Sorting through McNabb reaction — why would he have to apologize?
I see a lot of headlines like these: McNabb won’t back down on black QB comments. Or this one, which is my favorite: Defensive McNabb doesn’t regret comment on black quarterbacks.
I watched a lot of that press conference. I didn’t see Donovan McNabb being defensive. I saw McNabb staying in the pocket and taking the heat. I saw a lot of the Philadelphia media being defensive. After all, McNabb’s assertion is largely about them. (Not entirely, because there’s plenty of national press, but largely.) Of course they’re going to take great exception. It reminded me a lot of the old SNL Martin Short “I’m not being defensive … maybe you’re the one being defensive, did you ever think about that?” routine.
I’ve read all the thoughtful comments on my earlier entry. I went on a syndicated radio show with Papa Joe Chevalier last night outlining my position. This story’s burning up airwaves and bandwidth, and it will for a long time. That’s cool.
I just have one question: Why on Earth would Donovan McNabb have to back down from or apologize for his comments, as numerous reporters asked him to do?
This is how he feels. I don’t know how anyone can say he’s wrong. There are plenty of other points of view, but to ask him to sit up there and say he’s sorry for the way he interpreted his life experiences? That upon further reflection, the white dudes standing before him are correct after all?
I would hope that by now, McNabb has earned a reputation as a cool-headed, classy guy regardless of your opinion of him as a quarterback. And I would love, just love, to see a single example of a white quarterback who had to endure the kind of silliness McNabb had to endure when the head of the local NAACP called him a sellout for being a pocket passer. That’s pretty “different” from Manning and Palmer and Brady, wouldn’t you say?
(In a similarly ridiculous vein, to a commenter on my blog who wrote: “It’s also tough to have symapthy (sic) for black athletes who make 10 million a year and can’t stop getting arrested. Who’s (sic) fault is that?” I am not aware of a single arrest in Donovan McNabb’s background. Please provide a link. Or, in the alternative, please pat yourself on the back for unintentionally proving McNabb’s point. You might be thinking of Michael Vick. He’s also black and he’s also a quarterback, but I’m sure that’s not why you’re grouping them together. Because you wouldn’t do that.)
McNabb posted a blog entry at Yardbarker further amplifying his remarks. In some circles it’s being taken as revisionist history. I don’t see it that way at all. He may well have made those same points in the original HBO interview, but they ended up on the cutting-room floor. (For those who watched the program, when James Brown went back to the set with Bryant Gumbel, he offered more conclusions about the interview, suggesting that there was more substance than could fit into the 10-minute window.)
Of everything I’ve read or heard on the topic, the best take comes from Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who observes that the press corps — numbering five dozen and almost all white — and McNabb “were talking right past each other.” And yes, I’ve seen the comments from Jason Campbell and Vince Young, but come on. One guy is in his second year and one guy is in his third. Seeing the heat McNabb took, is either one of them going to wade anywhere near this controversy? Right.
Let me throw out a list: Steve Fuller. Marc Wilson. Mark Malone. Rich Campbell. Todd Blackledge. Tony Eason. They have these two things in common: 1) They’re white. And 2) They were taken in the first round of the NFL draft between 1979 and 1983, when future Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon was off in Canada, unable to land a spot in the NFL. That was 25 years ago. In other words, those guys between 55 and 65 years old who are in decision-making positions in the NFL right now? A lot of them were the ones deciding Warren Moon wasn’t good enough, although they did want to look at him as a tight end. (Peyton Manning’s a big dude — think anyone wanted him to work out as a tight end?)
So I’d like to hear Moon say McNabb is off-base on this. He says it, I’ll give it some weight. What I’m not buying is all these assertions that Rex Grossman takes more heat than McNabb and therefore everything’s OK. Rex Grossman is a putz of a quarterback who doesn’t belong on the field. Donovan McNabb is a five-time Pro Bowl selection who took his team to four consecutive conference championships and has a better career winning percentage than Peyton Manning or Brett Favre. If the most anyone can do is compare his experience with Rex Grossman’s, that strengthens McNabb’s case, not yours.
One other thing I’m reminded of in all this: The single worst part of the entire O.J. saga — the mid-’90s one — is the introduction of “race card” into the American vocabulary. Any discussion can be stifled, mocked and trivialized by saying someone is “playing the race card.” It isn’t a game. It’s the guy’s life.
I don’t know why anyone would be upset that we get an honest look into it.
Donovan McNabb
I hope that you actually get a chance to read this, The news media here in NY fried you for your comments. I truly believe that your comments which I just watched on HBO Real Sports were right on. Why should a black athlete or anyone have to subjected to that sort of scrutiny is way beyond my understanding. I believe that there is a man near you that you should reach out to and talk with. His name is Douglas Palmer–the Mayor of Trenton New Jersey. I believe that he could give some insight to what he has overcome in all his tenures in office. I met Mayor Palmer at a wedding where he officiated and he really is a well spoken man. You amd he would get along very great. I absolutely loved what your Father had to say in that intervies. Much the same as what my immigrant Father taught me whemn I was growing up in a “getto” in Brooklyn NY in the 1950’s.
I have worked alongside of Steve Mara and always loved razzing hime when “my” Eagles beat his Giants.
Well
I wish you and the team all the best now and in the future. The TRUE fans are behind you and Andy Reid 1000%.
Duncan Corns Jr
145 Tulip Avenue
Floral Park, NY 11001
P.S. Not that it matters but I am of the Caucasian persuasion.
Why should he apologize? Because he’s completely full of crap. He takes flak not because he’s black, but because (a) he plays in Philly, where the media and fans are aggressively obnoxious when you’re winning and worse when you’re losing, and (b) he’s not, and has never been, the top-tier talent that he’s always made out to be, and so he consistently fails to meet overblown expectations.
I mean, the examples McNabb cites, of white quarterbacks who allegedly don’t get flak, don’t even support his own case. Take Peyton Manning. Arguably the best quarterback of his generation. And for years the guy has been pilloried as elevating gag jobs in big games, particularly the postseason, to an art form. And even now that that’s gone away, now that he’s finally won a Super Bowl, he still gets grief as an overexposed doofus because he’s pitching for everything from hubcaps to coffee filters to satellite television to condoms. Tom Brady gets grief for being Mister GQ. Brett Farve gets grief because he’s been playing football since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, and needs to change his Depends undergarments between offensive series. Joey Harrington gets grief because he sucks. Chad Pennington gets grief because he’s fragile and has an arm like my little sister. Hell, just last week there was a “49′ers Blog” entry on the Merc’s own site in which the writer complained loud and long about Alex Smith.
So spare me this BS that black quarterbacks are so, so put upon. Strap on a pair, Donovan.
Unfortunately, Donovan has very thin skin which has been evident since the day he was drafted. Granted he was booed off the stage that day, but that comes with the territory. The fact is, he doesn’t like the pressure of playing in Philadelphia and never has. He and his over-bearing parents have been on the defensive from day one. As a fan, I don’t have time for all of that…play hard on Sundays and most importantly, win. The bottom line is that after we get past all of his personal hangups, we have a very good player that is just a notch below the elite QB’s…past and present.
The biggest problem with his comments is that he is lumping the fans in with the media and everyone else he believes is out to get him. I’ve been an Eagles fan for all of my 33 years and I can tell you that Eagle fans couldn’t care if the QB was black, white, asian, etc. All we want to do is win a Super Bowl, that’s it. Aside from a few pinheads, which you’ll find anywhere, the fans of Philadelphia have supported McNabb through thick and thin.
He should think about that before he runs off at the mouth again.
Donavan McNabb needs to shut his mouth! He’s crying about the criticism that black quarterbacks get? Are you kidding me!? The African-American quarterback is always getting the national spotlight. He should just take the high road like so many other minority quarterbacks have taken and not even bring race into the conversation. Look at Tony Romo, J.P. Losman, and Jeff Garcia. How often do you see them on T.V. crying about the suffering of Hispanic quarterbacks?
Before you say “Well there’s not really a Hispanic quarterback tradition in the NFL!”; let me remind you about Joe Kapp. Ya that Joe Kapp-the one who came out on the cover of Sports Illustrated labeled as the “toughest Chicano in football”. This is the same Joe Kapp who orchestrated “the play” in the Cal-Stanford game as head coach. He also took his Minnesota Vikings to Super Bowl IV as quarterback.
Or how long are we gonna continue to hype up Doug Williams who won only one Super Bowl while we completely ignore Jim Plunkett the Hispanic quarterback who won 2 Super Bowls back in 1981 and again in 1984 being named that game’s MVP in Super Bowl XV. This is the same Jim Plunkett who beat out Theismann for the Heisman back in 1970 at Stanford.
And who was his coach for those 2 Super Bowl victories? Well it’s a man who himself has won the Super Bowl as a player, asst, and a head coach yet he is NOT in the hall of fame! It’s Tom Flores. He accomplished all these feats long before Doug Williams or Tony Dungy and he doesn’t ever get mentioned on ESPN. I think Outside the Lines even had a special program dedicated just for the black quarterback and made no mention of any other minority even though Hispanic quarterbacks have won more Super Bowls and an Hispanic coach took his team to the Super Bowl 24 years before Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith did.
Now is the perfect time to recognize these guys. It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! We’ve ignored the efforts of guys like these along with Barry Alvarez, Mario Cristobal, Ron Rivera, Anthony Munoz, and Rich Rodriguez for far too long in the National Football League and the NCAA. For there being such a small percentage of Hispanics in football I’d say they have made a huge impact in critical positions. C’mon people! In honor of the current National Hispanic Heritage Month let’s give a big recognition to the people who have been snubbed for the last 40 years in major football competition.
That’s just my take sir. I’m just an 8th generation American and a US war veteran of Iraqi Freedom.
Thank you for this article. As a black person, I grow tired of having white men tell me something is not racist. If you’ve never experienced racism, you are not qualified to give you opinion the state of racism in this country. In addition, the whole “race card” thing is just a way to dismiss an opinion you refuse to consider.
I don’t know what McNabb has gone through, and neither does anyone else. I just ask that people at least listen to what he has to say and entertain the thought that sometimes people are not just “playing the race card”. Besides, if we play the race card, white people play the BINGO card: http://i-dreamed-i-was.livejournal.com/6105.html
Minority shminority. I don’t care if you are black, white, orange, green or blue…if you don’t produce in Philly you will take the heat. Even if you do, but are not consistent…you will take heat (Mike Schmidt). The bottom line here is that with Donovan saying what he said, he is taking the heat and scrutiny off the poor performance of the team and it’s coaches, and re-directing it somewhere else. Would Donovan even be saying anything if the Eagles had been winning? I don’t think so. So then the question here is…why does something like this come up now when the team is 0-2 and doesn’t look like a playoff team? Would Donovan be saying this if the Eagles were 2-0?
Let’s do a reality check here…Sports is big business and big entertainment…especially the NFL. And McNabb is one of the big-time stars. When he talks…people listen. So I think what he is saying now is just a bunch of spin to take the focus off of the poor playing of the team and re-direct the media’s attention.
If the Eagles were playing well, this would be a non-issue..and should be a non-issue. Donovan would be a great quarterback with the right players around him…and he knows it. So maybe this is his way of venting these frustrations.
Just one man’s opinion.
John, one of the primary reasons–beyond the undeniable facts that QBs have been and always will be scrutinized more than other players because they are the leaders, field generals and expected catalysts on the field and therefore live and die in the spotlight–McNabb is subject to more scrutiny is the reason you provide in order to distance him from that “putz” Rex Grossman (who has played in as many Super Bowls as McNabb, by the way) - because he is a five-time Pro Bowler who led his team to four straight conference championships (and a Super Bowl, which you must have forgotten). The more successful you are, the higher the expectations. You yourself cite McNabb’s “winning percentage” as one of his stellar qualities. It stands to reason in your argument, then, that even in a team game like football that the QB is more accountable for either winning or losing than any other player on the team. My point exactly. That person does–and should–garner more scrutiny from the media and the fans.
Peyton Manning is a good example. He was under the same harsh spotlight before he won the Super Bowl. He was mercilessly ridiculed as the Guy Who Couldn’t Win The Big One, a Choker, a Loser. And that was from not only the Indy media, but the National media. This is well-known and well-documented. He was compared over and over again in the lead-up to the Super Bowl to Dan Marino. Remember him? Greatest QB to never win the big one. That’s just one example. How do you think that made Manning “feel”? He knew that until he won the Super Bowl, the questions would always be there. Note to McNabb: now that Manning has a ring, those questions have stopped.
Kurt Warner is an even better example, because he combines your “fall from grace” (McNabb) theme with the “outsider looking in” (Moon) theme. Cut by the Packers, Warner ended up stocking groceries in Iowa before he made his way into the Arena League. Just like Moon, think he was pondering why Bubby Brister, Don Majkowski, and Rick Mirer were getting their shots and not him? You bet! Those “guys between 55 and 65 years old” must have been busy keeping him out of the NFL. And, also just like Moon, those old guys eventually discovered him and gave him a shot.
Ends up a three-time Pro Bowler, two-time NFL MVP, and a Super Bowl MVP thrown in there. He’s also the most accurate passer in NFL history. Pretty great track record (like McNabb). He got injured and lost some magic (like McNabb), was released by Arizona. Media and fans alike said he was washed up. Blamed for messing up a season or two. Warner was then picked up and released by the Giants, with Coughlin expressing public regret that he ever started him. Back in AZ, he’s demoted for some kid named Josh McCown. Tough stuff. Never talked about scrutiny.
I actually don’t think McNabb should apologize either. What would he apologize for? The point is that I just don’t see any more scrutiny directed toward black QBs than QBs in general. The increased scrutiny comes from the position they play (they are typically one of the few positions looked to for leadership of their team) and the success they have had playing it (where with success comes expectations). Do I, or anyone else, expect Jon Kitna to lead the Lions to the Super Bowl? No, just like nobody expects Byron Leftwich to do the same for the Falcons. They’ve never done it before, why would we expect that? Do I (and everyone else), however, expect McNabb to get the Eagles at least to the playoffs this year? Yes, just like I expect Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to the playoffs. Why do we expect this? Because they’ve shown us they can. These expectations, not skin color, feed the fire of scrutiny when the wins don’t start piling up.
I am not color blind. I am not denying racism exists in the world and in this country. I just think McNabb is barking up the wrong tree. In my opinion, he’s not a black QB. He’s just a QB who happens to be black. Just win, baby.
The difference BMM, is what Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb hear from the fans when they’re trudge up the tunnel after a sub-par performance in yet another loss or when they open up their fan mail.
Warner hears/reads:
“You washed up bum!”
“You blind idiot!”
“You has been Dinosaur!”
McNab hears/reads:
“You washed up bum!”
“You blind idiot!”
“You stupid nigger!”
Perhaps what McNabb is overlooking in his comments, is that Black QBs probably have a smaller margin for error. McNabb really should not be criticized for much in his career. He took Philly to three NFC championship games without a front line WR. When he finally had a talented WR, he almost won a SB. Now he is back to square one until Philly gets another talented receiver. McNabb is definitely not washed up. If he was the SF QB, they would be the favorite to win their division. I’ll even say, they would be looking at a 3 - 0 start after the Pittsburgh game. Heck, the Niners would challenge for the NFC championship if McNabb was their QB. Put McNabb with Chicago, and they outright win this years NFC game with all things even. I like McNabb. He stands tall in the pocket, and then moves when he needs to. He knows how to find his 2nd and 3rd receivers. Regarding Manning, even though he had not won a SB, he did receive that much harsh criticism from the media. I think most smart people knew that it was the COLT defense, and not Manning, that was preventing a SB win. Also, if Manning was branded such a loser, why was he in every commercial on TV. Obviously they did not think the “All American Kid” was a loser. At least Campbells soup had confidence in McNabb. McNabb did have some merit in what he said, but he should have elaborated more.
In other words, JustPuked, whereas every other player in the entire league has to put up with obnoxious retards hurling invective at them, the obnoxious retards hurling invective at McNabb sometimes resort to racist slurs.
And this constitutes some kind of material and meaningful difference in the way black players are treated in the NFL.
Also, if you pull my finger, an elegant potpourri scent will waft from my nethers.
Mike writes: “Regarding Manning, even though he had not won a SB, he did receive that much harsh criticism from the media.”
That is the biggest load of horse-hockey this side of the Mississippi. The guy was absolutely crucified in the press for being unable to win the big one.
So McNabb believes he’s treated differently by the press because of his race. Oddly enough, that’s what Rush Limbaugh said.
If some white fans are so put off buy what they consider to be unjustified whinning from McNabb, why don’t they just stop watching the games and cease whinning themselves?
Honestly, I think some white fans are simply jealous because they want to complain as much as the black athletes supposedly do.