KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Super Bowl LVII is a game that will hand off a win for Black America.
For the first time, two Black starting quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, will face each other on football's biggest stage.
The game is inspiring many young athletes including two Kansas City area standouts.
“You just look up and it makes you smile — we’ve come a long way,” said Joseph Vick, a senior at Center High School.
Like Hurts and Mahomes, Vick and Park Hill High School senior Kendrick Bell are setting the bar high for athletes across Kansas City.
Bell’s final season as the Trojan’s quarterback shattered multiple school records in completion, percentage, passing touchdowns and passing yards.
The Thomas A. Simone award winner credits his family and faith for his accomplishments.
“It’s a blessing, God put me in this position,” Bell said.
Vicks' skills on the football field are also making history — the yellow jacket’s quarterback holds his high school record for most passing yards and passing touchdowns all while maintaining a 3.5 GPA.
“You just gotta push forward and just know to always bet on yourself, because yourself is going to get there,” Vicks said.
Both are bound to play college ball in the fall, but their excellence on the field carries a deeper meaning off the field.
“It shows the kids in the inner city that look like us that you can do this,” Vick said.
Nearly 80 years after the NFL's color line was broken, both high school standouts are saluting Mahomes, Hurts and others that came before, propelling them to continue to be for everyone to see.
“I want the world to know to stop looking at just the two Black quarterbacks, and I want to make it the normal — something you see on the daily basis,” Vicks said.
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