Playing field still not equal for Black quarterbacks

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 09/27/2007

   First of all, you cannot buy race cards in a store — they are not for sale. Many people were caught off guard by Philadelphia Eagles star Donovan McNabb’s comments to James Brown in an interview on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. McNabb said that Black quarterbacks “have to do a little bit extra” because there are relatively few of them. “People didn’t want us to play this position,” McNabb said.

 For many, particularly many Whites, they don’t get it. This is 2007; all quarterbacks get criticized when they don’t win or produce, right? It’s a lightning-rod position, and criticism goes with the position.

 But what McNabb is saying is that critics go overboard with him, and it might be personal.

 When you have had recent injuries like McNabb and your game slips a bit playing the quarterback position, particularly in Philadelphia, it can get ugly. As far as some people are concerned, McNabb has never won the big one.

 Has he been successful? Absolutely. On and off the field a man of great character, a leader, he might be the most successful Black quarterback ever. McNabb is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a former NFL-MVP, and he has taken his team to the Super Bowl.

 You’ve seen him in commercials for Campbell’s Soup and other companies. He plays a glamour position quarterback in a major market city, and it has taken a while for many people to associate glamour and the position of quarterback with McNabb, or with Steve McNair and other Black quarterbacks. It’s called human nature.

 Some people say that McNabb, 10 months after having major knee surgery and having missed 13 games the last two years, is not as good as he was. Last Sunday, McNabb threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns in Philadelphia’s 56-21 rout over previously unbeaten Detroit.

 McNabb was victimized by conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh in 2003, then working for ESPN. Limbaugh, who as you know (unless you live in a cave) is White, said McNabb is not as good as perceived: “I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a Black quarterback do well.”

 So who’s right, McNabb or Limbaugh? You can’t have it both ways. History lesson: You can’t talk about a Black man playing the quarterback position in 2007 without reviewing the pioneers at the position like James Harris, Warren Moon, Doug Williams, and other Black quarterbacks who paved the way over the years, putting up with all the crap, subjected to pure unmitigated racism just because.

Moon had to go play quarterback in Canada in the Canadian Football League coming out of college at Washington after winning the Rose Bowl and being MVP. NFL teams wanted him to move to defensive back. The rest is history — he played great in the CFL, won the Greg Cup several times, signed as a free agent with Houston and later the Vikings, and is the first Black quarterback selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Just because all quarterbacks — Brett Favre, Peyton Manning or Tavaris Jackson — get criticized today by fans and media alike depending on whether their teams win or lose does not make what McNabb said untrue. Believe me, he is not crying wolf.

 The reality is that unless you have been in McNabb’s shoes, you can never experience what he deals with as a quarterback. Human nature is a big part of one’s perception, and no matter what the numbers say, perception is reality.

 Too many people want to fast-forward to 2007 and say that quarterback Rex Grossman of the Chicago Bears is White and he gets criticized, so that proves McNabb is wrong. Black men in America know that once you get an opportunity — and it does not just pertain to sports — you have to be better, because if you’re just as good as the next White guy, he will get the job.

Is that right or wrong? Is that fiction or reality? Be honest with yourself and think about it. 

 Fitz notes & quotes

This Sunday, September 30, when the 1-2 Vikings battle Brett Favre and the 3-0 Packers, Vikings legend Chuck Foreman will be inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor. The Vikings will wear their 1970s throwback uniforms. A previous “Fitzbeat” column sparked the induction.