Marlin the Magician Brisoce - 70s Bill - Passes Away

[First Round Bust]

Marlin Brisoce has passed away - One our better receivers during the early 70s -played 3 years for Bills -

 

October 1968, after being drafted by the Denver Broncos of the American Football League (AFL), he became the first black starting quarterback in professional American football and established a Denver rookie record of 14 touchdown passes that season. He played professionally for nine years, including Bills and Dolphins

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34157179/marlin-briscoe-first-black-starting-qb-afl-dies-age-76

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wiki info

 

Briscoe was 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds when the AFL's Broncos took him in the 14th round of the 1968 draft at the age of 22. The Broncos intended to convert Briscoe to cornerback, but Briscoe had negotiated for a chance to compete for the quarterback position.[3]

On September 29, 1968, starter Steve Tensi suffered a broken collarbone, and backup Joe DiVito was spotty. Head coach Lou Saban summoned Briscoe from the sidelines in the fourth quarter against the Boston Patriots to give him a try. Briscoe's first play was a 22-yard completion. On his second series he orchestrated an 80-yard touchdown drive. He completed a 21-yard pass and ran for 38 more himself, carrying it the last 12 yards for the score.

A week later, on October 6, he became the first starting African-American quarterback in the AFL. Briscoe threw 14 touchdown passes that year in just 5 starts, including 4 on Nov 24 against Buffalo; both are still Broncos rookie records. He also threw for 335 yards in that game, a rookie record that stood until John Elway broke it in 1983, and one of only three 300+ yard rookie games in franchise history. He completed 41.5 percent of his passes, and averaged 7.1 yards per attempt and his 17.1 yards per completion led the American Football League (and ranks 18th all-time). He also ran for 308 yards and three touchdowns.[3]

Before the 1969 season started, Briscoe, still determined to play quarterback, discovered that head coach Saban intended to use Pete Liske as the starter, so he asked to be released.[4] He went to the AFL's Buffalo Bills where he was turned into a receiver, since the Bills already had superstar Jack Kemp, former Pro Bowler Tom Flores, and James Harris, another black quarterback with a more prototypical 6-foot-4 and 210-pound frame. Briscoe never played quarterback again, but he enjoyed a splendid career. He led Buffalo in touchdown catches in each of his three seasons there and in receptions twice. In 1970 he was in the top two in receptions and receiving yards and became an All-Pro.

After the AFL-NFL merger, he played in the National Football League from 1970 though 1976, mostly with American Football Conference teams. In 1971, the Bills traded Briscoe to the Miami Dolphins for a first-round draft pick Joe Delamielleure, who developed as a Hall of Fame guard.

Briscoe went on to win a pair of Super Bowls. Briscoe led the undefeated 1972 team with four touchdown receptions and was the leading receiver on the Dolphins in 1973,[5] catching more passes than future Pro Football Hall of Famer, Paul Warfield.

Briscoe made stops with the San Diego Chargers, and Detroit Lions[6] before ending his career in 1976 with the New England Patriots. He had 10 receptions for 136 yards and 1 touchdown in 14 regular season games for the New England Patriots in 1976. He caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Steve Grogan in the Patriots 48–17 rout of the Oakland Raiders at Schaefer Stadium on October 3, 1976. Early in his career, Briscoe was intercepted by Boston Patriots AFL All Star Defensive Back Leroy Mitchell in Denver's 35–14 rout of the Patriots at Fenway Park on November 3, 1968. He is the only player to have been intercepted by a Patriot player and later to have caught a touchdown as a Patriot receiver.[7]

 

 

 

 

[hondo in seattle]

Sad news.  

 

I'm old enough to remember him as a player. 

 

One of my first football heroes - back when I considered football players heroes.  

[RoyBatty is alive]

He was great watching him pay, especially quarterback when it was so controversial.  The Bills were terrible but I grew up the year he and Eddie Ruthkowski were thrown in as emergency QBs in the old AFL, fantastic memories, Bills dont get enough credit for that or for James Harris.

Edited June 27, 2022 by RoyBatty is alive

[dwight in philly]

12 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Sad news.  

 

I'm old enough to remember him as a player. 

 

One of my first football heroes - back when I considered football players heroes.  

Yea , me too.. agree with everything you said.. 

[The Frankish Reich]

12 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Sad news.  

 

I'm old enough to remember him as a player. 

 

One of my first football heroes - back when I considered football players heroes.  

Same here. I was convinced in my little kid way that Dennis Shaw and Marlin Briscoe were the best QB-WR combo in the whole wide world. I didn’t know anything about the whole black QB controversy. He was just …. The Man.  
RIP. 

[wnyguy]

One of my favorites as a kid, hated that we traded him to Miami.

[eball]

Before my time but RIP.

[Let's Go Buffalo]

He made history back in the AFL days, a true trailblazer for sure. Prayers indeed! RIP Mr. Briscoe 

[Guffalo]

As a kid I couldn't understand why we traded Briscoe, one of our best players, it just didn't make sense to me. I also remember when they traded Haven Moses and I was devastated. 

 

RIP Marlin the Magician

[WotAGuy]

Hated him for that game against the Bills when he hit Floyd Little for a long TD in the closing seconds. Loved him when he played for the Bills. The Magician!  Lost track of him after he was traded.  Didn’t know he played for 3 more teams after Miami. Too bad Saban didn’t allow him to get a shot at QB. He was dynamic. 

[Beast]

The Magician.

 

RIP, and thank you for your contributions to the NFL and the Buffalo Bills.

[First Round Bust]

back at that time, the daze of my misspent youth...I thought we were on to something with the rebuild...had a very talented group of WR in Briscoe and Haven Moses, JD Hill (2 of those 3 were number 1 picks)...couple of early second-round picks in Dennis Shaw (qb) and Jan White (TE) and then the back-to-back USC number 1  picks OJ and AC (who made more fame together in the LAPD White Ford Bronco chase scene than we "initially"[pardon the pun] thought)...just goes to show we didn't have the right qb and our TE woes continued for decades...then the bad trades of Briscoe, Moses, James Harris, Dunaway, etc and the missed drafts of Patulski, Dokes, Nebraska LB Twins (Ruud, Nelson), Gant, etc, etc...no wonders we  made the playoffs once during the 1970s (wildcard loss to Pitts) and the 0h for the decade against the Dolphins...SMH

[Stranded in Boston]

The Bills 1971 squad had Briscoe (who had averaged 18 yards/catch in 1970 as half of a dynamic duo with rookie Dennis Shaw), Haven Moses and rookies JD Hill (4th pick overall) and Bobby Chandler-- plus OJ and rookie Jim Braxton in the backfield. All that offensive firepower was wasted: the o-line was a complete sieve that year, and the defense bad as well (excepting my man Robert James!). The Bills started 0-10 and finished 1-13, their worst-ever season. But Briscoe still has his moments, and his trade to Miami netted Joe DeLamielleure in the '73 draft. Briscoe ended up with two super bowl rings in Miami; win-win I guess! ... RIP, Marlin the Magician ...

[Warcodered]

 

[Stranded in Boston]

3 minutes ago, First Round Bust said:

... the missed drafts of Patulski, Dokes, Nebraska LB Twins (Ruud, Nelson), Gant, etc, etc...no wonders we  made the playoffs once during the 1970s (wildcard loss to Pitts) and the 0h for the decade against the Dolphins...SMH

Wow, FRB, I forgot how bad those drafts were. Tom Ruud and Bob Nelson?? Did either of those guys even get on the field for the Bills? 

[WotAGuy]

2 minutes ago, Stranded in Boston said:

Wow, FRB, I forgot how bad those drafts were. Tom Ruud and Bob Nelson?? Did either of those guys even get on the field for the Bills? 

Bob Nelson did and was forgettable, obviously. 🤣

[chris heff]

9 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

 

Just a fantastic athlete.

[SoMAn]

If you still think we (America) hasn’t made progress, consider how nobody today gives a second thought to a starting college or pro black QB.
Briscoe and Harris and those who looked past color to give them opportunities were trailblazers. 

We’re not perfect, but we’ve come a long way. 
Briscoe was a great player. I was sorry the Bills traded him, but Saban was trying to get OJ to reach full potential, and to do that, the O-Line needed to be fortified. 
Briscoe was recognized in Miami for his accomplishments and awarded by having the Florida baseball team named after him. 😉
Thanks for the memories Marlin and for your part in advancing equal opportunity. 
 

Edited June 27, 2022 by SoMAn

[Augie]

13 minutes ago, chris heff said:

Just a fantastic athlete.

 

I think we’ve all known some guy who could just pick up a sport and be better at it than everyone else. Well, this is that, and then some! I’m not sure when the Magician became part of his moniker, but it seemed very fitting. He was one of my favorites in the day. It felt like he was with us more than 3 seasons because he was so incredibly talented and memorable. 

 

RIP. 

[ColoradoBills]

7 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I think we’ve all known some guy who could just pick up a sport and be better at it than everyone else. Well, this is that, and then some! I’m not sure when the Magician became part of his moniker, but it seemed very fitting. He was one of my favorites in the day. It felt like he was with us more than 3 seasons because he was so incredibly talented and memorable. 

 

RIP. 

 

Agree.  I had to look it up to see if it was only 3 and it was.

1970 he was a Pro Bowler with over 1,000 yards with an 18.2 yard per reception.

He was one of my favorites!

 

RIP.