Is McNabb living in the past?
This week, Eagles QB Donovan McNabb said in an interview that white quarterbacks don't get criticized as much as their black counterparts do.
"There's not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra," McNabb tells HBO. "Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn't want us to play ... is low, so we do a little extra." [AP]
Now, McNabb is definitely right that, for a long time, people didn't want blacks to play quarterback. For decades, high school and college coaches would not play black players at the position, either out of their own racism, or out of fear of what the students, parents, administrators, or community would think. As a result, it has taken a while to get to the point where there are a lot of pro-caliber black quarterbacks - but nowadays, most NFL teams either have at least one black quarterback, or have had one at some point.
There are currently six starting black quarterbacks: McNabb, David Garrard of Jacksonville, Vince Young of Tennessee, Steve McNair of Baltimore, Jason Campbell of Washington and Tarvaris Jackson of Minnesota. There would be seven if Michael Vick - the number one overall pick in the 2001 draft - hadn't gotten busted for operating a dogfighting ring. And the #1 overall pick in this year's draft, Oakland's JaMarcus Russell, is a black quarterback out of LSU. In addition to the starters (and Russell will obviously be a starter before too long), there are a number of black backup quarterbacks, including rookies like Chicago's Chris Leak (the former Florida star, who was MVP of the 2007 National Championship), and Baltimore's Troy Smith (who won the 2006 Heisman Trophy).
The same day McNabb's comments hit the press, there was a high-profile free-agent signing which provides an excellent example of how things have changed. Atlanta signed Byron Leftwich, who is black and started for Jacksonville for several years, but was waived during training camp when the team decided to go with another black quarterback, David Garrard. The signing sparked immediate speculation among fans and the media that Leftwich will replace current starter Joey Harrington, a white quarterback who has been criticized heavily for his role in the Falcons' 0-2 start (and was arguably the most-criticized and ridiculed quarterback in the league during his tenure as the starter for a horrible Detroit team). [Atlanta Journal-Consitution]
If McNabb thinks the avalanche of criticism he's gotten after the team's 0-2 start is about race, he should talk to Harrington or David Carr (the white starter for the Houston Texans during their first five seasons, during which the team compiled a 23-56 record). Every time someone like McNabb cries racism without good reason, it makes the country less receptive to potentially legitimate examples of racism (like the charges in the "Jena 6" case).
"There's not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra," McNabb tells HBO. "Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn't want us to play ... is low, so we do a little extra." [AP]
Now, McNabb is definitely right that, for a long time, people didn't want blacks to play quarterback. For decades, high school and college coaches would not play black players at the position, either out of their own racism, or out of fear of what the students, parents, administrators, or community would think. As a result, it has taken a while to get to the point where there are a lot of pro-caliber black quarterbacks - but nowadays, most NFL teams either have at least one black quarterback, or have had one at some point.
There are currently six starting black quarterbacks: McNabb, David Garrard of Jacksonville, Vince Young of Tennessee, Steve McNair of Baltimore, Jason Campbell of Washington and Tarvaris Jackson of Minnesota. There would be seven if Michael Vick - the number one overall pick in the 2001 draft - hadn't gotten busted for operating a dogfighting ring. And the #1 overall pick in this year's draft, Oakland's JaMarcus Russell, is a black quarterback out of LSU. In addition to the starters (and Russell will obviously be a starter before too long), there are a number of black backup quarterbacks, including rookies like Chicago's Chris Leak (the former Florida star, who was MVP of the 2007 National Championship), and Baltimore's Troy Smith (who won the 2006 Heisman Trophy).
The same day McNabb's comments hit the press, there was a high-profile free-agent signing which provides an excellent example of how things have changed. Atlanta signed Byron Leftwich, who is black and started for Jacksonville for several years, but was waived during training camp when the team decided to go with another black quarterback, David Garrard. The signing sparked immediate speculation among fans and the media that Leftwich will replace current starter Joey Harrington, a white quarterback who has been criticized heavily for his role in the Falcons' 0-2 start (and was arguably the most-criticized and ridiculed quarterback in the league during his tenure as the starter for a horrible Detroit team). [Atlanta Journal-Consitution]
If McNabb thinks the avalanche of criticism he's gotten after the team's 0-2 start is about race, he should talk to Harrington or David Carr (the white starter for the Houston Texans during their first five seasons, during which the team compiled a 23-56 record). Every time someone like McNabb cries racism without good reason, it makes the country less receptive to potentially legitimate examples of racism (like the charges in the "Jena 6" case).
posted at 11:18:00 AM | permalink
<< Home