October 18, 1953: The NFL's 1st Black Quarterback

October 18, 1953: The San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears, 35-28 at Wrigley Field. Bears coach George Halas is unhappy with the play of quarterback George Blanda, who has completed only 9 out of 23 passes, though that includes 194 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.

And so, a replacement is sent in: The aptly-named Willie Thrower, who quarterbacked Michigan State to the National Championship the year before. This makes Thrower the 1st black quarterback in the NFL. He moves the team to the 49er 15-yard line. Then, inexplicably, Halas put Blanda back into the game, to the boos of Bear fans.

Over the course of the game, Thrower completed 3 out of 8 passes for 27 yards, and an interception. He would only play 1 more game for the Bears, and they released him after the 1953 season. He played the next 3 seasons in the Canadian Football League, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but a shoulder injury ended his career. In contrast, Blanda played his last professional football game 22 seasons later.

Thrower became a social worker, and ran a restaurant, before dying in 2002.

In 1968, Marlin Briscoe started for the Denver Broncos, making him the 1st black starting quarterback in pro football. But while the NFL now counts all AFL stats as NFL stats, the 1st starting black quarterback in the NFL proper was Joe Gilliam, with the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers, who got the job after Chuck Noll stopped trusting Terry Bradshaw. But Gilliam didn't do well, Noll went back to Bradshaw, and the rest is history.

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October 18, 1953 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cardinals, 21-7 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Washington Redskins, 30-14 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Detroit Lions, 31-19 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Baltimore Colts, 37-14 at Green Bay City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The day before, Philadelphia Eagles beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-7 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

Baseball season had ended 12 days earlier, with the New York Yankees winning the World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 6 games. The NBA season started 12 days later. The NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at the Chicago Stadium.