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Black History Month: How Philadelphia inspired African Americans

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:48 a.m. ET

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Fansided, Geoffrey Knox/FanSided via Inside the Iggles

February isn’t just the month that the Super bowl is played in.

On February 5th, the fifty-first Super Bowl will be played. The New England Patriots will be crowned as champions for the fifth time or the Atlanta Falcons will bring their city its’ first championship for professional football. Once, that happens, the NFL‘s off-season will begin. Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles and every other team will wait patiently for the kickoff of the 2017 season.

The month of February is also important for another reason. Our great country has designated the second month of the calendar year as Black History Month. It’s fitting that the city that once served as our nation’s capital has also inspired the African American community with its’ foward-thinking and its’ football team.

Breaking down barriers:

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Once upon a time, it was believed playing quarterback was an impossibility for black men. We’ve progressed over time, but we at Inside The Iggles wanted to take a few moments to tip our hats to a franchise that made Randall Cunningham its’ starting quarterback. They did so because they believed he gave the Eagles the best chance to win. They did so because they looked past his skin tone, and they did so when so many teams found it to be difficult to do the same thing.

Cunningham was one of the guys that helped so many young black men believe that they could play the position as well. It’s partially because of him that Steve McNair could do the same. Without “Scrambling Randall”, it’s likely that Michael Vick would have never been the first-overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Both of those guys looked up to “The Ultimate Weapon”.

In conclusion:

So one day after Michael Vick announces his retirement, we look back on the team we love. Eagles fans love this team for so many reasons, but we’d be negligent if we didn’t thank this great organization for having the guts to believe in the great men they’ve allowed to play the quarterback position.

We thank Philadelphia for believing in Donovan McNabb who attended Syracuse because so many schools wouldn’t even recruit him to play quarterback. We thank Philadelphia for giving Vick a second chance when many turned the other way. Thank you for endorsing Rodney Peete and for the memories he gave us as well. Seeing this city and this franchise show that type of courage makes it easy to cheer for this team.

Seeing those guys do well with those opportunities allows all of us to be proud for reasons that go beyond football.

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