Douglas Lee “Doug” Williams (born August 9, 1955) is a former American football quarterback and head football coach of the Grambling State University Tigers. Williams is best known for his MVP performance in Super Bowl XXII with the Washington Redskins.
Williams was drafted in the first round (17th overall) of the 1978 NFL Draft, chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Grambling State University. The Bucs, who had never been to the playoffs before Williams arrived, went to the playoffs three times in four years and played in the 1979 NFC Championship Game. Williams improved his completion percentage each year with the Bucs and was regarded as the heart and soul of the team.
Doug Williams was the only starting African-American quarterback in the NFL at that time. During his tenure with the Buccaneers, Williams was only paid $120,000 a year—far and away the lowest salary for a starting quarterback in the league, and behind 12 backups. After the 1982 season, Williams asked for a $600,000 contract. Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse refused to budge from his initial offer of $400,000 despite protests from coach John McKay. While Culverhouse’s offer was still more than triple Williams’ previous salary, he would have still been among the lowest-paid starters in the league.
I remember Doug Williams leading the Redskins to that Superbowl win. I was still living in MD. at the time. The NFL still needs to deal with their racism. Doug Williams was a superior player over a few of the QBs back in the day, but $$$$ wise, they didn’t want to pay him what he was worth.
A damn shame how they didn’t want to pay him for what he was worth.