OPINION

By Mike Florio

updated 3:46 p.m. ET July 6, 2009

My son was born a year after quarterback Steve McNair entered the NFL. And so he didn't know much about McNair's background, or the circumstances that resulted in his name being the third called on that draft day in 1995.

After explaining that, yes, there once was a team named the Houston Oilers, and that the franchise moved to Tennessee and was still known as the Oilers for a couple of years before changing its name to the "Titans," I told the soon-to-be-13-year-old that McNair's draft status had added significance.

"In 1995," I said, "it was a pretty big deal for a black quarterback to be drafted that high."

His response summed up the progress that has since been made.

"In 1995?"

So let's take a closer look at an issue that has become, in many respects, a non-issue for the modern NFL. And let's do so by examining the top 10 moments in the integration of the most important position in the NFL.

1. Marlin Briscoe breaks the ice
As a rookie with the Denver Broncos in 1968, Briscoe scaled the depth chart (due in large part to injury) and became by October the first African-American starting quarterback in modern league history.

A sub-42 percent completion percentage helped make the Briscoe experiment a one-season affair, and Briscoe didn't help himself when he balked at being excluded from offseason quarterbacks meetings.

After a rookie year that resulted in a franchise-record 14 touchdown passes (a mark that neither John Elway nor Jay Cutler broke), the Broncos cut him.

NFL blog ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com Profootballtalk.com is hosted by NBCSports.com, giving you the latest greatest NFL rumors.

In 1969, the Buffalo Bills gave Briscoe a home. But they already had Jack Kemp as their starting quarterback, so Briscoe was moved to receiver.

Still, Briscoe's limited work at quarterback broke the ice for those who would follow at the position.

2. James Harris starts NFC title game
In the same season that the Bills plucked Briscoe from the bargain bin, Buffalo's pro football team drafted James Harris.

In 1972, Harris joined the Los Angeles Rams. Two years later, Harris became the first black quarterback to start a conference title game, taking the Rams to the freeze-dried tundra of the old Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota.

Within two years, however, Harris landed on the bench. In the offseason, the Rams shipped him down the road to San Diego.

Still, more than a decade after Briscoe had broken the color barrier at quarterback, Harris was the only African-American to achieve any real success at the position.

3. Randall Cunningham takes the league by storm
Though Doug Williams (see below) ultimately got his fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy, Randall Cunningham became one of the most exciting players in the league during the latter half of the 1980s.

Eventually supplanting Ron Jaworski in Philadelphia, Cunningham's blend of running and passing broke the pocket-passer mold, making him one of the NFL's most popular players.

Still, Cunningham never completely fulfilled his potential. Due to injuries and ineffectiveness, he called it quits in Philadelphia. He then returned to the field after a year off to become a backup in Minnesota. After Brad Johnson broke his leg in Week 2, Cunningham experienced a career rebirth as part of a 1998 season that nearly took him to the Super Bowl.

4. Doug Williams wins the Super Bowl
Williams arguably deserves two spots on this list — one for becoming an early-career phenomenon in Tampa Bay, and one for taking the Redskins to a Super Bowl win after defecting to the USFL.

But the Super Bowl 22 victory remains Williams' crowning achievement, and he remains the only black quarterback to win a league title, and to be named the championship game's MVP.

Still, it's somewhat amazing that, in 21 years since Williams won a Super Bowl, no other African-American quarterback has matched that feat.

5. Warren Moon throws for a million yards
Well, it wasn't quite a million. But it sure seemed like it.

After going undrafted by the NFL in 1978, Warren Moon headed to Canada. And after he won five CFL championships in five seasons, the NFL got interested.

And then Moon became a star in the league that previously had overlooked him.

Steve McNair (1973-2009) Getty Images Friends, family, fans remember slain McNair Girlfriend shot McNair as he slept, police say McNair's wife didn't know about affair Shooting reveals different sides of McNair Curran: McNair never asked to be superhuman PFT: Boyfriend sent media e-mail on McNair Public viewing, memorial set for Thursday Florio: 10 moments that helped black QBs Curran: McNair paved path for other black QBs   Images: Highs, lows of McNair’s career Discuss: How will you remember Steve McNair?

Along the way, Moon became a pass-first, run-rarely star, authoring a Hall of Fame career (he was the first African-American QB to be enshrined in Canton). Though Moon never made it to a Super Bowl (due in large part to the inability of the run-and-shoot offense to hold a lead), he arguably was the best pure passing machine in pro football history, regardless of color.

6. Steve McNair becomes a franchise quarterback
The decision of the Houston Oilers to make Steve McNair the third overall selection in the draft despite the fact he played at tiny Alcorn State represented a true watershed moment in the blurring of the lines between white and black quarterbacks.

McNair's talent and potential made the Oilers overlook both his skin and an NCAA career that easily could have been dismissed as a product of inferior competition.

Indeed, teams inclined not to make an African-American quarterback the centerpiece of a franchise easily could have focused on the uncertainty regarding whether McNair's ability would translate to the NFL.

But the Oilers already had proven via their embrace of Warren Moon that they care only about putting the best possible players on the field. So they pounced on McNair, and even though his quest for a Super Bowl came up a yard short, owner Bud Adams surely has zero regrets.

MORE FROM NFL

NFL Section Front

PFT Daily: Florio’s take on hot topics Texans boot chances to beat rolling Titans Power rankings: Chargers on the rise PFT: Ryan thinks Patriots ‘disrespected’ Jets PFT: Cooley probably headed for injured reserve Trash Talk: Thanksgiving games are just turkeys PFT: Cowboys downplay Campo-Newman spat Out of Bounds: Ricky Williams receives remote healing? PFT: Someone hacked Jet’s Twitter account Roethlisberger expected to play despite concussion   NFL Section Front   Add NFL headlines to your news reader: