By: Natalie Miller
Over the years, the NFL scouting community, professionals, media, and fans have had an issue that not enough people talk about: the branding rod of racial stereotypes at the quarterback position.
Phrases that almost all of us have been guilty of using, that we casually throw onto, more often than not, black quarterbacks that don’t often get shared with their white quarterback counterparts. Phrases like “low football IQ”, “surprising intelligence”, “processing issues”, etc. are pervasive. This is so often lazily thrown onto black quarterbacks to explain away why a player may have struggled in some areas but is almost never thrown onto a white quarterback draft prospect.
The same hypothetical intellectual mountain that is placed in front of black quarterback prospects that is made to be a dirt hill for the same white prospects. You can see some examples of this in this current draft; articles came out that teams were “Surprised about Malik Willis’ intelligence”, which is a tone-deaf statement, given that to get to this position in the draft process at the most complicated position in sport, a person’s intelligence should be presumed to be pretty high. Why is it that these statements only seem to stick to black athletic quarterbacks?
Asserting this verbiage onto a black QB’s intelligence has become such an exponentially lazy trope that many writers don’t even notice when they include it in their work.
This isn’t the only issue that arises with these black prospects, and one does not have to dig deep to find examples of poor ethics when framing these young athletes. One only needs to look back to Justin Fields. Media writers and twitter scouts were so eager to find a reason to explain why Justin was falling on draft boards that they jumped to terrible conclusions and spread those conclusions like wildfire. There were multiple media reports that Justin Fields “struggles processing” and that was leading to a drop in draft stock. This, notably, was not parroted beyond the media, as scouts knew that was not true. Combined with larger media that put out the ridiculous notion that Fields had a terrible “work ethic” and was “a last-guy-in, first-guy-out type of quarterback” with concerns over whether he had the “desire to be a great quarterback” but rather “a desire to be a big-time athlete”.
There were no tangible reasons to reach these conclusions beyond a lack of understanding of a player’s perceived value in the draft. It was simply reaching for reasoning to try and explain away preconceptions on a player. There was no obvious behind the idea that Fields lacked motivation or drive. In sharp contrast, he had just played a game in which he took pain-killing injections to be able to return to the field after a shot to the ribs.
However, this is far from a recent problem with Justin Fields and Malik Willis alone. It happens every year. Cam Newton faced scrutiny for a “fake smile” and “wanting to be an icon” as the media looked to murder his credibility before he stepped foot on an NFL field. Black quarterbacks face unfair evaluation in the media and online, one can only hope that these notions are not perpetuated within the NFL scouting rooms.
Nor is this the only underlying racist verbiage that is aimed at these QBs. It comes with their player comparisons and projections as well. When a black QB has a high ceiling, who are they almost unanimously compared to? JaMarcus Russell. It is used as a sign. Commentators discuss how Russell lacked motivation and was unintelligent, and how it could be a massive disaster should the player bottom out like Russell.
Russell being the low floor scapegoat for black quarterbacks is more complicated than the media typically portrays, however, as no one really digs into why he really failed. Did he have issues with motivation? That was made fairly clear, but the underlying reasons for that are enormously complex and not a blanket for ultra-talented black quarterbacks. Russell dealt with familial loss, addiction, and so much more that was the ultimate cockail for failure for a young quarterback regardless of race.
Why is it that white quarterbacks with rocket arms and immense talent are never compared to Russell? It is almost never brought up that they have a floor that could bottom out due to “work ethic” or “processing issues”. Instead, it’s typically referred to as “lack of ability to transition” to the NFL. Who are white QBs compared to when discussing bust potential? Usually the ultimate bust reference for them is Ryan Leaf. Commentators take the time to examine why Leaf struggled, why he busted, and the issues he dealt with in his personal life. This is not something JaMarcus Russell is frequently afforded in the same conversation.
These words and phrases have consequences beyond the audience’s perception of a player. This manner of speech trickles down into fan forums, family living rooms, and almost certainly into youth football. How do these words affect young black players who want to play quarterback? How do they perceive these words? How does it affect their perception of their dreams and what they want to develop into?
These young men idolize players like Cam Newton and assassinating their character only hurts that perception. Does it bleed into a coach’s opinion at a youth level? Does he perceive that a young black player who wants to play QB will have “trouble processing” information that a young white player won’t? I know it has certainly happened in the past, and we can only hope it doesn’t happen now, but it isn’t beyond reasoning that it likely does, especially with the way these young players are talked about. It doesn’t seem like a huge leap in logic to conclude that those who consume slightly racist undertone media begin to adopt those same racist type stereotypes.
As a community, we in the media need to work together to eliminate this subtle, underlying racism in our wording and evaluation of these young black quarterbacks. We need to recognize who consumes the material, and how perceptions are changed by the outlets they trust. The words we use matter, and the routine we fall into when diagnosing these quarterbacks have a far-reaching impact beyond the NFL.
