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Quarterblack: Shattering the NFL Myth
Superbowl MVP Doug Williams looks back on his life and career, describes the obstacles he had to overcome as a Black quarterback, and argues that racism persists in the NFL
209 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 1986
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July 16, 2022A fascinating story from Zachary Louisiana's own Doug Williams who blazed his trail as a star quarterback at HBCU's Grambling State to the #1 pick of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to his brief time in the USFL to being the first Black quarterback to win a Superbowl with the NFL's Washington (now) Commanders. Along the way readers will learn the ups and downs of Doug's life outside of football. A must read!
February 11, 2024
Doug Williams was - and still is - a competitor, a leader, and a trailblazer. His career as a quarterback in college, the NFL, the USFL and back to the NFL is the story of a legend. It’s a crime that Williams isn’t in the Hall of Fame.
This is a book of man who just wanted to play football, and to win, at the highest level. And he did. He faced barrier after barrier. Let’s call it was it was, racism around every professional team, especially from the leaders of the NFL. Yes, the league’s owners blackballed black quarterbacks from before Williams’s rookie season of 1978, up to and including the modern era and Colin Kapernick.
This book is a story of strength, perseverance and rare football smarts and skills. From his humble roots in small town Louisiana, to the national stage as QB for the great Eddie Robinson at Grambling State, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and leading them into the playoffs, then being dumped by the Bucs and the NFL where he had no options beside the USFL.
Think about that. At his time with the Bucs, he was the only Black quarterback starting in the entire league. And he was a proven winner. Sound familiar?
The personal stories of overcoming racism make this an outstanding book. Williams could have been bitter and angry, but the stories of his leadership and perseverance make this an outstanding book. The stories of his experience as a winner in college and the pros, and his insight into historic seasons, games, personalities, life in the NFL, and in the Super Bowl make this an outstanding book.
Doug Williams really is, as the book notes, “the Jackie Robinson of quarterbacks.”
This is a book of man who just wanted to play football, and to win, at the highest level. And he did. He faced barrier after barrier. Let’s call it was it was, racism around every professional team, especially from the leaders of the NFL. Yes, the league’s owners blackballed black quarterbacks from before Williams’s rookie season of 1978, up to and including the modern era and Colin Kapernick.
This book is a story of strength, perseverance and rare football smarts and skills. From his humble roots in small town Louisiana, to the national stage as QB for the great Eddie Robinson at Grambling State, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and leading them into the playoffs, then being dumped by the Bucs and the NFL where he had no options beside the USFL.
Think about that. At his time with the Bucs, he was the only Black quarterback starting in the entire league. And he was a proven winner. Sound familiar?
The personal stories of overcoming racism make this an outstanding book. Williams could have been bitter and angry, but the stories of his leadership and perseverance make this an outstanding book. The stories of his experience as a winner in college and the pros, and his insight into historic seasons, games, personalities, life in the NFL, and in the Super Bowl make this an outstanding book.
Doug Williams really is, as the book notes, “the Jackie Robinson of quarterbacks.”
December 27, 2023
Quarterblack was released in 1990, but its message still stands up today in 2020. Black men who put together excellent or great college careers in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and decades thereafter-----especially from the 1970s to the early 1990s-----had to put up with the unwritten rule that they weren't smart enough, tall enough, or white enough to be given a chance to play quarterback in the NFL.
After you finish reading this book, you will get a better understanding of what a great human being Williams was and is. Within this book you'll also see how he had to put up with so much off the field drama in addition to what he was going through on the field.
One of my favorite parts of this book was how he put his second wife, Lisa Robinson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse, and Culverhouse's flunky (Doug's words not mine) Phil Krueger on blast in this book.
He went into detail in this book on how manipulative, conniving, phony, and how weird Robinson was. That woman tried to ruin him. And I liked how Doug laid it out there on how manipulative and drama filled Robinson's parents were. Like the saying goes, an apple doesn't fall too far from a tree.
Any young Black man who wants to play quarterback in college or high school should read this book. And so what that the book is 30-years old, the basis of this book still resonates today.
After you finish reading this book, you will get a better understanding of what a great human being Williams was and is. Within this book you'll also see how he had to put up with so much off the field drama in addition to what he was going through on the field.
One of my favorite parts of this book was how he put his second wife, Lisa Robinson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse, and Culverhouse's flunky (Doug's words not mine) Phil Krueger on blast in this book.
He went into detail in this book on how manipulative, conniving, phony, and how weird Robinson was. That woman tried to ruin him. And I liked how Doug laid it out there on how manipulative and drama filled Robinson's parents were. Like the saying goes, an apple doesn't fall too far from a tree.
Any young Black man who wants to play quarterback in college or high school should read this book. And so what that the book is 30-years old, the basis of this book still resonates today.
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