INTERVIEW: Director Behind New Prime Video Docuseries "Evolution of the Black Quarterback" Details Reasons for Telling the Story Now

History was made on February 12, 2023, when the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles stepped into State Farm Stadium in Arizona, making Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes the first Black starting quarterbacks to compete against one another in 57 years of the Super Bowl.

This groundbreaking moment caught the eye of SMAC Entertainment's FredAnthony Smith, who has been paying close attention to the history that led to this moment, a story he now reveals to us in his new three-part series for Prime Video, Evolution of the Black Quarterback .

The series uncovers a history very few know much about, starting way back in 1920 when former quarterback Fritz Pollard became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League.

In 2020, Smith directed a 50-minute documentary titled Fritz Pollard: A Forgotten Man , which follows Pollard's story from being a star at Brown University to a player and then coach for the Akron All-Pros, the first NFL Champions.

"The fact that a Black man was leading a group of white men in 1920s America is astounding when you stop and think about it," Smith shares with me.

Smith believes that "Sports has always been a little bit ahead of the curve in terms of things happening socially."

"Whether it's racial rights, women's rights, or other big movements that have happened in history, sports has always been a little bit ahead of the curve, and we wanted to make sure that we put a spotlight on that."

I invite Smith to expand on why he feels this is the case, and he shares with me, "At the end of the day, sports is a meritocracy. If you want to win, you put the best people out there."

In just over three hours of thought-provoking television, Evolution of the Black Quarterback gives football fans a comprehensive history of some of the stories of those great players.

We meet with past and present players and hear from prominent voices in sports, such as Todd Boyd, Steve Wyche, Dr. Damion Thomas, Curt Menefee, Jarrett Bell, Van Lathan, Marc Lamont Hill, Dave Zirin, William C. Rhoden, Jean-Jacques Taylor, Gus Johnson, Wosny Lambre, Joy Taylor, and Angela Rye while walking through the decades that led to now when almost half of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL are Black.

"We thought it was time to celebrate the fact that so much progress has been made," Smith tells me. "But, also, at the same time, pay homage and respect to the people who paved the way for Jalen and Patrick to have that opportunity and for there to be 15 quarterbacks that open the regular season as starters in the NFL. The most in NFL history."

Throughout the show, we are anchored by the game-changing Michael Vick, who entered the NFL in 2001 and shook up the league with his dynamic style of play, which we see mirrored today in many of the league's starting quarterbacks.

"[Vick] is the bridge between the past and the present," Smith says. "He's old enough to remember the legends that came before him, but he's still young enough for the players in the league today to remember him playing."

Born in 1980, Vick grew up watching the likes of legends Doug Williams, who became the first Black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, and Warren Moon, who in 1984 was momentarily the only Black quarterback in the league.

Like those two legends, Vick is a history-maker in the NFL. He became the first Black quarterback drafted number one overall, where he went to the Atlanta Falcons and flipped the game on its head, becoming the league's first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and still – to this day – is the NFL's leader in quarterback rushing yards.

"Michael Vick is the midway point," FredAnthony Smith tells me. "He's 23 years after Doug and Warren, and he's 23 years before the history that we're making today."

There's not only a conversation about the Black quarterback's success on the field. Smith also dives into the cultural impact those leaders have off the gridiron.

We hear from icons in entertainment, such as Common and Jamie Foxx, who speak candidly about their own connection to the game, including some details from Foxx about his experience appearing in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday and how he influenced some of the artistic choices in the film.

"Over the course of the last 20 to 30 years, football players have become more and more entertaining, and have been seen more and more as entertainers," Smith tells me. "Sports is the best reality show that's out there."

In the show's final episode, Michael Vick meets with former Carolina Panther Cam Newton, who became an icon in the game – not only for his style of play – but also for his fashion.

What Cam was wearing became a talking point each week, and although he has his faults – like a moment in 2017 when he made a sexist dig at reporter Jourdan Rodrigue – his influence is still felt on the league despite not having taken to the field in two years.

Newton opens up to Vick about being a young kid in Atlanta and having Vick to look up to. He also shares his experience of being asked to play a different position and become a "gadget guy" – something many Black quarterbacks have heard over the years, including 2x NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens.

Here comes the quibble with Evolution of the Black Quarterback : there is a distinct lack of Lamar Jackson.

Ironically, the night before Evolution of the Black Quarterback debuted on Prime Video Jayden Daniels had his first start in the NFL. What's that got to do with Lamar Jackson? Broadcasters would have you believe a lot because the next day, Jackson was in the mouths of everyone despite wrapping up his week three on Sunday night in a 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Jackson is arguably the most disrespected quarterback in the league, and his presence is missed during the important conversation FredAnthony Smith is having in Evolution of the Black Quarterback .

Just like Jackson was compared to Vick when he entered the league, young, dynamic Black quarterbacks are now being measured against Lamar in a way that suggests only one can be the star of this league.

"We initially did reach out [to Lamar]," Smith tells me, but "schedule-wise, it just wasn't working out."

Smith includes a clip filmed four years ago in which Michael Vick and Lamar sit down with one another. While Smith tells me "the origins of this project kind of started with [Vick] and Lamar sitting down," it doesn't make up for the necessary conversation that should happen about how the media treats Lamar.

Nonetheless, Evolution of the Black Quarterback covers extensive ground and does an excellent job of speaking on both the cause for celebration and the darkness that still clouds the league.

"We went into this project wanting to celebrate the accomplishments that have happened," Smith says. "We also knew that you can't celebrate accomplishments without realizing why it's an accomplishment to be celebrated. Meaning you have to look at some of the ugliness, some of the parts of our history that we need to be reminded of that we don't want to sweep under the rug."

Evolution of the Black Quarterback recalls the period between 1933 and 1946 where there were no African-American players in the NFL and tells us about Willie Thrower, who was the first Black quarterback in the NFL but only lasted one game, as well as introducing us to forgotten hero Marlin Briscoe, and ties it all back to now when Dak Prescott walked into the Cowboys facility and was told by someone that there would never be a Black quarterback in Dallas.

Smith acknowledges that while strides have been made, there is still plenty of prejudice to overcome in the league.

Vick visits Colin Kaepernick, who was ostracized from the NFL after bravely sparking a movement around the league where players knelt during the National Anthem in response to the treatment of Black people across North America.

Evolution of the Black Quarterback serves as a witness to how his point has since been proven through Smith's inclusion of prolific attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, who ties the response to Kaepernick's actions back to the roots of slavery.

Entertainment is made by artists who offer us a view of how the world is, but it also serves as an opportunity to offer hope for what can be.

"One of the things we definitely wanted to do as we went through this process was show how sports can be an agent of change," Smith says.

As much as it is about recognizing the history, Smith also wants audiences to know there is so much more to Evolution of the Black Quarterback .

"If you're a football fan, you'll love it because there's a lot of football in it. If you're a fan of underdog stories, this is a great underdog story – from Warren Moon coming into the NFL in 1984, where he was the only black quarterback, to where we are today," Smith shares passionately. "I also think that if you're not a sports fan, you're somebody that just loves a story about one man, one woman, one group that could change the course of history, then there's a number of men in this story that did just that, and that impact goes well beyond the football field."

Evolution of the Black Quarterback is now available to watch on Prime Video.