McNabb finally acting black : Philadelphia angry again

First off, I’m not sure if we can even really have an intelligent conversation about race and sports. My perspective is not one of a black quarterback, which would seemingly be the only perspective which could really be relevant here, and much of what at least I perceive the problem to be is rooted in a real gap in communication between Donovan, the press, the fans, and even some of the other players.

That said, in a narrow context what McNabb said was wrong. Quarterback is by far the most scrutinized position in sports. The axiom “the most popular man in town is the backup quarterback” is more or less a truism, and not because every backup is inherently whiter than the starter. When McNabb was behind Doug Pederson the entire stadium used to chant "McNoww." Rather, QB is the one position in team sports where there can be only one. If you have two stud running backs you can get them onto the field at the game time, or at very least manageably split carries – Ronnie Brown and Cadallac Williams were both top 5 picks coming out of Auburn. Same thing with point guards (Jason Terry and Devin Harris), power forwards (Sheed and Webber), center fielders (our very own Victorino and Rowand) and shortstops (the Yankees added the best shortstop in baseball, A-Rod, despite the fact that they had the second best, Jeter). Point being, in team sports that aren’t football, we can do this all day.

However, in football it does not work. A team cannot just slide one QB out to RB or WR and still be able to utilize their talents.

Further, the QB is more directly involved in football than any other single player in sports, save Pitchers, who usually rotate several per game.

Any two quarterbacks, (McNabb and Kolb work as a case study) can’t both play, which then puts the one who is playing under the microscope.

But while all quarterbacks are criticized in general, the manner in which they are talked about is different – probably far more different than a white sports fan can or does realize. What it seems that McNabb was trying is say is not that black quarterbacks are inherently under more scrutiny – rather that the scrutiny that they are under is very different. McNabb, who obviously is a student of a game, makes good reads and never throws INTs, being labeled as just an athlete can be seen as offensive – the assumption is that his victories have been god-given (what an athletic display!) and his losses have been the byproduct of inferior game-planning (the defense kept McNabb confused all day). He never gets shut down because he’s worse, or even played worse than the other team – rather, they were smarter. When someone says “he takes off when his first read isn’t open” it implies that he can’t wait and read the defense, not that he’s making a predetermined decision to exploit defensive tendencies.

So he’s probably right, we probably shouldn’t boo him, and if he says the questions he gets asked are unique to black QBs well, he should know and good for him for speaking honestly. I don’t really think he’s speaking to me – I don’t care how he wins – but if he is my bad. I’ll promise to stop criticizing when he promises to stop losing.

But still, what is scary to me as an Eagles fan is that McNabb’s clarification wasn’t accurate – he is called a ‘running quarterback’ where Young and Plummer never were – but it was personalized against Philadelphia fans. During MNF Kornheiser remarked that McNabb had said told him “if I get outside of the tackles and run I’ll probably get a standing ovation.” At the time it seemed like an odd comment – defensive against running because he didn’t want to appease the fans – now it seems like more of a judgment; he said 1. he finds it latently racist that people want to label him a running quarterback and 2. Philadelphia runs will boo him if he doesn’t run, i.e. ‘act black.’

Irregardless of what color his skin is, it does seem pretty thin, and once an athlete reveals that we get to him in this city, it opens the floodgates. Its like an alcoholic who despite how much they know their behavior is hurting themselves, they can’t turn a corner until they admit they have a problem. (warning, this metaphor works A LOT better if you believe alcoholism is good) Well, McNabb just admitted that we’re alcohol and now I think he’s going to start seeing all the ways where we’re hurting his life. Smart money says this is the beginning of the end.