When Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl, Doug Williams was welling up.
Thirty five years since he became the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl, Sunday will see two black quarterbacks start the NFL’s seasonal swansong for the first time.
Speaking in the build-up, Williams said: “I had tears of joy in my eyes, because I had an opportunity to witness this. Sit there and just look at it and say to myself, ‘Man, we got two black quarterbacks playing in the Super Bowl’.”
The history of the occasion is not lost on the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, nor Jalen Hurts, of the Eagles.
Mahomes said: “I think about it a lot. The quarterbacks that came before me — Shack Harris, Doug Williams — that laid the foundation for me to be in this position. I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for them.”
For Hurts, playing in his first Super Bowl in contrast to what will be his opposite number’s third, it is “a historic moment”. He added: “To be on this platform and to give so many others so much inspiration, telling them that they can do it, too, it’s a proud moment.”
The pair have been the stand-out quarterbacks this season. At 27, Mahomes already looks like going down in history as the quarterback of his generation with his repertoire of tricks. In contrast, this has been Hurts’s break-out season, with his deadly long-distance passes, as well as running in 13 touchdowns of his own.
With Mahomes not 100 per cent fit from an ankle injury and with the quality around Hurts, the Eagles are favourites.
But they are not the only storyline of the 57th Super Bowl — or the Kelce Bowl, as it has been branded. The Kelce brothers will be the first siblings to face each other in a Super Bowl. Jason is the older by two years and plays for the Eagles, while Travis lines up for the Chiefs.
As an added sideshow, Jason’s wife, Kylie, is 38 weeks pregnant and will be in the stands. The pair have talked openly on their New Heights podcast, whose guests include Mahomes and Hurts.
One of the guests, rather than the hosts, look most likely to steal the glory this weekend.
