Wednesday, September 26, 2007
One for Mcnabb
Are white quarterbacks in the NFL more scrutinized then black quarterbacks in the NFL? According to Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Donovan Mcnabb they are. (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3025308). Donovan told interviewer of the HBO series “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” James Brown, that "There's not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra, because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn't want us to play ... is low, so we do a little extra." I definitely believe Donovan’s statement is right on the nose. I know the media of Philadelphia is one of the toughest around, let alone the scrutiny of the fans are tough on anyone, but I remember when Ty Detmer was the starter for the Eagles and the scrutiny he faced is nothing compared to what Donovan has gone through. Ty use to throw about three interceptions every game and everyone seamed to have the attitude of “typical Ty,” and just seamed to accept him as he was. Now a days, when Donovan throws for three touchdowns and three hundred yards the first words out of the medias mouth are almost always: “what happened with that mistake in the (blank) quarter?” Even In comparison to other players, you really never see other white quarterbacks who are Donovan’s counterparts getting scrutinized. Last year Brett Farce had a terrible year yet he was rarely scrutinized let alone any other white quarterback. Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper seam to get scrutinized for the little things just like Donovan Mcnabb. I believe Donovan was right to put the issue about black quarterbacks being scrutinized more then white quarterbacks out there and as a result he might of change how minorities are judged from now on.
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9 comments:
I don't really agree with your statements at all to be honest. I too saw the HBO special with Donovan Mcnabb and I think that it's equal. For instance you say Brett Farve had a horrible year last year which may be true but he is also close to forty years old and is still one of the best quarterbacks in the game. How many records has he broken and how many has Mcnabb broken? I mean it can go both ways. You can say black quarterbacks get scrutinized more than whites but in all, they are quarterbacks and that is the most important position in the game. In my opinion every quarterback gets scrutinized whether they are white or black.
Mark, I happen to disagree with your opinion on black quaterbacks being criticized more than white quaterbacks. You use Ty Detemer as an example to clarify this, however Detmer was pretty much a career backup who was the 230th pick of the 1992 draft. While Donovan was drafted 2nd overall and is regarded as a franchise QB. Obviously people have higher expectations for Donovan than Ty Detmer. Someone with such high expectations will obviously recieve more criticism for not performing than someone who isn't expected to peform well. Donovan just needs to stop making excuses for his team struggling and needs to lead them to a couple victories.
I would have to disagree with your comments and how you think black quarterbacks are scrutinized more then white quarterbacks. Mcnabb is a good quarterback don't get me wrong but I just think he is frustrated with his team so he is making excuses. I think that white quarterbacks are being called out it's just that there are way more of them so you don't notice it as much. I can't speak for all NFL fans but I personally don't care what race you are, it only matters if you get it done on the field. Mcnabb hasn't really done that this season and he really needs to stop worrying about the media and start being the amazing quarterback he is.
Mark, I really like the examples you showed and how you provided backup for your case. However, I also disagree with the statements you said. I think Donovan was simply coming up with excuses. He has a lot of expectations to live up to because he is such a great player. He is having a horrible year so he is getting yelled at. Ty isn’t Donovan. He never will be. Many people will know Donovan and some people may have never heard of Ty. Philadelphia knew that Ty wasn’t that good of a QB so they didn’t expect much. Donovan needs to step up and be a leader. McNabb simply needs to block out the media and focus on his job of being a leader and playing football. There should be no excuses. Farve has not only broken records but didn’t have the surrounding talent that McNabb has. Donovan has a much better team and it’s known. McNabb needs to step his game up like a true leader and take the blame. He shouldn’t put the blame on race. Leaders don’t put the blame on someone else, they accept it and put it on themselves. Kevin had some great ideas with Ty being a backup when Donovan was the 2nd pick. I agree with it and he is the franchise QB and needs to step up. Connor had a great idea with every QB gets scrutinized. Donovan needs to be a man and stop making excuses.
Like everyone else i disagree with these comments. I understand where D Mac is coming from but it was probably because he was so frusterated. How about when Peyton couldn't win the big game. Over and over and over people bashed him until last year when he finally came up big in the games that he had too. And how about his brother. In New York where lets be honest is much tougher to play there then Phili, he gets killed every game. It doesnt matter how good he looks he just gets bashed. The reason players like Vick and Culepepper are looked at more is becuase they underacheived. Look at Vick he was supposed to be the next best thing but he failed. And Culeppper had such a good start to his career that now since he is doing bad people look at hime differntly. Now Farve on the other hand has the right not to get bashed. He has had one of the best careers ever and he is allowed to have one or two bad seasons. But not as you can see he is having a great season. All players in all sports get scrutinized differntly. Thats life in the sports world.
Hey Mark, sorry to carry on the trend, but I too disagree. The reason Donovan is so heavily scrutinized in Philadelphia is not due to his race, but rather the location as to where he is playing. Philadelphia has a deep tradition of tough love that usually pours out through the media. Donovan is one of the key people in the whole city when it comes to household name recognition. We as a society tend to find flaws in others before we find their strengths. Donovan is getting just as much criticism as the next guy; I just think that he took it to a whole new level by becoming vulnerable with these comments. I feel that if Donovan took an interest in being a media personality like Peyton, he may be even more popular and less “targeted” by the media. I must say I liked the arguments you provided for your post, though. You made an effort to back up your stance, regardless as to whether or not others agreed with it.
I really don't think Donovon has a point here. Ty Detmer did not have the athletic and talent ability as Dnab had. So it wasn't expected of him to play well. Dnab is held to a higher standard due to his previous Pro-Bowl years and his success, not his color of skin. He was playing bad lately. In his first two games, he had qb ratings of 60.7 and 74.5 which are not very good for the player of his caliber. So you have to be prepared for criticism playing like that. Then last week he had a qb rating of 158.3 and the criticism stopped. Just play better and stop whining, plain and simple.
I disagree with your opinion that blacks get more scrutinized. Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper are scrutinized more closely because of their off-the-field problems. Also, the QB that is bashed the most is hands down Rex Grossman. Another point is the number of black quarterbacks. The ratio from white quarterbacks to blacks ones, that are starting, is 25-7. So, yeah, when they're critiquing a black quarterback it is more noticed, but they are not expected do more than other quarterbacks. Good teams get criticized more and the Eagles are a potential playoff team. An example is the Bears. They went to the playoffs last year and this year they're getting scrutinized, especially Rex Grossman.
I agree completely with you and Donovan McNabb. I think it is because there are a very limited number of African-American quarterbacks in th NFL, much more is expected of them.McNabb has done so much for the Eagles organization. Philly' just mad because they haven't won a championship in any sport in such a long time. Being a black quarter back is a position of two extremes. Either you are praised, in which case you have to be extremely good, or your hated. People pick out the smallest things to criticize instead of focusing on what's important: winning.
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