Donovan McNabb let out a can of worms last week when, during an interview on Real Sports, McNabb claimed that “African-American quarterbacks such as himself face added pressure because there are fewer black quarterbacks -- and because some still don't want black athletes playing the position”. This takes a lot of guts for McNabb to make these claims. Race is always a tough card to play because of all the attention that is drawn from it. From a marketing standpoint, it also puts the team and the League on the radar. Commentators have been expressing their opinions of this topic also.Being from Philadelphia I have mixed emotions about Donovan McNabb. I feel that he was once a great quarterback but he has peaked as a quarterback long ago. He is also an attention whore. I have heard numerous comments, from former Eagles’ players explaining the reason for the McNabb-TO “Thrilla in Phila” was very much Donovan McNabb’s fault. I do not disagree with this statement. I used to believe McNabb was the messiah and T.O. was trying to thwart the dreams of all Philadelphia. Now as I look back, it seems in the last 4 years since T.O., McNabb has had his fair share of problems: the Garcia vs. McNabb competition that was brought about this past summer, the numerous injuries an
d missed playing time, and the Eagles not being able to win “the big one”. Garcia wanted to be resigned by the Eagles and a second string and after last season Garcia was looked upon as Philadelphia’s favorite quarterback. McNabb couldn’t handle that and Garcia was forced out. The same thing happened with Terrell Owens. He was Philadelphia’s most favorite athlete. McNabb could not take it. Then the situation blew up.In terms of the argument that black quarterbacks are more scrutinized than white quarterbacks, I do not feel McNabb’s argument has any truth behind it. I understand there are only five starting quarterbacks in the NFL that are black. That is a shame. I am not going to hide that fact. I feel the quarterback position is transitioning though, and there will definitely be more black quarterbacks in the future. In terms of criticism of black quarterbacks, I feel all quarterbacks get more criticism than praise 99% of the time. This does not matter if you are black, white, yellow, green, or blue. Quarterbacks are the leader of the team, and will be the first ones criticized. McNabb gets criticized because he is a player in Philadelphia. Philadelphians are some of the harshest critics in the world. If you do not win a championship, you probably will be greeted with tons of hate. If you do bring home a trophy, you will be revered forever.
From a marketing standpoint, the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL should really brush this topic under the table. It is a very touchy subject, and I feel has no value. McNabb is just looking for a way to grab some more unnecessary attention. If he wants attention, he should bring home a championship. Besides that, he should just be worrying about the wins. He has not been doing that at all this season.
9 comments:
Agreed, I hope McNabb just said this to spark his team (which worked with their win on Sunday). But it's almost becoming cliche for black athletes to complain about racism. Athletes of all colors have been embraced in our society and we have gone great lengths since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
If there is racism in sports it should be dealt with sensitivity, but this is not one of those instances.
I have to disagree with those of you on this one...as far as racism in sports or even in the US, it's still fairly common in CERTAIN areas of the US (ex. Jena 6).
McNabb's comments were made in August, HBO had to edit it and pick when they wanted to air it, and it just so happened to be after they started 0-2. His comments have some credibility behind them, do black quarterbacks fall under a little more scrutiny than white quarterbacks? I would agree to an extent. Then again the same argument can be made as to why there aren't that many white players at skilled positions (RB & WR).
My point is that, racism against black people, white people, yellow people, purple people, or whatever is still very much so alive today. I don't think McNabb wanted it to turn into what it has but he made his statement and still stands by it and he's somewhat right, sadly.
I think bringing in the "Jena 6" to this discussion was a little strange...
Racism continues to thrive because people make a big deal out of it. Instead of McNabb saying that he is equal with all his white counterparts because they are all QBs, he said he was different, which brings race into the picture where it was not already. There are many,many successful black athletes, there is no need to say anything about blacks vs. whites in sports. It's about time we talk about the person for his talent, not for his race.
No one is discrediting how successful or talented McNabb is, I was just saying that I agreed with his statement that black quarterbacks face more scrutiny than white quarterbacks. Should it matter whether a quarterback is black or white, no, but McNabb made a statement and that was that as a black QB he faces more criticism, and that's true.
The Jena 6 comment was just to make my point that racism still exists today.
What proof do you have that black quarterbacks face more criticism than white ones? Drew Bledsoe was constantly scrutinized by the fans and media in New England and Dallas, so was Jeff Garcia in San Francisco, and so have many many others throughout the history of the NFL. Unless somone made a statement saying "McNabb should not be playing in the NFL because he is black", there is no currently no proof whatsoever that he is being subjected to racism.
In an interview with ESPN, other black quarterbacks such as Vince Young, Steve Mcnair and Jason Campbell ALL said that black quarterbacks are not subjected to more scrutiny.
well said jordan.
I mean com'on...who's really scrutinizing the young black QBs when you have old Brett still hangin in there at 100? If anything, I feel like people are harder on the old white guys. When Marino was getting older, everyone was talking about how he should retire soon because his knees were shot, he was slow, and he wasn't producing like his young self. Now if I'm McNabb's caucasian alterego, I can say that they were sayin that because he was a WHITE guy in the NFL, instead of just old and tired. But then were those scrutinizers discriminating against OLD guys??? This could go on forever if we pick something we "think" they are discriminating against.
Maybe McNabb should worry about people heavily scrutinizing people with last names that start with M.
Yes, there is racism in the world. But it is elevated by people like McNabb that bring it up in places where there just isn't any. I think professional sports is the last place that black people should feel discriminated against.
So just because Vince Young, Jason Campbell, Steve McNair say that they don't feel the extra scrutinization...that just means that it doesn't exist?
Obviously this is a sensitive issue, and a lot of people are afraid of admitting it or even making it known.
If any of you watched Michael Wilbon on PTI or Sean Salisbury on NFL Tonight, you'd hear the arguments that they made in McNabb's favor.
I don't want to debate the issue any longer...we shoul all agree to disagree.
I don't think McNabb should have went this way with his comments. It seems that whenever someone brings race into something, it gets blown way out of proportion. While I can understand why McNabb might think he is more criticized because he is black, I can tell you that Eli Manning seems to get almost as much criticism and he's white. Players will get criticized for a lot of things whether they are black or white, and many times it is undeserved. People don't understand how hard pro sports are to play and are willing to criticize at any moment, and I believe that happens regardless of race.
I agree with YankeeCane7 in that McNabb should not have gone this route with his comments. Regardless of race, the QB position should be judged based upon one thing and that is talent. As a spectator and someone who pays attention to the opinions expressed by the media, I agree that QB's don't have it easy when it comes to being in the public eye. Nonetheless, we as fans of the sport have an obligation to not make race an issue and simply voice our opinions based upon one's ability to play the position.
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