Racial Discrimination and African-American Quarterbacks in the National Football League, 1968-1999

Abstract:     
This article argues that African-American quarterbacks have faced consistent discrimination in the National Football League since Marlin Briscoe broke through the color barrier at the position in 1968. The author identifies the issue of intelligence as central to the discrimination practiced against African-American NFL quarterbacks and identifies two central arguments traditionally used to prove the insufficiency of black intelligence to play the position - the Wonderlic argumentation and the Option argumentation. The author identifies several problems with these arguments. The author concludes by drawing a correlation between the argument used against African-Americans playing quarterback in the NFL and similar discrimination against African-Americans in broader society.

Keywords: quarterback, discrimination, African-American, black, National Football League, NFL, Wonderlic, intelligence

JEL Classifications: J71, L83, Z00

Working Paper Series