Little By Little
By Matthew Little
Because of the collapsed roof of the Metrodome, on Tuesday, December 28, we witnessed the Minnesota Vikings football team having to play a “home” game in Philadelphia, Pa. Surprisingly to many, they outlasted their opponents by a score of 24 to 14.
It was surprising because the Philadelphia team had just clinched its division championship the previous week, whereas the Vikings at the same time had been eliminated from contention altogether in their division. Moreover, the Vikings were in a struggle to keep from ending the season as the bottom team of their division.
But for this week’s column, the game had significance for a reason other than which team won. The quarterbacks for both teams were African Americans!
Now, perhaps, in the year 2010, this should not have been an earth-shaking happenstance, except for the fact that it played a role in destroying another myth associated with the game and the capabilities of its players.
Some of us are old enough to remember when Blacks weren’t allowed to play in professional football leagues at all. It was not until after WWII that pro football leagues began to actively seek African American players.
The leagues’ primary sources of recruitment were the White colleges and universities. At the time, these schools were segregated — some by law — which automatically eliminated athletes of color.
The general assumption was that Blacks were incapable of competing at that level. Tinges of that outdated assumption still exist in the National Football League (NFL) when it comes to the position of quarterbacks.
There still exists the general assumption that, because of their speed and agility, Blacks should be drafted only as running backs. It is a stereotype that is gradually disappearing, but old habits and beliefs die hard.
There is still evidence to support the thinking that, while Black athletes’ speed and agility permit them to excel in speed positions, the quarterback is generally considered the team leader and the one who directs the overall flow of the game. This requires more than just speed.
Pro football seems to be slow to dispel those assumptions. This seems to give credence to the fact that most successful Black pro quarterbacks are speedy, in addiction to other qualifications. Both quarterbacks on display at the Viking-Eagle’s game (Michael Vick and Joe Webb) had running-back speed.
As a matter of fact, Webb was drafted as a wide receiver, a position that requires running-back speed. He had done some quarterbacking in college, but it had not been a factor in his draft consideration.
It has to seem strange with a sport in which almost 75 percent of the field personnel are African American that the number of quarterbacks can be counted the finger s of one hand.
The game played on December 28 at Philadelphia will not revolutionize he NFL‘s utilization of Black quarterbacks, but let’s hope that it can become symbolic of a change in the thinking of one of America’s most cherished professional sports.
Matthew Little welcomes reader responses to mlittle@spokesman-recorder.com.
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