'Be A Trailblazer': C.J. Stroud Wants To 'Inspire' Next Generation
This past weekend when quarterbacks Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud and Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson took the field at M&T Bank Stadium, they were helping make history.
This past weekend in the NFL, 14 Black quarterbacks were named Week 1 starters — the most ever to start a season in league history. Stroud said Thursday that he wants to set an example for the younger generation through his play and his character.
"I feel like the job is bigger where I want to be a trailblazer for more guys to come and try to help out many more kids who look like me," Stroud said. "Even the one's who don't, I just want to inspire kids and people in general."
In addition to Stroud and Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, Justin Fields, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, Jordan Love, Desmond Ridder and Joshua Dobbs all made starts in Week 1.
Stroud said the work done by Black quarterbacks across previous generations helped open the door for the new record to have been set Sunday.
"Players like Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham, my dad used to make me watch them on the regular," Stroud said. "I remember watching them as a kid and just looking at them like, 'OK, you can play this position being who we are as our culture.'"
In Week 2, Stroud will face the second Black quarterback in as many weeks in his friend in Richardson.
While Stroud thinks the record-breaking statistic was "cool," he is of the mindset that people shouldn't worry about a quarterback's race and focus on how he performs on the field.
"As a human nature, I don't really think we should Black-and-white everything," Stroud said. "At the end of the day, when we're out there playing quarterback, we're going to play at a high level whatever race you are."
