Racism in professional sport - Aaron Keyer
Last week we talked about racism in sport, which I believe is a big problem for all sports. Everywhere people talk about sports it's a white basketball player either having to be a good shooter or a seven footer, a white quarterback in the NFL is automatically determined to be a set pocket passer. White wide recievers are expected to be possession recievers, not deep threats and black quarterbacks can't throw, they can only run. I think racism in sport has gotten better in terms of discriminating against one race or vulgarity toward a race, however the stereotyping that goes into recruiting and drafting players at certain positions has only gotten worse.
Leading up to the NFL draft a big topic of concern is always off the field issues. Doesn't it seem like black players are far more likely connected to not being as hard of workers off the field and more trouble in the locker room? Jamarcus Russel had all the talent in the world but completely flops as an NFL quarterback because of his off the field issues and his laziness but when Matt Leinhart fails as a quarterback it was because he was never in the right situation or maybe his skills weren't what we thought they were. That's not right, stereotyping a failed black quarterback as lazy and blaming the white quarterback's failures on alternative circumstances has gotten to be pathetic.
As a high school football player I saw stereotyping first hand. As a senior in high school I was being recruited as a wide reciever. I can't tell you how many times I got passed on for a black reciever who was the same size as me, had all the same attributes as me but I had better stats. A division one recruiter who had recruited me for several months ended up telling me I was simply "too white, too light and too slow" when at the combine workout we all participated in I ran the second best 40 yard dash time out of everyone.
If you simply just look around the NFL, you can stereotype by position. Even the NFL players see it. Last year Green Bay's wide reciever Jordy Nelson even said in an interview with the Green Bay Press Gazette, "Honestly, being white is a factor. Defensive backs don't respect my speed because white." His own black teammate Greg Jennings agreed also commenting in the Green Bay Press Gazette saying "people look at Jordy and say, oh he's just like those other slow white recievers. He's not."
Stereotyping has become a major problem in sports. Just because a player is black doesn't mean he can't learn the playbook or he is trouble off the field and just because a player is white doesn't mean he isn't as athletic. There has been so much bias created in which color player can be successful at which position and it's not right.
Stereotyping and racism in football is still a major problem. As you were spot on with wide receivers, every other position has some form of stereotyping. Offensive lineman are mostly white. Quarterbacks who are seen as pocket passers are white, and black quarterbacks are seen as scramblers. Running Backs are mostly black. Linebackers are mostly white, and the rest of the defensive positions are mostly white. I feel as if going into the draft this is how teams look at players nowadays, and if the player doesn't fit the skin color of the position, they are overlooked or told they need to play a different position. This is not right and needs to change. Players like Jordy Nelson, RGIII, Peyton Hillis, and Jared Allen all go against these stereotypes. Hopefully teams and managers will not play the race card or any other form of racism in determining how to draft players from now on.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. It is very rare that a white quarterback is known to run the ball really well, but instead is usually solely known as a pocket passer. When white quarterbacks have great runs the announcers are more likely to appear surprised, but appear to expect black quarterbacks to make great runs. Also, you do not see any white running backs either. In high school, there is a higher chance of there being a white running back, but there still are stereotypes that exist. Many often say "he's pretty fast for a white kid" and compare the white player to a black player. Stereotypes are going to continue to exist for a long time if not forever because of the stereotypes that exist in today's society.
ReplyDeleteCasey Daulbaugh
For the most part, I agree with your examples of stereotypes in the NFL and definitely agree that they exist. However, not every character evaluation is a stereotype, especially if it is true. JaMarcus Russel more than proved his critics right in his short career and showed that concerns about his off-field conduct were very warranted. I do see ESPN being very quick to compare black quarterbacks such as RG3 and Cam Newton when maybe they aren't as similar as most people assume. Ryan Tannehil, for example, was a converted wide receiver with little experience at QB who relies on his athleticism but also didn't seem to catch much pessimism about his football intelligence. Overall, there is no doubt racism still exists in the NFL but improvements are made everyday in my opinion.
ReplyDelete- Marc Rodriguez