In The Front Row with Mike Vaccaro

Doug Williams on winning a Super Bowl and breaking barriers


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Williams grew up in Zachary, LA with a house full of family and sports.  Baseball was the sport of choice until he tried football in the 9th grade.  He would be a multi-sport athlete in high school, but football would eventually win out and become the sport that got Williams to the next level.  That next level took Williams to Grambling State where he played for legendary coach Eddie Robinson.  Williams and the Tigers would win  36 games and three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) titles in his four seasons.  He would also win the Black College Player of the Year twice and finish 4th in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1977 (Earl Campbell from Texas won the award). Prior to the 1978 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant coach Joe Gibbs would see Williams work out.  On Gibbs’ recommendation, Tampa Bay drafted Williams 17th overall making him the first black quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. Williams played for Tampa Bay from 1978-82 before moving onto the USFL in 1984 after a year away from the game do to personal loss.  In 1986, would reunite with Gibbs as a quarterback for the Washington Redskins.  After battling for the top spot, Williams was tabbed the starter before the 1987 NFL playoffs and led the Redskins to the a victory in Super Bowl XXII becoming the first black quarterback to start a Super Bowl and win the MVP. After two more years in Washington, Williams would spend time as a coach which included two stints at his alma mater where he replaced Eddie Robinson.  From coaching, Williams transitioned to executive roles with various organizations including the Buccaneers and the Washington Commanders where he is currently a special advisor to the team president. Williams shares all these stories, plus his role in the Black College Football Hall of Fame, what he thinks makes an elite NFL quarterback and his thoughts on the Tampa Bay orange jerseys he wore from 1978-82.

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In The Front Row with Mike VaccaroBy Banterscope Media

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