Taliaferro Lends His Support to McNabb

The scene would be set for an interesting conversation if George Taliaferro and Rush Limbaugh ever met.

Taliaferro was one of the NFL’s first African American quarterbacks. Radio host Limbaugh asserted again this week that Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb is overrated because he’s black.

By leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl, Taliaferro said, McNabb “has proven that he’s gotten no assistance from the media or anyone else in performing in the manner in which he has performed.”

But Limbaugh maintains that “when the defense ... was propping the Eagles up,” the media “were still giving McNabb credit -- because there’s this social hope.”

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Trivia time: Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins was the first African American quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, but who was the first black player to attempt a pass in a Super Bowl?

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More Taliaferro: After an All-American career as a triple-threat back at Indiana and one season with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-American Football Conference, Taliaferro played six seasons in the NFL.

“I did everything a quarterback did [his first three seasons in the league], but I didn’t take the snap from center directly until 1953 with Baltimore,” said Taliaferro, who was a three-time Pro-Bowl selection from 1951 to 1953. “But that wasn’t because I wasn’t a quarterback. That’s just the way the game was played back then when the ball was snapped back in what would be a shotgun formation today.”

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Selling point: Three black quarterbacks -- Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper, Atlanta’s Michael Vick and McNabb -- will represent the NFC in this year’s Pro Bowl.

From Rodney Pierce of the Roanoke (N.C.) Daily Herald: “Due to their recent and past accomplishments, Vick, McNabb and Culpepper have all changed the game. Owners, general managers and coaches no longer look for your typical pocket-passer quarterbacks. They want signal-callers who have the size of the 240-pound McNabb and 264-pound Culpepper, and the speed of Vick, who can run a 4.3 40-yard dash.

“And don’t even get me started on the marketing appeal of these young men. We all know too well McNabb and his Campbell’s Chunky Soup commercials, and how many quarterbacks have their own amusement park ride ‘The Michael Vick Experience.’ ”

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Sleep driving: Actor Paul Newman, who turned 80 on Wednesday, will drive in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 5-6, but plans to let his younger teammates do most of the driving.

“I get to log a sleeping shift,” Newman said. “The rest of it will be up to the [other] drivers. I try to get about 23, 23 1/2 hours of sleep.”

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Trivia answer: Dallas fullback Robert Newhouse, who completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Golden Richards in the Cowboys’ 27-10 victory over Denver in the 1978 Super Bowl.

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And finally: This from Randy Hill of Foxsports.com on NHL labor problems: “Players continue to oppose a hard cap on the grounds that it ‘would really mess up our hair.’ ”