ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -From the moment Jason Campbell decided he wanted to wear No. 17 as a quarterback for the Washington Redskins, he knew he would be forever linked to Doug Williams.
They already had much in common. Both are from small towns in the deep South. Both have laid-back personalities. Both have played for coach Joe Gibbs. Both are tall - 6-foot-4 - and skinny with rifle arms.
And, of course, both are black.
``I have the utmost respect for Doug Williams,'' Campbell said Wednesday. ``I feel we're still carrying the torch that Warren Moon carried, and Randall Cunningham and Doug Williams, and all the guys who played before us. They really gave us an opportunity to play a position and to do the things that we're doing. And when we get in the position, we have to make sure we're doing the right things to keep it and to maintain it, and continue to pass the torch on.''
Williams played for the Redskins when black quarterbacks were still an NFL novelty. He was the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, earning MVP honors in the title game in January 1988. Legend has it that he was asked ``How long have you been a black quarterback?'' the week before the game.
Much has changed since. It's hard to imagine an NFL without Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, Michael Vick, Aaron Brooks, Daunte Culpepper, Vince Young or any of the other blacks who have played the position over the last two decades. Vick, whom the Redskins will face on Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons visit Washington, thinks the topic of black quarterbacks now belongs in a bygone era.
``I really don't get into all that. I do know this: I'm a quarterback and I know how to play this position. That's where I'll leave it,'' Vick said. ``I don't get involved in the other side of it. I can play in this league. There's a lot of quarterbacks in this league - black and white - who can play. As long as you can play the position, who cares about skin color? I don't think it matters anymore.''
For Williams, though, it still matters. He went through too much to feel otherwise.
``I've kept up with Donovan McNabb, Vince Young, Jason and McNair and Michael Vick, for obvious reasons,'' Williams said. ``Because I know the road people like myself and James Harris traveled to get to the point to play in the league. So I pull for Jason Campbell to play well. I pull for the McNabbs and the Vicks. Some people might say that's being racist. That's not being racist. It just reflects some of the hurdles that we had to overcome to get to this point.''
Williams, who works in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office, met Campbell at the 2005 Senior Bowl and was immediately impressed. Then, when Campbell was drafted by the Redskins, he called Williams to make a request.
Campbell wanted to wear the same number he wore in college at Auburn - the same No. 17 Williams wore in the 1980s. He didn't have to have Williams' blessing - other Washington quarterbacks have worn the number since Williams left - but he sought it anyway.
``I told Jason I had no problem with him wearing it,'' Williams said. ``Just when we get a chance to get together, the dinner is on him.''
Campbell sat on the bench his entire rookie year, but he has played well in two starts since taking over from Mark Brunell. He has four touchdown passes and one interception with one win and one loss, and he's only the fourth player in NFL history to have two TD passes in each of his first two games.
And, like Williams before him, he seems to take it all in stride. He patiently waited for Antwaan Randle El to get open before zipping in his first scoring pass last week against Carolina, and he had the composure to call his own play when the helmet transmitter malfunctioned late in the fourth quarter. The call resulted in a game-winning touchdown pass to Chris Cooley.
``From Day One, Jason's reminded me a lot of Doug,'' Gibbs said. ``He reminds me of him because of his mannerisms. Doug was a country guy. From a football standpoint, he was really, really bright, which Jason is, and had a great arm.''
Campbell and Williams take it as a compliment when they are compared to each other, but Campbell knows he owes a debt to Williams that can't be repaid, no matter how big the dinner. Campbell, for instance, said he never had a coach switch him to another position, as has often happened with other black quarterbacks.
Still, Campbell had a strategy to foil such a move, just in case.
``If they put me at receiver, I'd run a route like I couldn't run it,'' Campbell said. ``There's ways around it.''
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AP Sports Writer Paul Newberry in Flowery Branch, Ga., contributed to this report.
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