The First Black Quarterback: Marlin Briscoe's Journey to Break the Color Barrier and Start in the NFL

By Marlin Briscoe with Bob Schaller Marlin Briscoe broke the color barrier, becoming the first black starting quarterback in professional football in 1968. Briscoe decided it was time to write his own story knowing that the footnote he occupies in NFL history doesn’t explain his entire journey. His story includes the challenges he faced growing up in the housing projects of Omaha to his sensational football career in the NFL. Besides making the Pro Bowl while playing for the Buffalo Bills, he also played on two Super Bowl winners. Briscoe’s spiral into drugs cost him everything he had, and almost his life, including a weekend kidnapping at the hands of gang members over a drug debt. Once he cleaned up his life, the people who had always been there for him – Paul Warfield, James Harris, Don Shula, Lance Alworth and Larry Little, among others – encouraged Briscoe to tell his entire story, leaving out no part. After coaching such NFL standout receivers as Keyshawn Johnson and Isaac Bruce in junior college, Briscoe has returned to his heartfelt calling, helping kids. He hopes that The First Black Quarterback can enlighten adults and help young people, as to what it takes to break barriers.