In the world of sports, athleticism is a God-given gift that must not be taken lightly. It many times separates the starters from the back-ups. However, athleticism can be a burden for many black quarterbacks in the NFL. During Week 1 of the 2013 NFL season, there were nine black starting quarterbacks, which was an all-time high. Cam Newton, one of those black starting quarterbacks, was asked during a press conference whether we should make a big deal about nine black starting quarterbacks in the NFL. He said no, but also said that race has been an obstacle in his path to becoming a starting quarterback: “Even leading up to college, having a lot of athleticism playing the quarterback position was looked down upon… Especially the size, the speed, the stature gave coaches nods to say, ‘Hey, let’s put him at wide receiver, at tight end.’ I heard all that. But it never derailed me from playing or living up to my dream”.
Cam Newton’s dream was to be a starting quarterback, not just an athlete. In the NFL, the quarterback position requires the highest amount of mental preparation and awareness. You can’t just be strong or fast. You must know your job and everyone else’s job, while being able to read the opposing defense. Unfortunately, many black quarterbacks have been deprived of starting positions because they are believed to be mentally incapable to handle the job. They are typically very fast and have strong arms, but like Cam Newton said, athleticism presents an unfortunate stereotype.
This situation with Cam Newton and the other eight black starting quarterbacks reminded me of the many black artists who just wanted to sit down at the mainstream American table. They wanted to be treated like everybody else and wanted to show that they were mentally capable to do anything that white America could do. Poets wrote sonnets to display their mental acuteness. Some poets, such as the young Negro poet referenced in Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”, didn’t even want to be called Negro poets; they just saw themselves as poets. I see the racial mountain in the plight of the black quarterback. They just want to be regular starting quarterbacks, but society wants them to speak on behalf of the entire race. For those who overcome the racial stereotype of mental ineptitude, now have to deal with the decision of accepting the title, BLACK quarterback. Most people see the question asked to Cam Newton as just another question about race. However, I see it as a reoccurrence of the racial mountain blocking the paths of many black quarterbacks.
I agree with you. Black quarterbacks do face a challenge that white qb’s do not as a result of their athleticism, but let me play devil’s advocate here for a second…
The reason black quarterbacks struggle to win starting jobs with strength and athleticism is because it doesn’t work at the NFL level. The pocket passer reigns supreme. Look at the most successful qb’s today: Manning, Brady, Brees. These models are time tested and successful in the nfl. And when mobile qb’s do produce, they get their shots (Remember Daunte Culpepper? Randall Cunningham?). And position switches happen throughout football, not just to black athletic quarterbacks. People wanted to switch Tim Tebow to a running back or tight end and there have already been murmurs about Johnny Manziel changing positions for the nfl.
The questions surrounding starting black quarterbacks seem to be a tough to answer because on one hand, the numbers support a system featuring a pocket passer over an athlete, but it would be ignorant to ignore the racial aspect of this struggle. With the emergence of stars like RGIII, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, and Colin Kaepernick, it will be interesting to see if the nfl opens up to black quarterbacks. Hopefully they do.
I think the idea of the black quarterback is something that the football world is definitely warming up to. The style of play in the NFL is changing, as well as the racial demographic. While the legendary quarterbacks such as Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, and John Elway are all white, black quarterbacks are showing their more-than proficiency in the changing league. QB’s like Russell Wilson and Cam Newton are experiencing success in the NFL since a spread offense is becoming more of the norm. In the world of college football, quarterbacks like Jameis Winston and Tajh Boyd are the ACC’s best QBs and even some of the best in the entire BCS. I do believe that there is some aspect of the “racial mountain” in the world of football, but also think that it has a lot to do with the changing style of play and a more accepting audience.
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