JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Donovan McNabb remembers the day he realized how far he could go as a football player.

Doug Williams showed him by becoming the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl in 1988, and the Philadelphia Eagles star can join his boyhood hero in the record books by beating the New England Patriots in Sunday's NFL title game.

"It's a special feeling not only for myself, but for all of the other African-American quarterbacks that are in the NFL, as well as playing on the collegiate level, to know that this could happen to you," McNabb said.

The five-time Pro Bowl selection was 11 when Williams led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 rout of the Denver Broncos 17 years ago. He watched the game on television and will never forget how it impacted him and other young black kids across America.

Now, he wants to make his mark.

"I visualized me being in his shoes, and it's a reality now," McNabb said. "I'm just looking forward to the challenge of getting on that football field. If I can do some of the things he did in that particular game, I'll be excited as well."

The climate for black quarterbacks has improved dramatically since Williams entered the league in 1978 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading them to their first playoff appearance a year later.

There are established black quarterbacks throughout the league. Three of them - McNabb, Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons and Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota - led their teams to the playoffs and were voted to the Pro Bowl this season.

And for the first time, two black QBs - McNabb and Vick - met in a conference championship game, ensuring one would reach the Super Bowl.

Williams couldn't help but notice that with three quarterbacks on each team, half are black in this Super Bowl. Rohan Davey is the backup for New England, and Jeff Blake is the No. 3 quarterback for Philadelphia.

"That's where the progress is being made," Williams said. "I think that's where we have to continue, where if a kid is not good enough to be your starter right now, he has an opportunity to improve and maybe one day be the starter.

"When we get to the point where with 96 quarterbacks in this league, and there are at least 25 (blacks), we will have come a long way then."

McNabb is just the third black quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl. Tennessee's Steve McNair is the other, reaching the title game five years ago before losing to the St. Louis Rams.

When he takes the field Sunday night, Williams and other members of the Field Generals Club - a group of former NFL players who've banded together in the interest of promoting and preserving the history of black quarterbacks - will be rooting for him.

McNabb can't imagine the kind of pressure Williams faced when he led the Redskins to the Super Bowl and was barraged in the days leading up to the game with inane questions like: "How long have you been a black quarterback?"

Williams is glad McNabb's race has not been as big an issue this week.

"I came along when the story wasn't about the two teams that was in the Super Bowl, as far as what they've done during the season. It was more or less about one man, and the color of his skin. I think we've gotten away from that," Williams said.

"There's probably not one article you'll read where it starts off as Philadelphia black quarterback. It's Donovan McNabb, the quarterback of the Eagles."