I'm not surprised at all by the tremendous reaction to Donovan McNabb's statements about having to do more because he's a black quarterback.I thnk one of our GCobb.com readers sheds some light on McNabb's statement.
From Jimmy,
I'm not even African-American and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that what Donovan is saying is 100% true.
Let me site two examples:
(1) Rush Limbaugh- He called out all black QB's for their color. Not their play…but for their color. He said that "the media wants to see
black qb's do well". Well Im' sorry but that statment doesnt apply to Joey Harrington, Steve Young, Payton Manning, Carson Palmer etc.
becasue they're not black. And because they're not black they DON'T HAVE TO ADDRESS those comments. Now, let's look at Rex Grossman or
Joey Harrington. Both have been vehemently criticized by the media. in fact I'm sure both of them have received death threats from fans all
over. But the fact of the matter is the reason they are being criticized has nothing to do with the color of their skin. They have always been crucified because of their play on the field. Rush Limbaugh never said "the media wants to see a white quarterback do well". And I don't care what anyone says, Rush is not the ONLY person who feels this way. Racism is REAL.
(2) NAACP- People are assuming that this is a white against black issue. But, remember a couple of years back when an NAACP head from
Philadelphia said in the paper that Donovan should stop trying to act like he's not an African -American quarterback and start running more.
Now does Peyton or Carson or Drew Brees have to deal with this garbage??? No, because they're not black.
People want to say that race isn't an issue but the fact of the matter is that it is. Donovan will be criticized if he plays bad games and
rightfully so. So will Petyon and Carson …..but they will never have to address questions or statements becasue of the color of their
skin. Unfortunately Donovan McNabb has to.
I also think this article in the Detroit Free Press by Drew Sharp offers some understanding about McNabb's situation. I know from my own experience that being black in the sports media I have had people both black and white, make comments to me about something I said based solely on the fact that I'm black. If McNabb weren't black he wouldn't have gone through all of the criticism for the Terrell Owens controversy. Most people and the media wouldn't have labeled Owens a trouble maker like he is, but because McNabb is black he was expected to some how change Owens or confront him.
