True Life Tuesday: Doug Williams

February is Black History month so I will be spending this month writing about different black people in history. With Sunday bein the Super Bowl it seemed fitting to highlight Doug Williams.

Doug Williams was born on August 9, 1955 in Zachary, Louisiana. He attended the HBCU Grambline State University where he had a 36-7 record in 4 years as quarterback. He was twice named the Black College Player of the Year and was 4th in the Heisman voting in 1977. Despite his success in college only one NFL coach visited with him before the draft - Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs. Gibbs and Williams spent 2 days together and after that Gibbs stated the he believed that Williams was the best quarterback in the draft. In 1978 the Buccaneers drafter him number 17 overall making him the first black quarterback drafted in the 1st round. 

In his 5 seasons in Tampa Bay he took the team from league laughing stock to the playoffs in 3 seasons. However, it was not easy for him and he dealt with racism from fans, opposing players and even one of his own coaches. He was also very underpaid. He was paid $120,000 per year which was the least among all starting QBs and also less than 12 backups. In 1982 when his contract was up he asked for $600,000 but owner Hugh Culverhouse refused against the wishes on John McKay.

After his contract with Tampa ended he sat out the 1983 season. In 1984 and 1985 he played for the Oklahoma Outlaws/Arizona Wranglers of the USFL The USFL was shut down in 1986 and Doug then joined the Washington Redskins playing for his former Tampa Bay coach Joe Gibbs. He was a backup to Jay Schroeder but he did very well when he was on the field. He was named the starter for the playoffs in 1987. He led the team to Super Bowl XXII where they beat the Denver Broncos 42-10. He was the first black quarterback to start a Super Bowl and be named the game MVP. The next season he was often injured and ended up being replaced by Mark Rypien. He was waived by the Redskins in 1990 and was unable to find another team to take him on which led to him retiring.

After his career he became a football analyst for BET. However, he really wanted to become a coach. He started coaching at the HS level in Louisiana in 1991. In 1994 he was named the running backs coach at the US Naval Academy. He was named head coach of Morehouse College in 1997. Finally, he took over for legendary coach Eddie Robinson at his alma mater Grambling State University in 1998. he has also worked as an executive for many NF.  

In 2009 he co-founded the Black College Hall of Fame along with fellow HCBU alumnus James Harris. In 2019 Grambling State University named a street on campus after him. He is currently working for the now Washington Commanders.