Raheem Morris, Terry Fontenot, And The Burdens And Responsibilities Of Being The 1st Black (Fill In The Blank)

Being the first Black person to do something is always a historic honor — it also sucks. Just ask Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot.

The Atlanta Falcons recently fired their head coach (Morris) and general manager (Fontenot), who were the first two Black employees to hold those positions in the franchise’s history.

Black head coaches and general managers are still a rarity in the NFL. The combination of both, alongside a starting Black quarterback, is the kind of progress Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned for his city.

Unfortunately, that dream remains deferred.

“You want to go get the best fit for your people. You want to get the best fit for your coaches. You want to go get the best fit for our city,” Morris said a few years ago.

“And I know you’re gonna jump all over the best fit for the city thing,” he said while talking to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. “I mean, I can see the excitement. People are gonna read into those words and whatever. However, they do those things, and you can’t stop that. There’s people that are from Atlanta, there’s people from around Atlanta. You can name the mileage and how close people are, but you’ve got to do what’s best and what’s right for your team at the right time, and we won’t rule out anything.”

The message was clear. A team with Black leadership in a Black city was looking for a Black quarterback to connect with the culture, similar to the days when Michael Vick had AirTran Airlines billboards on I-85. 

Two years ago, Fontenot drafted Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick to give Morris his potential franchise quarterback, despite the team already signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a $180 million contract. The idea was for Cousins to start while Penix Jr. developed as his successor, much like a storyline from Any Given Sunday, where the experienced white quarterback mentors the young Black quarterback.

Things didn’t go as planned.

In his first 14 games in Atlanta, Cousins compiled a 7-7 record, throwing 18 touchdowns and a staggering 16 interceptions. He was eventually benched for Penix Jr., who played the last three games of the season. The Falcons finished 1-2 with the rookie under center, as he threw three touchdowns and three interceptions. Atlanta ended the 2024 season with a record of eight wins and nine losses.

With Morris and Fontenot now gone, Penix Jr.’s career has been plagued by injuries, poor performances, and uncertainty.

“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons, but I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward,” Blank said in a recent statement about the firings. “The decision to move away from people who represent the organization so well and have a shared commitment to the values that are important to the organization is not an easy one, but the results on the field have not met our expectations or those of our fans and leadership. I wish Raheem and Terry the absolute best in their future pursuits.”

Morris finished with a combined record of 16-18 in his two years with the Falcons. He is one of the few Black head coaches in the league to be rehired after being fired. In his previous stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009-2011), he went 17-31. His overall record as a permanent and interim head coach is 37-56, equating to a 39.7 winning percentage.

“I want Rah (Morris) back with all my heart,” Falcons star wide receiver Drake London said about his former coach. Unlike our Caucasian counterparts, being beloved isn’t a skill that tends to keep Black people employed. Our likability keeping us on payroll isn’t a privilege we get to enjoy.

In the case of Fontenot, he arrived in Atlanta in 2021 after serving as the New Orleans Saints’ vice president/assistant general manager for pro personnel. He’d finally gotten his own team to run, and he was doing it in a city where black leadership is the norm, as Atlanta has solely had Black mayors since Maynard Jackson took office in 1974.

“In his past positions, he has shown the ability to make strong decisions and judgments that result in championship-caliber teams, while also understanding a variety of viewpoints and respecting a collaborative process throughout,” Blank said about Fontenot at the time. “Landing a leader of Terry’s stature, I believe our organization, players, fans, and community will have confidence in our approach throughout this process, as I am certain Terry will represent them and the expectations they have to a high level.”

Morris and Fontenot exemplify the burden and responsibilities of being the first Black person to do something. And in their case, they were under even more of a microscope, working in public careers in a league like the NFL. Black coaches and front office members have to be great, not good. The league, like much of the American workforce, is populated by white people who are mediocre at their jobs and will seldom face consequences. Even if they are let go, they often receive multiple chances to be ordinary.

Having a Black general manager, head coach, and starting quarterback wasn’t the reason why the Atlanta Falcons didn’t make the playoffs. Their talent and skillset may have been the issue, but not their skin color. What happened in Atlanta shouldn’t be turned into some racist trope that views Morris and Fontenot as problematic DEI hires. It just didn’t work, much like white hires can end up failing in the NFL and the American workforce.

On a deeper level, Morris and Fontenot capture the complexity of being Black pioneers. When you’re in that position, it’s not about you. It’s about anybody who may have a chance to follow in your footsteps, putting the onus on you to be almost perfect. When it comes to “Black Excellence,” results are more important than representation.

As unjust as it may sound, the right Black person has to be put in place, not just any Black person. Melanin doesn’t guarantee greatness; just look at Sage Steele, Tim Scott, and Byron Donalds.

While the hiring and firing of Morris and Fontenot are the latest chapters in the plight of Black employees in the NFL, Black starting quarterbacks are experiencing a newfound level of equality. The player with the highest current annual contract in the league is a Black quarterback, Dak Prescott. And for the first time in NFL history, half of the league’s starting quarterbacks during this season’s opening week were Black — 16 in total.

Watching this “progress” unfold in the same league that once blackballed Colin Kaepernick, as Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores is still suing for alleged racial hiring practices, is interesting, given that the world we live in is worse off than it was when Kaepernick first took a knee. Uncoincidentally, the current state of our world can be traced to the retaliation of the first Black president being elected, as many of America’s ills could have been circumvented if the first Black woman had been elected.

Being first when you’re Black isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his Substack to keep up with more of his work.

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