Many Super Bowls ago, a black quarterback made history in San Diego.

San Diego has never won a Super Bowl, but the city has hosted the game three times, and during Super Bowl XXII, history entered.

Doug Williams of Washington became the first black quarterback to start and win the Super Bowl in 1988, a game played at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium.

Phillip Smith, a Washington fan, was 31 and was in San Diego during that Super Bowl. He couldn’t get a ticket to the game, but he said he got the next best thing.

“For the first time I saw that Doug Williams was in this hotel. I had a Super Bowl XXII program,” he said. Doug, could you sign it for me? ‘Certainly.’ Signed and returned. He shook hands. His hands were just… wow, very, very big.”

George Whitfield Jr. – Quarterback Engineer – He coaches quarterbacks. He was a teenager during that Super Bowl.

“For me, Doug Williams from a football standpoint – he may not be sitting at the same table as Jackie Robinson, but he’s in the same lobby,” he said. “He’s at the same set of tables in terms of breakthrough.”

He said that Williams’ victory gave hope to the black community.

“Doug Williams, you have to do it on the biggest stage. He did it on the biggest stage, not just kicked the door. His hands have been holding this big, heavy door for decades,” Whitfield Jr. said. “Now he has other hands helping him, but originally it was his two hands to push it through.”

Smith agrees. He said the fact that Williams was a quarterback was also quite rare.

“I remember that if you were a black football player, you wouldn’t be a quarterback,” he said. – You can run fast. You can catch. You might even be able to handle it, but quarterback? Eh, not now – but Doug Williams got in there and did it.”

Super Bowl XXII ended with Washington scoring 42 points and Denver scoring 10. Williams was MVP and set NFL records. But more importantly, he showed kids like him that they belong to the biggest sports scene.

Super Bowl LVII starts at 3:30 pm on Sunday. If you don’t already have a place to watch it, here are a few options in town.

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