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Blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to effectively manage or lead a team.

That sentence was said by Al Campanis, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was fired in 1987 after he suggested on national TV that blacks lacked the intelligence to manage a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, be an MLB pitcher, or play quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).

Why bring up Campanis' unfortunate comments? Because for years, that was the prevailing perception among owners of major league sports teams. That's why it took 20 years for us to be able to celebrate two black head coaches leading their teams in the NFL's Super Bowl.

It's a feat that, while worthy of commemorating, should not be considered parity for black coaches in the NFL or any of the three major league sports. (See also: 2 Black Coaches at the Super Bowl—Yes, It's a VERY Big Deal)

There only are six black head coaches in the NFL out of 32 teams, while about 70 percent of the players are black. So far, there have been seven black head coaches in the NFL's modern era with a combined winning percentage of .546, and the teams they helmed made the playoffs in 29 of 50 combined seasons.

Tony Dungy, whose Indianapolis Colts will meet Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI, is the only NFL coach to have led a team to the playoffs for seven consecutive years. Smith last year took his Bears, predicted to finish last in the entire league, to the playoffs, an accomplishment that won him the NFL's Coach of the Year award. (See also: Super Bowl XLI: Freedom for a Day—A Personal Reflection)

And the NFL's front office is in worse shape than its coaching ranks. There are only three black general managers in the NFL.

Smith and Dungy are a big story because as recently as five years ago, it was so difficult for a black assistant coach to land a head-coaching interview that a group led by the late Johnnie Cochran and attorney Cyrus Mehri released a report and pressed an antidiscrimination lawsuit scrutinizing the NFL's hiring practice of black head coaches. Mehri will discuss his experience with the NFL in the upcoming April issue of DiversityInc magazine, which is all about affirmative action.

NFL owners did take note and instituted "the Rooney rule," created by its namesake, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. The rule obliges owners to interview candidates of color for coaching jobs. Rooney himself just hired Mike Tomlin, who is black, as the Steelers' new head coach. (See also: Super Bowl Sunday: Who's Ward Connerly Rooting For?)

While the National Basketball Association (NBA) marked its first black coach in 1966 when the Boston Celtics hired Bill Russell to play center and coach, currently there only are 11 black head coaches out of 30 teams in a league whose players are 75 percent black. In the NBA's front offices, there are eight black general managers and one owner, the Charlotte Bobcats' Bob Johnson.

MLB hired its first black manager in 1975, when Frank Robinson took the helm of the Cleveland Indians. Today, there only are two black managers and the league is suffering a dearth of black players, with only 8.9 percent who are black.

So on Super Bowl Sunday, we're going to see the culmination of Dungy's and Smith's effort to succeed in an arena where there are few like them. And because there are two, it's evident that they are not aberrations. Their success hopefully further destroys the stereotype Campanis voiced years ago.

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