I’m not a big Football fan. I spend far more time reading about Football games on Mondays than watching them on Saturdays and Sundays.
Black quarterbacks: good enough for the NCAA
Nevertheless, as I channel-surfed through college games on Saturday, the number of Black quarterbacks stood out like a yellow flag on the field. After all, I grew up listening to eugenics propaganda about Blacks not being smart enough to play this position.
Commentators still peddle these half-baked theories with coded phrases like “raw talent” or “natural gift.” Because those phrases willfully overlook that Blacks are smart enough to learn to become talented.
Slowly but surely, Black quarterbacks are debunking this propaganda. The following from the Wall Street Journal attests to this:
A study of the winning percentages of Black quarterbacks at 40 major-conference schools since 1970 found them to cumulatively be 31 points higher than other quarterbacks at the same schools.
With the exception of former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the most dominant offensive players of the past two decades have arguably all been black quarterbacks: Florida State’s Charlie Ward, Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick, Texas’s Vince Young and Mr. Newton.
(December 30, 2010)
Affirmative Action? Think again
That record speaks volumes. Yet some still question the ability of Blacks to play quarterback. But they’re like the Whites who questioned the ability of Blacks to fly airplanes 75 years ago.
Some “informed” sports commentators even suggest that this record has more to do with affirmative action than playing ability. That political correctness has forced NCAA coaches to restructure their offense to rely more on running than passing.
Yes, Black quarterbacks invariably offer coaches more options. But only racist commentators still presume Whites are invariably better at passing. After all, this is like presuming Whites were better home-run hitters until integrating Baseball proved otherwise.
Black quarterbacks: not good enough for the NFL?
The undisputed success Blacks are having as quarterbacks in the NCAA makes one wonder why they are not having similar success in the NFL.
Of course, with only 32 teams (compared to 120 in NCAA Division 1-FSB alone), the opportunity to play Black quarterbacks is considerably less.
That explains the phenomenon of NFL teams drafting Blacks who excel as quarterbacks in the NCAA to play a different position in the NFL. Hell, Charlie Ward, who won the 1993 Heisman Trophy, offered so many options that the New York Knicks drafted him in the first round to play in the NBA.
As things stand, the NFL has only 4 Black (starting) quarterbacks. But it’s only a matter of time before they predominate. More and more coaches will come to appreciate the options quarterbacks who can run and pass bring to a team’s offense. And none of those coaches will be furthering some unspoken affirmative-action policy.
Even so, only one Black – Doug Williams –has quarterbacked his team, the Washington Redskins, to a Super Bowl victory (in 1998). It’s great to have versatile Black (pass-and-run) quarterbacks like Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Robert Griffin III.
But, if they don’t lead their teams to Super Bowl victories, White (more pass-than-run) quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, and Ben Roethlisberger will be the standard for the NFL. And there’s nothing racist about that.