I haven’t had the chance to dive into the Donovan McNabb situation just yet, so I’ll take the opportunity to do so briefly. First of all, I think Donovan is a fantastic quarterback, one whose play on the field I highly enjoy and respect. In short, I’m a huge fan of his. Part of it is because I didn’t think he was much coming out of college, and now he’s proved me wrong. Well Donovan responded to the criticism he’s received from saying black quarterbacks get criticized more on his blog:
First, the interview took place in August before the season started so for
those who think I “played the race card” because we are 0-2 are dead wrong.
…
Black quarterbacks have to deal with different things than white
quarterbacks. If you don’t think that’s true than you are naive.
…
I would love to live in a world where race is not an issue. But it is.
OK, now for my response. I really wish race didn’t even have to be brought up as an issue, just as Donovan said. Furthermore, just because I and many other people I know judge (and criticize) all quarterbacks and athletes equally doesn’t mean there isn’t a vast portion of our population who don’t. The reality is that there are a great deal of people out there who still have racist mentalities. So just because I don’t judge quarterbacks differently based on race, doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who do, therefore I’m not disappointed in what Donovan said. I’m just disappointed it had to be said.
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More Hot Stories at larrybrownsports.comThis entry was posted on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I’m gonna put a different spin on it tonight
I guess Donavan wouldn’t know about what Rex Grossman has gone through in Chicago the past few seasons.
I agree one hundred percent. I wouldn’t be wearing all black today if what Donovan was saying was a genuine exaggeration.
JS, you’re right about that. There isn’t a QB in the league who hasn’t been criticized, and I think Donovan knows that. I think he’s saying that race is just an additional factor. All QBs get criticized, white or black, and heavily.
Yes, Larry. I agree with your comment that race is an additional factor in sports and in everything that comes under public scrutiny. I also shared your opinion when he came out of college that McNabb wouldn’t make it big in the NFL, and I, too was pleased that he did.
However, let’s all keep in mind that the race factor cuts both ways. There are whites who hold the KKK mentality of the 1920″s. Then again, there are many blacks who hold that same feeling for whites.
We need to judge and be judged as individuals, not members of any group. That was part of MLK’s dream. Unfortunately, the media chooses to jump on the whites who are prejudiced, white giving a free pass to blacks who are prejudiced.
Everyone writes about the enduring prejudice against black qb’s, but accepts a movie title like “White Men Can’t Jump”. To me, one is as bad as the other.
Isiah Thomas, who is on trial for sexual harassment at the present time, said that it was okay for black men to call women bitches, but not for white men. He also, by the way, said that Larry Bird would be just another good player if he were black and not white. Not one black person has spoken out in criticism of Thomas’ position on those two issues.
Bottom line, we need to address racial prejudice wherever it occurs, and regardless by whom it originates.
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