" positions that ostensibly demand less intelligence, such as DB or receiver.
Moore explores this history through two of the first black quarterbacks to achieve starting roles in the NFL. The first is Vince Evans, who played what was seen as a stereotypically black or "playground" type of football involving a lot of rolling out of the pocket and running for yardage. Evans had a mixed NFL career hobbled by injuries, inconsistent play, and adversarial relations with coaches. The other is Doug Williams, a more classic QB who stood in the pocket and made big throws (white-coded behavior). Williams went to the HBCU Grambling State and eventually won a Super Bowl with the Redskins.
Both QBs, however, had to face above average and often racist vitriol from fans as well as the added burden of being black QBs who were seen as representing the race, as well as all other future black QBs. Moore shows how coaches would steadily push black QBs into other positions, filtering them out before they reached the elite levels of the game. Some black QBs would even intentionally run slower during combines to avoid being slotted elsewhere. Media commentary often fixated on their race, accents, and leadership abilities. At times I thought Moore might have overplayed racism as the reason Evans didn't play (he seemed like a very average pro), but overall he gives a vivid sense
The main drawback to this book for me was that the main characters didn't pop much as characters. Sports writing often gets a little dull when it's just descriptions of games, so it relies on character development, and these guys just weren't all that personally compelling to me, even though they had interesting backgrounds. This isn't really the author's fault; it's just my reaction to the book.
So if you want to know how we arrived at a league where black QBs are taking off and reinventing the position (like the thrilling Lamar Jackson), this is a good book to pick up for historical context. You do have to be quite a football fan though, as Moore really goes into the Xs and Os!
Moore explores this history through two of the first black quarterbacks to achieve starting roles in the NFL. The first is Vince Evans, who played what was seen as a stereotypically black or "playground" type of football involving a lot of rolling out of the pocket and running for yardage. Evans had a mixed NFL career hobbled by injuries, inconsistent play, and adversarial relations with coaches. The other is Doug Williams, a more classic QB who stood in the pocket and made big throws (white-coded behavior). Williams went to the HBCU Grambling State and eventually won a Super Bowl with the Redskins.
Both QBs, however, had to face above average and often racist vitriol from fans as well as the added burden of being black QBs who were seen as representing the race, as well as all other future black QBs. Moore shows how coaches would steadily push black QBs into other positions, filtering them out before they reached the elite levels of the game. Some black QBs would even intentionally run slower during combines to avoid being slotted elsewhere. Media commentary often fixated on their race, accents, and leadership abilities. At times I thought Moore might have overplayed racism as the reason Evans didn't play (he seemed like a very average pro), but overall he gives a vivid sense
The main drawback to this book for me was that the main characters didn't pop much as characters. Sports writing often gets a little dull when it's just descriptions of games, so it relies on character development, and these guys just weren't all that personally compelling to me, even though they had interesting backgrounds. This isn't really the author's fault; it's just my reaction to the book.
So if you want to know how we arrived at a league where black QBs are taking off and reinventing the position (like the thrilling Lamar Jackson), this is a good book to pick up for historical context. You do have to be quite a football fan though, as Moore really goes into the Xs and Os!
October 5, 2025
This is a good book chronicling the lives and careers of Vince Evans and Doug Williams, two black quarterbacks from the late 1970s and 1980s who have the distinction of being the first black QBs to start an NFL game against each other (in 1979). Moore covers their rise in the context of other black QBs and would-be QBs, as the sport kept having them change position or not giving them a chance. Most notably, there is James Harris, who took the Rams to the NFC Conference final three years in a row, only for the team to dump him due to heavy fan pressure.
Doug Williams went to Grambling, where Eddie Robinson was trying to help a black QB break through. John McKay had been a college coach willing to use black QBs at USC (he coached Vince Evans there) and he was Williams's coach in Tampa. The Tampa owner was racist and wouldn't pay Williams much, so he lept to the USFL. When that folded, Joe Gibbs, formerly a coordinater for McKay, nabbed Williams. In a gutsy move, he named Williams the starter just before the 1987 playoffs, even though Jay Schroeder had started most of the year there. Williams gave the Super Bowl title. Even still, Williams wasn't much long for the league after that.
Evans wasn't as great a career or story, but he held on until he was about 40. Moore argues Evans was a different kind of trailblazer, showing a black QB didn't have to be a star to be in the NFL. You could be a journeyman or backup and still be a black QB.
Moore does a good job telling his story, but he sometimes leans a bit too much on assertion. He'll often state something that I don't doubt - but it's just him stating it. I could use some more examples or quotes from the time. At times he overstates things, like when he says of Super Bowl XXII, "For that gernation of Black Ameicans, [Doug] Williams was their Joe Louis, their Jackie Robinson, their Rosa Parks, their Martin Luther King Jr." (253). Did he really have to go that far?
Still, it is overall a decent book and I'm glad I read it. Fun fact: Walter Payton's mom rooted for Washington (and Doug Williams) in the 1987 playoffs against the Bears, even though it was her son's last NFL game. Heh.
Random sidenote: as someone whose first NFL memory was the 1981 Bears, stuff on Vince Evans from that time is interesting to read about all these years later.
Doug Williams went to Grambling, where Eddie Robinson was trying to help a black QB break through. John McKay had been a college coach willing to use black QBs at USC (he coached Vince Evans there) and he was Williams's coach in Tampa. The Tampa owner was racist and wouldn't pay Williams much, so he lept to the USFL. When that folded, Joe Gibbs, formerly a coordinater for McKay, nabbed Williams. In a gutsy move, he named Williams the starter just before the 1987 playoffs, even though Jay Schroeder had started most of the year there. Williams gave the Super Bowl title. Even still, Williams wasn't much long for the league after that.
Evans wasn't as great a career or story, but he held on until he was about 40. Moore argues Evans was a different kind of trailblazer, showing a black QB didn't have to be a star to be in the NFL. You could be a journeyman or backup and still be a black QB.
Moore does a good job telling his story, but he sometimes leans a bit too much on assertion. He'll often state something that I don't doubt - but it's just him stating it. I could use some more examples or quotes from the time. At times he overstates things, like when he says of Super Bowl XXII, "For that gernation of Black Ameicans, [Doug] Williams was their Joe Louis, their Jackie Robinson, their Rosa Parks, their Martin Luther King Jr." (253). Did he really have to go that far?
Still, it is overall a decent book and I'm glad I read it. Fun fact: Walter Payton's mom rooted for Washington (and Doug Williams) in the 1987 playoffs against the Bears, even though it was her son's last NFL game. Heh.
Random sidenote: as someone whose first NFL memory was the 1981 Bears, stuff on Vince Evans from that time is interesting to read about all these years later.
January 24, 2025
There have been a few books on the historical plight of black quarterbacks in the NFL and this is a new one. Here the author details the journeys of Vince Evans and Doug Williams. He chose these two men partially because the first modern NFL game between two black starting quarterbacks occurred on September 30, 1979, at Soldier Field in Chicago featuring Vince Evans of the Chicago Bears and Doug Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers won the game 17-13.
Part of the racism that existed at the time and still exists today, to some degree, is that black quarterbacks would not lead white men, they might not be smart enough to learn and operate and offense, and many were athletic and more “running” quarterbacks whereas modern coaches wanted the prototypical drop back quarterback.
It is disheartening to read again (I am very familiar with Doug Williams) the racist vitriol they suffered when things did not go well. That just put extra pressure on them and something negative to deal with white quarterbacks didn’t have to face.
And of course, Doug Williams is the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in Super Bowl XXII. And unfortunately, much of the media around the game was about race. Doug Williams was famously asked by a reporter “How long have you been a black quarterback?”
The only drawback to the book to me is I was trying to figure out if he was trying to convince me these two were great quarterbacks or just detailing there journey. Vince Evans was not a good quarterback and Doug Williams at his best was probably in the top ten, but mostly probably in the middling level most of his career. I recall watching him when he was young nearly decapitate his receivers on short throws because he had a cannon for an arm but no touch. But he did develop into a solid pro quarterback who won I tall. Evans had a long career as a backup.
However, this is a solid look at these two men’s journey and worth reading.
Part of the racism that existed at the time and still exists today, to some degree, is that black quarterbacks would not lead white men, they might not be smart enough to learn and operate and offense, and many were athletic and more “running” quarterbacks whereas modern coaches wanted the prototypical drop back quarterback.
It is disheartening to read again (I am very familiar with Doug Williams) the racist vitriol they suffered when things did not go well. That just put extra pressure on them and something negative to deal with white quarterbacks didn’t have to face.
And of course, Doug Williams is the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in Super Bowl XXII. And unfortunately, much of the media around the game was about race. Doug Williams was famously asked by a reporter “How long have you been a black quarterback?”
The only drawback to the book to me is I was trying to figure out if he was trying to convince me these two were great quarterbacks or just detailing there journey. Vince Evans was not a good quarterback and Doug Williams at his best was probably in the top ten, but mostly probably in the middling level most of his career. I recall watching him when he was young nearly decapitate his receivers on short throws because he had a cannon for an arm but no touch. But he did develop into a solid pro quarterback who won I tall. Evans had a long career as a backup.
However, this is a solid look at these two men’s journey and worth reading.
January 4, 2025
A good historical fiction book should straddle a line between the Mission River Wikipedia page and Tom Sawyer. Louis Moore does that here. This book will give you the history of the black quarterback in American football, the development of offensive schemes, the college football landscape in the 70s, the embedded racism that resulted in fan bases and front offices embracing black defensive backs and running backs but not QBs, and so much more – it’s a trove of football and cultural history. But it will also entertain and enthrall you with stories of triumphs, trials, impossible odds, players betting on themselves, and the audacity of people to hope in spite of knowing the deck is stacked against them.
October 23, 2024
This is a great history of the Black quarterback in the National Football League focusing on icons Doug Williams and Vince Evans. We see the ups and downs of their careers trying to break a racist barrier in the NFL culminate in a historic meeting of the two in the first ever game with two Black starting quarterbacks. The road to that moment is crooked and bumpy but the legacy of that struggle is the increased number of successful Black quarterbacks in the decades since. I remember watching Williams and Evans play on TV when I was a kid and Moore's great work here fills in the amazing backstory of these gridiron greats.
February 13, 2025
Something I look for in books that I read is what did I learn new. I thought I knew this story. I grew up with football cards of James Harris, Joe Gilliam, J.J. Jones, Doug Williams, Vince Evans. I knew who they were. Louis Moore's book proved how wrong I was in that assumption. I absolutely did NOT know their stories, their struggles, their hopes, and the pressures they faced. For everyone who celebrates Mahomes, Daniels, Hurts, Lamar, etc. (and we should celebrate them), you need to understand whose shoulders those players are standing on. This book is honest and raw, and it needs to be read by anyone who is a fan of modern professional and collegiate football.
December 2, 2024
I've been waiting for years for someone to write this book. In this day and age, we should be talking more about guys like Doug Williams and Shack Harris and how they helped change pro football.
One more thing: I can read about Eddie Robinson any time I'm awake. What he accomplished at a tiny school in the woods of north Louisiana with little funding all while not having an ounce of animosity is amazing.
One more thing: I can read about Eddie Robinson any time I'm awake. What he accomplished at a tiny school in the woods of north Louisiana with little funding all while not having an ounce of animosity is amazing.
June 3, 2025
Growing up in the late 1970s, Vince Evans and Doug Williams got my attention as NFL quarterbacks. Back then, African-American QBs were rare.
This book tells of their journey,as well as the journey of other less remembered African American QBs.
We need to remember the problems and issues they had. Though times seem to have changed, the past is important.
I really enjoyed this one.
This book tells of their journey,as well as the journey of other less remembered African American QBs.
We need to remember the problems and issues they had. Though times seem to have changed, the past is important.
I really enjoyed this one.
January 19, 2025
As a lifelong football fan who’s seen the fruits of Williams’ & Evans’ labors, I learned I really didn’t understand the history of the NFL black quarterbacks. Thank you, Professor Moore for sharing your knowledge! Looking forward to your next sports history lesson.
July 13, 2025
This is a powerful history of the Black quarterback focusing on the stories of Doug Williams and Vince Evans. Among my favorite anecdotes is when Walter Payton's mom rooted against her son during his last NFL game when the Bears played Doug Williams' Redskins.
August 23, 2024
(3.5/5)
March 16, 2025
3-3.5 stars. I’m just not a football girlie!
September 25, 2025
Love the execution of using Doug Williams and Vince Evans as the vehicle to tell the story of everything Black QBs have had to deal with since the beginning of football.
Great book!
Great book!
January 30, 2025
A fantastic text that is engaging and informative. Dr Moore does a great job shining a light on these important stories
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews