Briscoe was a pioneer for black quarterbacks

Marlin Briscoe had been playing quarterback since he was 9. He played for his Omaha Pop Warner team and Indian Hill Middle School and South Omaha High and the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

But when he arrived at the Denver Broncos training camp in 1968, he heard words familiar to many a black quarterback.

Coach Lou Saban told him he was a “great athlete who could play other positions.”

Briscoe laughs as he thinks back to that afternoon 41 years ago. It’s not a happy laugh.

“They didn’t say that to white quarterbacks,” he said.

Briscoe had this vision, and the view didn’t include knocking down passes. But Saban wanted him to play defensive back.

Briscoe refused to surrender to Saban or the football norms of 1968. He wanted to play quarterback.

And he did.

On Oct. 6, 1968, Briscoe became the first black quarterback to start in the modern NFL era. He led the Broncos to a 10-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and enjoyed a solid, if not spectacular, rookie season. Briscoe completed 93-of-224 passes for 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and ran for 308 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per carry.

He was a pioneer, but he wishes the barrier had been broken years earlier.

“I should not have been the first black quarterback,” Briscoe said from his home in Long Beach, Calif.

He mentioned Sandy Stephens, who led Minnesota to a Big Ten title in 1961 and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Stephens was forced to travel to the Canadian Football League to play quarterback.

Briscoe knew all the stereotypes. That’s why he had so much fun exploding them.

“I proved a black quarterback could think, throw and lead on the professional level,” he said.

His debut failed to create a national frenzy. It didn’t even create much of a frenzy in Colorado.

“We weren’t that aware he was the first black starting quarterback,” Broncos offensive lineman George Goeddeke said. “It wasn’t like this was earth-shattering news. The first this and the first that — it wasn’t like these days.”

Briscoe had his moments. He led the Broncos to a 34-32 win over the Buffalo Bills with a last-gasp drive. He was dangerous on draw plays.

But he completed only 41.5 percent of his passes. (Steve Tensi, Briscoe’s prime competitor for playing time, completed 40.3 percent.) Saban never embraced the idea of a scampering 5-foot-10 quarterback.

After the season, the Broncos released Briscoe, which proved a massive mistake. Briscoe never again played quarterback. He moved to receiver, where he led the NFL in 1970 with 57 catches for 1,036 yards. He started for the Miami Dolphins in their Super Bowl-winning seasons of 1972 and 1973.

The pioneer wandered into trouble after his career ended. He fell victim to the lure of crack cocaine and, during a decade of addiction, lost his money and his Super Bowl rings. He almost lost his life.

Today, he’s clean and works at a Boys and Girls Club near his home.

His trailblazing has not been forgotten. In his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon thanked Briscoe, and in February Briscoe was honored by Congress.

Briscoe watches NFL games and sees Donovan McNabb and JaMarcus Russell and Daunte Culpepper and Jason Campbell.

The barrier he helped shatter is long gone.