The Great Black Hope

The Great Black Hope

By Louis Moore
Unabridged
$18.20 $27.99
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Like a sharp pass zipped into the hands of a speedy receiver, Lou Moore hits his target in stride with The Great Black Hope. This is one of those delicious books with the ideal match of author and subject. Moore, a preeminent scholar of race and sports, tells the story not only of the historic NFL matchup between Doug Williams and Vince Evans, but of the nearly impenetrable fortress the league had built around the quarterback position that few Black men had been permitted to enter. This is a story that transcends sports, ultimately demonstrating that even the most aggressive attempts to sack Black achievement can’t withstand the opposing forces of persistence, talent, and courage forever. Eventually someone breaks through, and a position or a sport – or a country – is changed forever.
Andrew Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South
The story of two pioneering Black NFL football players that changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.    

There is no position in pro sports more important than an NFL quarterback. But quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years, and when Doug Williams and Vince Evans arrived in the league in the late 1970s, they got death threats, faced racist questions, and knew that a single mistake could end their careers. The Great Black Hope tells the twin stories of Vince Evans,an electrifying dual-threat quarterback ahead of his time, and of Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to become a champion. Moore shows how easily Williams' triumphant story could have gone wrong and how his success changed the game and the country. 

A skillful blend of game-time drama and social commentary, this book captures unheralded heroes of the NFL and all that they meant, both on the field and off.