ASHBURN, Virginia — Reggie Barlow called Doug Williams to talk about a couple of his Virginia State players as potential rookie camp invites for the Washington Redskins.
Williams was convinced, so he gave receiver Zac Parker a shot.
Parker is one of a handful of players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities the Williams-led Redskins front office invited to rookie-camp tryouts. The group joined two undrafted free agent signings, Grambling running back Martez Carter and Southern cornerback Danny Johnson, on the field Friday trying to earn a job from a team with a reputation for giving HBCU products a look this time of year.
Williams, a Grambling star who also coached there twice, isn't the only NFL executive looking to HBCUs for talent. But Washington's senior vice president of player personnel and his scouts continue to invite several players from places like his alma mater, Southern, Texas Southern, Norfolk State and Alabama A&M in the hopes of adding depth to the roster.
"HBCUs, they might get looked down on a little bit more as maybe not a big school, but we have talent for sure," Parker said. "As you can see: Doug Williams went to an HBCU. He's the prime example of it."
His legacy as a Super Bowl MVP quarterback is common knowledge for Carter given his time at Grambling and for Johnson, who grew up in Louisiana not far from Williams' hometown. The name Doug Williams has value at places like Grambling and Southern — "He's in history," Carter said — and his reputation as an executive precedes him even for players 40 years younger.
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