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Earlier this summer, when the NFL released the 2024-25 schedule, the date that came to mind was September 15: the Pittsburgh Steelers traveling to Denver to play the Broncos. I immediately circled the date and made plans to be there. This was supposed to be Russell Wilson’s revenge game.

After 10 seasons in Seattle, with two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win, Wilson was traded to Denver. This was before Sean Payton became head coach of the Broncos. Wilson and Payton never saw eye to eye, and Wilson was benched with two games left in the season.

As it stands, Justin Fields — who was traded from Chicago to Pittsburgh in March — was set to start Sunday against Denver. The Steelers announced Wilson would start this season, but a nagging calf injury catapulted the 25-year-old Fields into the starting lineup.

Fields has a 2-0 record as a starter, including Sunday’s 13-6 win over the Broncos.

When Fields spoke to reporters after Sunday’s game, he said Wilson had been given the petty game ball. The petty game ball is something Tomlin presents when the Steelers beat a particular player’s former team.

I felt like Wilson was disrespected by the Broncos organization and also by Payton. Apparently Fields felt the same way. After Sunday’s game in Denver, Fields gave his candid thoughts on what happened to Wilson in Denver. “I think we all know Russ was treated a little dirty last year,” Fields said. “I know he knows he wishes he could have played today, but it was great to get this win for him.”

Fields makes a strong case to remain the Steelers starter even if Wilson is ready to return. In his first two games of the season, he led Pittsburgh to wins over Atlanta and now Denver. But on Sunday, Fields seemed to suggest he was more interested in respecting an elder like Wilson who had accomplished so much for black quarterbacks in the league.

Sunday was another big day for Fields, who is making a comeback on his own after three controversial years in Chicago, where he was essentially cut and traded to Pittsburgh to compete with Wilson for the starting job.

Of all the landing spots mentioned for Fields, I thought Pittsburgh was the best situation. The Steelers are a solid organization. In Pittsburgh, the 25-year-old Fields would not only be coached by the 35-year-old Russell Wilson, but he would also have Mike Tomlin as his head coach. Wilson and Fields are at different points in their careers and have different missions. Wilson was a Super Bowl winner and a certain Hall of Fame inductee looking to end his career on a high. Fields is simply trying to accomplish what Wilson has already accomplished. In Pittsburgh, each quarterback could reclaim his respective careers: Wilson as the dignified elder statesman and Fields as the talented young quarterback who just needed a second chance.

Chicago has been toxic for Fields, who has been criticized nonstop — some of it deservedly — for the normal growing pains of learning to play the complicated position. He still needs to work on reading defenses and not holding the ball too long, but he’s playing with confidence.

Now Fields has a fresh start. This is perhaps one of the underrated aspects of the rise of black quarterbacks: the all-important second chance, the new life.

There was a time in the evolution of black quarterbacks when there was hardly a first chance, let alone a second chance, to play the position. The beauty of what we see in the league now is that there are so many different configurations of African-American quarterbacks. You have black quarterbacks competing with and supporting other black quarterbacks, and on any given Sunday there are multiple games where two black quarterbacks are going head to head.

The theme of reclamation and second chances was underscored Sunday in Green Bay, where Malik Willis, a 2022 third-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans, stepped in to save the day. Just 19 days after trading Willis, the Packers had to play him in place of Jordan Love, who was injured in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Willis, like Fields, didn’t have a great run with the team that drafted him. In many ways, Willis’ career has been defined by a disastrous start against the Kansas City Chiefs a few years ago, when he was clearly outmatched.

But on Sunday, Willis took over the starting role and helped Green Bay to a 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, a team that has its own spectacular black quarterback (Anthony Richardson).

Willis wasn’t spectacular, but he made plays when they needed to be made and used his athleticism to get out of trouble and keep drives alive. Willis completed 12 of 14 passes, averaged 8.7 yards per attempt, threw a third-down touchdown pass and rushed for 41 yards. He didn’t turn the ball over or record a sack in the Packers’ victory.

After the game, Packers head coach Matt LeFleur praised Willis in a way that would never have been praised for black quarterbacks years ago.

“I don’t think you guys can appreciate or even understand the job that Malik Willis… this guy got here three weeks ago,” he said. “For him to go out there and run our offense — we still had a lot of long calls, we had shifts, we had motions, a lot of different run schemes. He had a lot on his plate. And for him to go out there and do what he did today, I think says a lot about who he is as a person and the work that he’s put in. I’m just super proud of him.”

Willis will be relegated to the bench when Love returns, but he is in the process of resurrecting his career. Fields spent three particularly tumultuous years in Chicago before the organization decided they had seen enough and shipped him to Pittsburgh. Fields’ elevation in Pittsburgh illustrates the depth of black quarterbacks and the existence of second chances to thrive.

When I look at the conversations we’ve had about black quarterbacks, I think of the same conversations we used to have about black middle linebackers and free safeties. These were the so-called thinking man’s positions that African-Americans supposedly couldn’t play. Over time, there were so many black linebackers and free safeties that it became ridiculous to count.

This is the state of play for Black quarterbacks in the NFL: There’s depth and there are second chances. In Week 1, six Black quarterbacks faced each other in five key NFL games: Patrick Mahomes vs. Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts vs. Love, Dak Prescott vs. Deshaun Watson.

This will be a trend that continues. Only one question remains: when do we stop counting?