Eagles and black quarterbacks: A quiz

The new deal with Michael Vick, and the addition of Dennis Dixon, means the odds are good that Philadelphia Eagles will once again have a starting quarterback who happens to be African American.

Football fans have come a long way, baby, since the days of race-based doubts, and the Birds have played a remarkable role in that evolution.

Just witness the stellar careers of Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb.

Only the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise can claim two such accomplished passers, with Hall of Famer Warren Moon and Steve McNair, who made it to a Super Bowl.

Counting backups, the Eagles had at least nine minority quarterbacks in the past 30 years - and that's not counting a running back who tossed six touchdowns.

Which makes us wonder: Can Eagles fans name them all?

Here's a series of trivia questions. See how many you can get right.

1. Besides Cunningham, McNabb and Vick, who started the most games at quarterback since Ron Jaworski led the Eagles to a Super Bowl in 1981?

2. Besides those four, who's the only other black quarterback to start three games for the Eagles?

3. In 1976, Dick Vermeil signed a black quarterback who had started in the World Football League. He played in 15 games over several years, throwing 65 passes, including three for touchdowns. What was his name?

4. McNabb wasn't the first Syracuse quarterback drafted by the Eagles. Who was taken in the sixth round in 1988, but never threw a regular-season pass in two years with the team?

5. The Eagles also signed an ex-Syracuse quarterback in 2007. But it's unfair to ask fans to remember Perry Patterson, because he lasted only how long?

6. What quarterback who made the Pro Bowl with Cincinnati was an Eagles backup in 2004, throwing just 37 passes, including a TD?

7. What Eagles running back completed only 6 of 13 pass attempts, but had all six catches go for touchdowns?

8. What white quarterback started the most games for the Eagles since 1990, and who was second?

9. What was the name of the Asian American quarterback who set records at the University of Hawaii and whose NFL stops included the Eagles in 2006?

See "Answers to Eagles black-quarterback quiz."

NOTE: The Eagles were also part of the NFL's history of taking college black quarterbacks and moving them to new positions. Quarterback was one of the positions played by George Taliaferro, who in 1949 became the first African American drafted by an NFL team (Chicago Bears). He threw for 10 TDs as a pro, but none during his one season, 1955, with the Eagles. Cliff Brown, drafted as a running back by the Eagles in 1974, was the first black starting quarterback for Notre Dame. He never made the Eagles roster. Jimmy Raye Jr., a Tampa Bay assistant coach, quarterbacked at Michigan State in the 1960s, but had been converted to a defensive back before he was picked up by the Eagles.