AURORA, Colo. — It was a surprise start for Timmy Smith. Only minutes before Super Bowl XXII on Jan. 31, 1988, Washington head coach Joe Gibbs asked Doug Williams, poised to become the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, to deliver the good news to the rookie running back: He’d be starting against the Denver Broncos in place of limping veteran George Rogers.
“Coach wanted me to break the news to him and calm him down,” Williams, now 60, recalls. “I said, ‘Timmy, you’re going to start the Super Bowl,’ and he looked at me like I was crazy.