[NFL] McNabb says black quarterbacks face more criticism

[Hime]

Story on ESPN <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3025308">here</a>.

What do you think? The morning show that Daniel and I watch, "Mike & Mike in the Morning," had an interesting discussion about it. For those who haven't seen the show, Mike Golic is a former football player, and Mike Greenberg is a sports journalist. Both are white; Greenberg is Jewish. When they talked about this issue, Golic was very adamant that McNabb's claim wasn't based in reality, and seemed to think that McNabb was disrespecting other athletes by reducing the public perception of their performance to "black and white." I was surprised by Greenberg's answer to that -- he got very serious, and said that both hosts get a lot of mail both good and bad, and that "we both know that people say things to me that they don't say to you." Meaning openly racist comments. He said that for someone who hears as much criticism as an NFL quarterback, the number of both openly and subtly racist comments would get to feel overwhelming very fast, and that his own conversations with McNabb have shown that he is someone who takes criticism pretty hard.

I think that "who gets more criticism" is a pretty meaningless question, since every player is different. Does Rex Grossman hear less criticism than LaDainian Tomlinson? Um, no. :p And here in DC the Redskins fans have been far less critical of Jason Campbell than they were of Mark Brunell. Do we have different standards of good performance depending on race? I'm sure a lot of people do, but it's not something that can be proven.

The thing for me is that the discussion I've heard and seen about the interview has focused on that one "they don't get criticized as much" comment. The rest of McNabb's points, IMO, were more compelling -- that there's still a lot of pressure on black quarterbacks, as if they need to prove that they deserve to be playing that position. Reading that sort of made it click to me why so many people in the African-American community are so loyal to Michael Vick, because black quarterbacks are seen as making a kind of progress for their whole community. I can see how that would be a difficult emotional situation -- the kind of mistake people make every day, dropping a ball or tripping on your sneakers, turns into a betrayal.

Mostly I'm just very, very glad that I'll never be a professional athlete. Even making QB money would not be worth that kind of stress to me. From the sound of things, it might not be totally worth it to McNabb, either.

I'm curious to hear the thoughts of people who actually know about football, instead of just trying to fake it like me.

[theotherguy]

Quarterbacks who are involved in illegal dog fighting also get more criticism. Was it the pressure of being criticized as a black quarterback that lead him to break the law? As I recall, he was the savior of the Atlanta Falcons.

[Hime]

Originally Posted by theotherguy

Quarterbacks who are involved in illegal dog fighting also get more criticism. Was it the pressure of being criticized as a black quarterback that lead him to break the law? As I recall, he was the savior of the Atlanta Falcons.

I'm sort of confused about what you're talking about. I said that I think the reason people were so loyal to Vick (not why people were hard on him) was because it is still considered unusual for a black man to be a successful quarterback, so his success made him sort of an icon to the community.

Obviously most NFL players haven't made mistakes nearly as epic as Vick's, but a situation where any mistake creates an uproar is, by definition, a high-pressure situation.

[theotherguy]

OK. Here is the part where I admit that I did not completely read your post, but decided, against better judgment, to post my own.

I will have another go at it later.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If Mcnabb does well, he's a great quarterback, and if he doesn't, he's a dumb nigger. I've heard it a thousand times. But I don't think they are truly racist, I think they are just saying the meanest thing they can think of.

Of course if McNabb started playing like a $112 million quarterback, it wouldn't be an issue. The reason they get that kind of money is they are expected to perform and he hasn't.... he should be under pressure... a lot of it.

[Griff]

Up until now McNabb has been a model citizen. I'm betting he's very frustrated having realized he doesn't have the tools he once did and his team isn't capable of carrying him. Folks should cut him some slack, he's just popping off.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'll cut him some slack when he starts earning some of that money.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I'll cut him some slack when he starts earning some of that money.

Too late he's old.

[TheMercenary]

Whiney pussy that McNabb.

[piercehawkeye45]

Putting aside outside activities, running quarterbacks seem to be more criticized more than pocket quarterbacks.

Whether or not the black=running and white=pocket stereotype comes into play why running is bad is probably dependent on the person.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That doesn't work. There have been running (scrambling) and pocket Qbacks long before there were black Qbacks. The pros and cons of each have been debated ad infinitum.

[W.HI.P]

The man is the 2nd best QB in the game.
Ya'll stand corrected.

[xoxoxoBruce]

One good game doesn't make him worth his pay. Consistency, dependability, and being able to play well when the rest of the team isn't, make a great Qback. I hope he can do that.