McNabb says black QBs under more pressure

[dirt_dobber]

McNabb says black QBs under more pressure
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3025308

African-American quarterbacks face more pressure and more criticism than their white counterparts, Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb says in an interview scheduled to air on HBO on Tuesday night.



McNabb, in an interview on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," tells interviewer James Brown that African-American quarterbacks such as himself face added pressure because there are fewer black QBs -- and because some still don't want black athletes playing the position.

"There's not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra," McNabb tells HBO. "Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn't want us to play ... is low, so we do a little extra."

Later in the interview, Brown presses McNabb on criticism of his performance -- and if African-American QBs are graded more harshly.

"I pass for 300 yards, our team wins by seven, [mimicking] 'Ah, he could've made this throw, they would have scored if he did this,' " McNabb tells HBO.

"Doesn't every quarterback go through that?" Brown asks.

"Not everybody," McNabb replies.

Brown then asks if the media is tougher on him than on white quarterbacks such as Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning.

"Let me start by saying I love those guys," McNabb tells HBO. "But they don't get criticized as much as we do. They don't."

In the interview, McNabb also talks to Brown about playing in Philadelphia, a city known for passionate sports fans who aren't afraid to criticize the city's pro athletes.

"Every year I'm part of some criticism," McNabb tells HBO. "But every day that we go through life, you're faced with a lot of adversity. Now the answer is how do you handle the adversity. How do you respond?

"I try to handle myself with class. I try to handle myself with dignity. I think sometimes people look to players to act out, speak loudly, pretty much be an idiot. But that's not me."

[dirt_dobber]

Wonder what Rex Grossman would have to say.........

[MavsX]

mcnabbs career is over, because he sucks

[ty]

When you play horribly, you are criticized. As simple as that. Gah, I hate the Eagles--Go Cowboys!

[alby]

jason campbell is black--they are loving him in DC

[mcsluggo]

OVerall McNabb may have a point, I'm not sure... I've never been in the shoes of a black man, nor a QB.

Let us just stipulate that that black QBs may indeed be under additional scrutiny and presure in today's nfl, but lets qualify that fact in Mcnabbs case by pointing out that Philly is the single worst place to try to conduct a scientific experience to isolate this fact.

I'm willing to GUARANTEE that he is attributing some of the overall suckiness of Philly fandom to this race issue. Yes he gets criticized a helluvalot more than quarterbacks of similar stature... but Mike Schmitt got routinely booed by those retarted tools.... Dr J anyone? .... Santa freaking Claus? ....

[Rhylan]

Perhaps McNabb would also agree that pressure on black QBs is higher because of the eagerness of the media to find "the great, young black QB" and try to put the very things he complains about to rest.

Oh wait, seems like that opinion was deemed inappropriate some years back.

[Flacolaco]

[sike]

as a Chinese Lesbian, I have no comprehension of the pressure Mr. Mcnabb must be under...

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Rhylan

Perhaps McNabb would also agree that pressure on black QBs is higher because of the eagerness of the media to find "the great, young black QB" and try to put the very things he complains about to rest.

Oh wait, seems like that opinion was deemed inappropriate some years back.

Poor excuse for humor........It is still inappropriate TODAY....

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by alby

jason campbell is black--they are loving him in DC

Let him get on a losing streak and it will start to come out

One thing is for sure. Winning cures all. No matter what color you are. Eagles are 0-2..

[DOMINATOR]

Kevin Kolb to the rescue!

ok maybe not.

[xenonvisions]

its 10x harder in philly..i mean it doesnt matter..if kolb comes in and he sucks it up (which he prolly will if placed in now) he will also be booed..it doesnt really matter...mcnabb went a lil over on this statement..like said above, grossman reached the superbowl and hes still hearing it..

the reason why palmer and peyton dont hear anything is b/c they have more good games than bad..and their NOT IN PHILLY

[DOMINATOR]

Originally Posted by xenonvisions

the reason why palmer and peyton dont hear anything is b/c they have more good games than bad..and their NOT IN PHILLY

peyton got it plenty for not winning a superbowl... obviously it's cooled off.

[ocelot_ark]

I am so sick and tired of this bullshit.

[xenonvisions]

Originally Posted by DOMINATOR

peyton got it plenty for not winning a superbowl... obviously it's cooled off.

your right..he finally won the big one and got the proclaimed "monkey off his back".. too bad he still looks like one

[Rhylan]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

Poor excuse for humor........It is still inappropriate TODAY....

Hey, I think it's a valid question. I think lots of people would like to see a next-gen black QB have a great deal of success and win a Super Bowl, assuming he's a solid player and a teammate, if for no other reason than to negate the same lingering stereotypes that McNabb is referring to. That notion, taken alone, creates some pressure. The media is a part of this.

The idea that only someone of a certain race can make (or is qualified to make) a certain type of comment about race is inherently racist.

[alby]

i think vince is pretty well loved

[Dirkadirkastan]

Someone once told me that it's not about black vs. white at QB, but brown eyes vs. blue/green eyes. Something about depth perception or motion detection or something crazy. Probably a load of hogwash, but I don't follow football.

[Dtownsfinest]

McNabb has a point IMO. I'd be more willing to hear his argument if he were let's say Jason Campbell who is having a great streak right now. Not from someone who is not healthy and having a horrible season thus far. There are people out there who want the 6'4 blue eyed quarterback because they are the ones winning championships. But at the end of the day its all about winning. If McNabb was doing it I doubt the ignorant fans in Philly would care what color he was.

[Tokey41]

It's not just black qb's, theres plenty of white ones that get the same (if not more criticism). Many of them already listed in this thread. I think the best examples would be Grossman and Manning (prior to winning the Superbowl).

McNabb is a great qb, he just needs to take the criticism like all athletes should... with a grain of salt.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Rhylan

Hey, I think it's a valid question. I think lots of people would like to see a next-gen black QB have a great deal of success and win a Super Bowl, assuming he's a solid player and a teammate, if for no other reason than to negate the same lingering stereotypes that McNabb is referring to. That notion, taken alone, creates some pressure. The media is a part of this.

The idea that only someone of a certain race can make (or is qualified to make) a certain type of comment about race is inherently racist.

That question is NEVER been valid. The media in the NFL (IMO) has never favored a black QB in the media. I would never say they are rooting for him to win the Superbowl. I honestly would not say it has ever happened. They rooted against Doug Williams back then, and they would root against McNabb now. So I cant agree with what was said. I think it is what it is.

Now, I do agree that lots of people would like to see a black QB win, but those people are not the concensus media types. JMVHO

[mcsluggo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...092002688.html

McNabb Displays His Accuracy

By Michael Wilbon
Friday, September 21, 2007; Page E01

Thankfully, Donovan McNabb had the guts to stand tall in the pocket with critics trying to knock his head off. Thankfully, McNabb, at 30, has some sense of the NFL beyond his own participation. Most celebrity athletes talk only when paid to talk, and usually about something benign if not downright useless.

McNabb, however, had something very real to say in a conversation with James Brown of HBO. He said black quarterbacks are under more scrutiny and criticized more harshly than white quarterbacks. Why this has become a hot-button topic I have no idea. It's not like McNabb called anybody a racist or a bigot. He said that black quarterbacks face more criticism than white quarterbacks, than Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer, just to name two. And he's right, just as black politicians or entertainers or writers are scrutinized more closely, whether it's professionally or driving home in the middle of the night from work.

Anybody who doubts McNabb needs only to walk around one of the upper-concourse areas of Lincoln Financial Field late in a game when, as several white friends have told me, the frequent use of the word "nigger" preceding McNabb's name during a losing performance is so casual it sickens them. Rex Grossman, just to name one white quarterback who has to deal with daily criticism, doesn't have to be on the wrong end of that kind of hateful venom, even though he'll never be half the quarterback McNabb has been.

All quarterbacks are criticized; it's the nature of the business. Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre . . . they've all faced it, especially in this age of nonstop talk and analysis. Quarterback is the most important position, the most high-profile position in American sports, and nothing else comes close. The praise and criticism are both extreme to the point of absurdity.

McNabb has a $100 million contract and those Chunky Soup commercials for one reason: he's a quarterback. Most NFL players are completely unrecognizable out of their jerseys, but McNabb is so well known his mother has her own commercial success.

Undeniably, this is progress. It was unimaginable 20 years ago when Doug Williams led the Redskins to a Super Bowl victory. Williams might as well have been a Martian that Super Bowl week, as reporters crowded around him to ask how he felt about making history. Remember, Warren Moon is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but no NFL team would draft him out of the University of Washington in 1978, even though he led his team to the Rose Bowl. It wasn't enough. Scouts tried to talk him into changing positions so that some team would draft him, but he wouldn't and went to Canada. He had to leave this country to play quarterback professionally.

Black quarterbacks have come a long, long way. Just seeing James Harris and Williams play in the 1970s brought black folks to tears. I'm elated that I can't even name all the black players who play quarterback these days. The Jacksonville Jaguars ended last season with three. Vince Young, two years ago, was drafted ahead of Matt Leinart, and JaMarcus Russell, this spring, was drafted ahead of Brady Quinn. Leinart and Quinn are prototypical, perhaps even stereotypical, white, in-the-pocket, Golden Boy quarterbacks.

So the days of owners being afraid to draft black quarterbacks or coaches being afraid to play them seems long gone.

But that doesn't mean the criticism or scrutiny is the same on the outside. For the most part, people younger than 30 could not care less, largely because they don't know the history of any sport beyond last week, and sadly this includes sportswriters and players. But there are plenty of people older than 30, people who don't even examine what they're saying.

Is this a huge deal? No, probably not. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and McNabb simply stated that. He didn't say it angrily, he didn't say he wanted to take up arms and attack The Man. He just said black quarterbacks are scrutinized and criticized more than their white frat QB brothers -- in other ways, too. As my friend Tony Kornheiser points out, black franchise quarterbacks also have been criticized by black fans and players for not being "black enough" and being too close to white ownership.

What really annoys me is that some young black quarterbacks don't seem to have any idea of the context of the issue. Don't get me wrong, it was great to hear Tennessee's Young and the Redskins' Jason Campbell (two kids who played quarterback in the South) say they hadn't faced any particularly stinging criticism. It's yet another sign of great progress. But there also was a naivete about their comments, especially Young's, when he said the notion of black quarterbacks dealing with unfair criticism is "not my fight to fight."

Of course, it isn't. Harris, Joe Gilliam, Marlin Briscoe, Moon and Williams, among others, fought it so that Young wouldn't have to. They changed positions and missed out on playing time and left the country so that this wouldn't be an issue in 2007. And for Young to say something that self-absorbed, that ignorant of the history of the men who made it possible for him, is disappointing to the extreme. Young is obliged to those men, the same way Tiger Woods is obliged to Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder and Calvin Peete. Difference is, Tiger says so every chance he gets. Tiger knows who fought the fight for him. Young, sadly, doesn't. Somebody should get in his ear and make sure he understands . . . before he takes the field again.

Vince Young hasn't heard the boos, hasn't heard the ugly and vicious catcalls that address his heritage and color . . . not yet anyway. He led the University of Texas to a national championship and presented himself as everything the position of quarterback demands. He got to the NFL and at Tennessee has in short order been exactly what a team wants in a young franchise quarterback.

But it's not always going to be kisses and candy. It wouldn't be if Young were white, either. Very likely one day, he's going to read something, see something, hear something that lets him know that there's a gap between progress and conditions being the same. And his instinct will be, quite naturally, to pick up the phone and call somebody who's been through what he's going through, somebody like McNabb, whose words might make a little more sense to him then.

another perspective

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by sike

as a Chinese Lesbian, I have no comprehension of the pressure Mr. Mcnabb must be under...

bump

I think we may have looked over this one too quickly....

[sike]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

bump

I think we may have looked over this one too quickly....

thank you...

[Underdog]

Does anyone feel like McNabb timed this comment perfectly to deflect some of the heat he's going to catch for sucking ass this season?

I don't disagree with his comments, I just find it interesting that he mentioned this at a low point, rather than at a high point in his career...

[dude1394]

McNabb should shut up and hit a receiver. 28-46 in that game. The only thing saving his quarterback rating is that he's so bad he can't even throw it close enough to get picked off.

Poor,poor mcnabb...

Number 1 draft picks get more pressure than others.
QBs from elite schools get more pressure than others.
Phil Simms, Eli Manning get more pressure than others.

Shut up and play or quit.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by DOMINATOR

Kevin Kolb to the rescue!

ok maybe not.

This makes me feel extremely old... I have known this kid since he was 8.

[Dirkgreatness]

Is this another "is it because i'm black" excuse?

McNabb should just stop bitching!

[Silk Smoov]

My hat goes off to McNabb and the way he played today. He showed up in the face of adversity. Great job.....I am proud of McNabb today.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

My hat goes off to McNabb and the way he played today. He showed up in the face of adversity. Great job.....I am proud of McNabb today.

It was probably just the jersey.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

It was probably just the jersey.

Those were the ugliest uniforms in the history of professional sports

[ty]

"One thing is for certain, Grossman will be getting more criticism than McNabb after tonight's game." - Al Michaels

[mcsluggo]

I really fail to see much of a parallel between Rex Grossman and Donovan McNabb.

One is generally accepted as a mediocre qb (if you are feeling GENEROUS), and the other has been near the tops in the league for many years. Where is the comparison?

[ty]

The comparison isn't based off of their skill. The comparison is based off of their color a la McNabb's comments about black QB's receiving more criticism a la the purpose of this thread.

[mcsluggo]

Indeed. And then Rex Grossman is put up as the control variable... "See, black QBs don't get more criticism than white QBs, look at how much criticism Rex Grossman gets..."

but THAT is a load of phlegm, Rex Grossman SHOULD get boo-ed off the field just about every game he plays, he sucks. Brett Favre might be a better comparison, not perfect still, because he has been BETTER than McNabb-- but only at times... Farve was good for many years, and then had some bad years (before this year), but never got the type of criticiszm that McNabb did...

Question: is it because he is white? Because he does NOT play in Philly? because he did, in fact, WIN a superbowl at one point?

Who knows .... but at least he is another QUALITY qb to compare against McNabb's experience (Mark Brunell or Kurt Warner might be better examples... but their drops in talent and movement into the land of suckitude has been more pronounced (by FAR) than any McNabb has seen)

[ty]

I agree. Of course you can't equally compare the criticism of every white quarterback with McNabb. Because you'd have a whole bunch of crappy ones like Rex Grossman that don't quite work well as a control group. But IMO, that's exactly what makes his McNabb's argument as ridiculous as it is--because you can't say that every black quarterback is also on the same level as McNabb. I think Quincy Carter and Byron Leftwich are prime examples of this.

[Dtownsfinest]

The comparison isn't based off of their skill. The comparison is based off of their color a la McNabb's comments about black QB's receiving more criticism a la the purpose of this thread.

I don't think McNabb said ALL BLACK QBS get more criticism than ALL WHITE QBS. I think he even excluded Rex didn't he?

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

I don't think McNabb said ALL BLACK QBS get more criticism than ALL WHITE QBS. I think he even excluded Rex didn't he?

Did you guys hear the comments from V.Young on McNabb comments? He said something about "this is NOT his(Young) fight to fight". I lost alot of respect from Young for those comments. ALOT!!!!

[u2sarajevo]

Originally Posted by Rhylan

Perhaps McNabb would also agree that pressure on black QBs is higher because of the eagerness of the media to find "the great, young black QB" and try to put the very things he complains about to rest.

Oh wait, seems like that opinion was deemed inappropriate some years back.

funny