Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
Marlin Briscoe, who became the first Black starting quarterback in the American Football League more than 50 years ago, died Monday. He was 76.
His daughter, Angela Marriott, told The Associated Press that Briscoe died of pneumonia at a hospital in Norwalk, California. He had been hospitalized with circulation issues in his legs.
Briscoe, an Omaha, Nebraska, native, was a star quarterback for Omaha University before the Denver Broncos drafted him as a cornerback in the 14th round in 1968. Briscoe told the team he'd return home to become a teacher if he couldn't get a tryout at quarterback. Denver gave him a chance, and the 5-foot-10 dynamo nicknamed "The Magician" nearly rallied the Broncos to victory as a reserve against the Boston Patriots on Sept. 29. He earned the historic first start a week later.
"He's made an immense contribution to the sport," Marriott said. "I hope that he continues to get recognized for the contributions that he made. He was so proud of that achievement."
Briscoe started five games that season. He was runner-up for AFL rookie of the year after passing for 1,589 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushing for 308 yards and three scores.
Denver didn't give Briscoe a chance to compete for the quarterback job in 1969 and did not offer an explanation, so Briscoe asked to be released.
Booker Edgerson, a Buffalo Bills cornerback in 1968, recalls Briscoe passing for 335 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-32 Denver win. Edgerson, a former AFL All-Star and member of the Bills' Wall of Fame, believes Briscoe could have been a Hall of Fame quarterback if not for racism. Edgerson recalls Briscoe telling him he didn't feel the Broncos were ready to fully commit to a Black quarterback.
"He would have been one of the top quarterbacks that they'd be talking about right now," Edgerson said. "He would've been another ... he would have been in there before Warren Moon."
Briscoe switched to receiver and became Edgerson's teammate in Buffalo the next year. James Harris was Briscoe's roommate with the Bills in 1969, and Briscoe helped Harris become the first Black quarterback in the AFL to open a season as a starter.
"It was at the time when Black quarterbacks were being denied, so you tried to make sure you were best prepared for the opportunity when it came," Harris said. "I was a lot better off because Briscoe was my roommate."
In 1974, Harris played for the Los Angeles Rams and became the first Black quarterback to win an NFL playoff game. He also was Pro Bowl MVP that season.
Meanwhile, Briscoe earned a trip to the Pro Bowl as a receiver for Buffalo in 1970 and won two Super Bowls as a receiver with the Miami Dolphins. He was on the undefeated 1972 Dolphins team.
For all he achieved, Briscoe never forgot the fact that he lost his starting job in Denver with no chance to earn it back.
"It bothered him," Harris said. "Although he made the switch, he was disappointed. In order to still accomplish what he did under those circumstances -- frustrated, disappointed -- to be focused enough to be a high achiever at another position took a special makeup, a special guy."
Briscoe was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016, and the Broncos named a diversity coaching fellowship in his honor before the 2021 season.
Johnny Rodgers, who won the Heisman Trophy as a receiver at Nebraska in 1972, said he and his friends grew up looking up to Briscoe, baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, all of whom were from Omaha. Gibson and Sayers both died in 2020.
"We did know them, and because we did see them going further, it gave us hope that we could go further, too," Rodgers said. "They paved the way."
Well after his playing days, Briscoe remained outspoken about racial injustice. He was proud to have moved the needle in 1968, but he told The Associated Press in 2018 he was disappointed that many strides made in his day had been lost.
"I grew up in the '50s and the '60s, when all that stuff was rampant, but you knew where you stood," Briscoe said. "Today, you thought that all those attitudes were nonexistent or filtered away to some degree, but with the Trump-isms, his philosophy has brought out of the woodwork that old-time thought process. That's scary -- it really is."
------
AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report from Buffalo, New York
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.