Rise of the Black Quarterback by Jason Reid

Title: Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America
Author: Jason Reid
Publication: Andscape, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Nonfiction/Sports/History

Description: This book grew out of a series of ESPN articles on the emergence of black quarterbacks in the NFL. Reid goes back to the beginning of the 20th century to identify men who should be better known: the earliest black football stars and chronicles the disturbing history and treatment of black players in the NFL. He moves on to cover the breakout careers of a thrilling new generation of Black quarterbacks. Colin Kaepernick, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Kyler Murray are featured prominently in the book, as well as the careers and legacy of beloved NFL players such as Doug Williams and trailblazing pioneers Marlin Briscoe and Eldridge Dickey. Reid delves deeply into the culture war ignited by Kaepernick's peaceful protest of systemic oppression and police brutality. The target market for this book includes fans of football, cultural commentary, and black history in America.

My Impression: This is a fascinating book, full of information and presented passionately by Reid. I particularly enjoyed learning about Fritz Pollard, a pioneering football legend from Chicago who was named after Frederick Douglass after his parents heard Douglass speak. Pollard followed older brothers who were talented athletes, including his brother Hughes who told the high school coach he wouldn’t play unless his kid brother could. Pollard became the star of the team.

Pollard believed in his own talent and beginning in 1912, bounced from college to college trying to find the best showcase for it. From Northwestern to Dartmouth to Harvard to Bates College in Maine, his nomadic journey ended in the fall of 1915, when he entered Brown as a 21-year-old freshman. In the era of the so-called “tramp athlete,” nothing about Pollard’s travels in search of the optimal football fit was in the least bit shocking.

I knew Brown’s football team had gone to the Rose Bowl in 1916 (Harvard went in 1920) but I didn’t know it was Pollard’s play that got them invited. However, what should have been an incredible opportunity was a nightmare. Pollard was not always served in the dining car during the week-long train trip, the hotel in California refused to check him in, and there were the same taunts from the crowd he had heard at Ivy League venues. Worst of all, Brown had left their cleats in Providence, not expecting bad weather. Extreme rain caused the field to become so muddy that even speedy Pollard could not score and Brown lost to Washington State 0-14.

Another part of the book I found very interesting was the background Reid provides on the video that some of the most prominent black NFL players put together in January 2020 in which they call on the league to "condemn racism and a systemic oppression of black people … admit wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting … believe black lives matter." The video was released 10 days after George Floyd was killed while in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department and was aimed at the NFL management and owners that opposed peaceful protesting and had done nothing to address systemic racism except to make donations. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs was the most famous of the players involved and potentially had the most to lose – and knew it, but recognized that his name was important to the video’s making an impact, which it did.   These are just two examples of the history and more recent anecdotes that Reid weaves into his narrative.

Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. This was already a football weekend, given I went to see Duke at BC, Columbia at Harvard, and watched the Patriots and Buccaneers on TV. I guess you can tell I wasn’t in the mood to tidy the house!

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