Why Ravens' All-Black QB Room is a historic one

"Here we speak ebonics," Baltimore Ravens backup quarterback Josh Johnson told Kris Rhim of The Baltimore Banner, "and everybody knows what you’re saying."

Johnson is the freshest addition to a historic quarterback room. The Ravens signed the 37-year-old veteran this offseason and with that, he became part of the only All-Black QB group in the NFL.

Baltimore boasts four Black quarterbacks in their current preseason roster, and they are expected to carry at least two of them into the regular season when the 53-man roster is announced later this month.

Your superstars: Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley, Anthony Brown, and the aforementioned Johnson.

According to Jason Reid, an ethnic researcher focused on Black quarterbacks, and per Rhim, "what the Ravens have right now is definitely groundbreaking, even in 2023."

More interestingly, according to both Reid and Rhim's research, this four-man all-Black QB room is a historic one. "It's believed to be the first time in NFL history a team has had an entirely Black quarterback group," the authors wrote in their story.

It's also worth noting that not only do the Ravens have four Black quarterbacks, but the organization also has two Black coaches: assistant QB coach Kerry Dixon and QB coach Tee Martin.

As Reid is quoted saying, "The significance of it is that we are now in the era of the Black quarterback in the NFL,” which is delightful knowing the murky past relationship between Black players and the quarterback position in the NFL, if only because of racial biases applied and installed in the brains of those making decisions at the highest of levels in the league.

That, it's fair to assume we all agree, is extraordinary news as the league evolves and is led by the face of the Baltimore Ravens organization, a man who signed a historic and then-largest NFL contract ever: QB1 Lamar Jackson.

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