There are 6 African American Head Coachs in the NFL....none of them start an African American QB....there are 6 African American QBs starting in the NFL.....all play for white head coaches....16 NFL teams have an African American Head Coach or an African American QB as the starter or the backup....I know McNabb's accusations were about the media, but I think these numbers indicate that the league itself is past the stigmas that are assumed to have once existed....this might have been a black and white issue at one point, but today, its a green issue because if you win in the league, you get paid....
The league is past the issue. The media is not. One thing that I have noticed amongst fans and some media is that when they compare quarterbacks, they only compare black quarterbacks to other black quarterbacks and white quarterbacks with other white quarterbacks. Has anyone else noticed that trend? It's almost like some people are afraid to compare whites vs. blacks at a given position in conversation even when such comparisons have nothing to do with race. </p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Return of the Raider)</div><div class='quotemain'> The league is past the issue. The media is not. One thing that I have noticed amongst fans and some media is that when they compare quarterbacks, they only compare black quarterbacks to other black quarterbacks and white quarterbacks with other white quarterbacks. Has anyone else noticed that trend? It's almost like some people are afraid to compare whites vs. blacks at a given position in conversation even when such comparisons have nothing to do with race.</div></p> it's the same thing with basketball.</p> people are quicker to compare Steve Nash to Mark Price than to Magic Johnson. </p> And you'd see more Yi to Yao comparisons than Yi to...Garnett, for example.</p> It's a little bothersome at times, especially if race is the prime reason for the comparison. And if the comparison is completely off, that just pisses me off.</p> But it happens, and although it's possible people will get past race in the future, I see it as highly unlikely.</p>
The subject will barely be brought up in the future (there will always be a few racist people, but who cares about them?).</p> I mean, Jemarcus Russell wasn't even in the Heisman trophy race all year and then all of a sudden he is the #1 pick. What McNabb doesn't understand is that the media doesn't care about his winning %, the media wants Championships. The media has always been obnoxious about that. Could McNabb also please site some other examples of the media being wack? He only brings up that NAACP guy (who's black) and Rush (and McNabb had average passing stats when Rush made those comments).</p> Since Black QBs have already overcome so much, I only see life getting better for them. Look at the kind of contracts they've already received in the past few years. </p>
It appears to be the media making a mountain out of molehill. I've said this before about the media and am certain will say it again. </p> Rather than reports the facts, they have to stir the pot &throw the ingredients in also. </p> There are a large number of Polynesians (Pacific Islanders) playing in the NFL but none @ QB... whats up w/ that?</p>
I've heard the same point made about white running backs. I really don't have an answer though. My guess is that its a combination of kids hoping to follow players they can relate to (same race, upbringing, etc.) and coaches/parents making assumptions about what a kid can and cannot do.
Don't you think that if anyone should know if black QB's are criticized differently or not, then of all people McNabb might be one to know?</p> </p> Since you know.. he plays the QB position.. and he's black? Just saying.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ATLien)</div><div class='quotemain'> Don't you think that if anyone should know if black QB's are criticized differently or not, then of all people McNabb might be one to know?</p> </p> Since you know.. he plays the QB position.. and he's black? Just saying. </p></div> And what if he's just a sensitive guy? I remember he got all offended by TO when he said how much he liked Brett Favre (when he should have just dismissed the comment as an annoying insult), and brought up race again, which was ridiculous. I know a lot of black people that take some things too seriously. Vince Young and Jason Campbell also don't agree with him.</p> </p>
McNabb's comments were directed at the media, not at the NFL establishment. And the media does seem to jump on black QB's more. I don't mean that they don't dole out criticism to all QB's, but certain guys seem to take it more than others. Look at a guy like Jim Kelly, who also never won the big one despite coming close several times. I don't remember local media wanting to can him, since they still realized he was one of the top QB's in the league. Maybe its just Philly, but I've been surprised every time I've seen a media outlet there call for a new QB. </p>
I agree about the players being compared to other players with the same race. This happeneds in basketball all the time. I mean, how many white guys have been compared to Larry Bird and how many black guys have been compared to Michael Jordan. Now think of how many white guys have been compared to MJ and how many black guys are compared to Bird. None come to mind.
I think a good comparison to MJ is Jerry West - West wasn't the dunker, but if you look at their season stats, they're quite similar and MJ's jumper was a lot like West's. A good comparison to Magic is Jason Kidd. </p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (starman85)</div><div class='quotemain'> McNabb's comments were directed at the media, not at the NFL establishment. And the media does seem to jump on black QB's more. I don't mean that they don't dole out criticism to all QB's, but certain guys seem to take it more than others. Look at a guy like Jim Kelly, who also never won the big one despite coming close several times. I don't remember local media wanting to can him, since they still realized he was one of the top QB's in the league. Maybe its just Philly, but I've been surprised every time I've seen a media outlet there call for a new QB. </p> </div></p> What type of extra criticisms are you referring to exactly? My memory is kind of failing me in this case.</p> And I mean recently of course, I don't want to hear about Warren Moon who obviously went through a tough time.</p> </p>
As an Eagles fan, I don't agree with McNabb's comments at all. Black quarterbacks do get criticized, I don't think anyone disagrees with me. But white quarterbacks get criticized too. It's all part of playing the game. I've seen millions of analyst criticize Eli Manning, and recently, Philip Rivers has been getting a lot of heat for his horrible play as well. The bottom line is, McNabb has to step up. I'll be completely honest with you, McNabb looks like crap thus far into the season. If he gets his head out of his ass, and actually starts completing some of his passes, there won't be a ton of criticism directed towards him. During the 2004 season when he lead the Eagles to the Superbowl, he received nothing but praise from the media. If you want the media to perceive you positively, it's easy. Get out there and lead your team to victory. If not, then then expect to see criticism coming at you at every direction until you do so. It's the same thing with any other sport. When you play good, and when you win, the media will be on your back. If you don't play well and lose, the media will turn their backs on you. So far, we are 0-2, and McNabb has been playing like crap. What is the media supposed to do? Praise him? Philip Rivers has been playing like crap recently also. Is the media praising him like they were last season? No. He's been receiving a lot of criticism
I agree with Brian. Ask Peyton Manning before the Super Bowl win if he didn't get a lot of unjustified heat from the media. I think you can definitely make a point about how the media and people in general make assumptions about a player based on their race, but this sounds much more like McNabb being tired of the criticism and lashing out in the only way he knows how. The fact is that, with his start, he deserves the majority of the questions/criticism he's been getting lately.
I think that McNabb is just more sensitive to criticism that most quarterbacks, regardless of their race. He has had some job security for many years now, and his father freaks out when the eagles draft a QB in the first round, and gets quoted on it. Is elder McNabb, who probably grew up in a much more racially hostile world, just fueling his son's suspicions to this end? I think so. Back in his dad's day, there was definitely the type of one-sided criticisms that media outlets would spew. Nowadays, people get fired for making the smallest racial comparisons. In McNabb's long tenure as the starting quarterback of an NFL team, I think he is taking for granted that he has held on to and opportunity longer than the vast majority at his position. There aren't too many quarterbacks in this league that I can think of that would be able to hold onto a job in a town as tough as Philly for as long as he has. Now, he's telling everyone he's got it tougher because he's black. I'm not buying any of it. Play like you want to keep your job and stop making excuses.</p> </p>
