Toby Gerhart

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Jacksonville's inability to open any holes for Gerhart in 2014 effectively ended his career. He went from a 7.9 yards per carry average with Minnesota in 2013 to 3.2 with Jax in '14. One bad season was all it took for the team, league, media and DWFs to write him off. This is his second season out of the league, he won't be back.

Gerhart was replaced to great applause by T. J. Yeldon, who not surprisingly has been a big disappointment, averaging 3.9 ypc in two seasons and also having injury problems. Gerhart ended his career with a 4.2 ypc average but only totaled 1,675 yards over six seasons. Now Leonard Fournette is Jacksonville's latest great black hope at running back, we'll see if he pans out or not.

And yes, great post by GWTJ from nearly 8 years ago, right on the money. He's also right how predictable the trajectory of White players is in the NFL, the few that are even allowed to get that far that is.

Fournette is one of the few black players I have watched highlights on with some consistency. I don't care how good Jacksonville's offensive line is. I think he will be mediocre at best. He has very good speed for someone his size but dare I stereotype and say this speed is " straight-line " only. He can cut and run with power but this guy is going to get banged up. The hits are going to pile up and I would not be surprised if he misses considerable time in his first 3 or so years. He runs to upright and truthfully I hate to stereotype here but he is tight in the hips. He runs like a white guy. :) Joke. He is a little stiff and I just don't think he is going to be that thousand yard guy the Jaguars want as he is just not elusive enough to keep the big hits from piling up on him. Time will tell. Now of course white rb , Rob Konrad ,who dominated at Syracuse had the same size/speed ratio yet arguably was much more elusive than Fournette got to play fullback for many years. Same type of player and skill set yet is white so racially slotted to his caste position.
 

Freethinker

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We knew what Toby was up against. The sad truth was that he had to excell in his first season as a starter or he'd be memory holed. We knew that having a terrible offensive line, on an awful team, with a rookie QB wouldn't lend him an inch of slack. He had to be truly extraordinary to succeed and he wasn't. Being an above average backup on Minnesota for many years wasn't even enough to parlay a camp look with another team.

Depressing. As much progress as White wide receivers and TEs have made, running back is still No Country for White Men.
 

white lightning

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I wish New England would sign him for the minimum. Can you imagine a 1/2 combo of Burkhead and Gerhart. They would bulldoze over defenses. That would be a sight to see!
 

SneakyFast

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We knew what Toby was up against. The sad truth was that he had to excell in his first season as a starter or he'd be memory holed. We knew that having a terrible offensive line, on an awful team, with a rookie QB wouldn't lend him an inch of slack. He had to be truly extraordinary to succeed and he wasn't. Being an above average backup on Minnesota for many years wasn't even enough to parlay a camp look with another team.

Depressing. As much progress as White wide receivers and TEs have made, running back is still No Country for White Men.

Meanwhile losers who average 3.6 ypc or 3.4 ypc or 2.9 ypc or Trent Richardson at the RB position are still valued for their "skillset" lol
 

SneakyFast

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Toby was margilized under utilized and not allowed to be featured but let me say this his 7.9 YPC in 2013 and his second year showed his promise he needs to not quit fight hard train harder than ever before eat, crap, and sleep football and make his way back and AVOID the NFL screw attempts at sending him to "blackholes" of failure like Jacksonville
 

Don Wassall

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Toby was margilized under utilized and not allowed to be featured but let me say this his 7.9 YPC in 2013 and his second year showed his promise he needs to not quit fight hard train harder than ever before eat, crap, and sleep football and make his way back and AVOID the NFL screw attempts at sending him to "blackholes" of failure like Jacksonville

Toby's 30 now, old for a running back. He'll never get another chance in the NFL. He went to Stanford and undoubtedly has options other than football. The Caste System and his tendency to be nicked up a lot of the time worked against him having a good NFL career.
 

Riggins44

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Toby was margilized under utilized and not allowed to be featured but let me say this his 7.9 YPC in 2013 and his second year showed his promise he needs to not quit fight hard train harder than ever before eat, crap, and sleep football and make his way back and AVOID the NFL screw attempts at sending him to "blackholes" of failure like Jacksonville

I doubt any team in the caste NFL would give him a shot other than New England. The Patriots find one screwed over White skill player after another and some how manage to dominate the league year in year out. Gerhart would fit in great.
 

SneakyFast

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Toby's 30 now, old for a running back. He'll never get another chance in the NFL. He went to Stanford and undoubtedly has options other than football. The Caste System and his tendency to be nicked up a lot of the time worked against him having a good NFL career.

Hey if Kurt Warner can do what he did a man like Toby can do it. I agree on the 30 years of age thing ONLY if he had been used the past 5 years a lot he wasn't for that reason alone I think he has a window still open.
 

Ambrose

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Toby's 30 now, old for a running back. He'll never get another chance in the NFL. He went to Stanford and undoubtedly has options other than football. The Caste System and his tendency to be nicked up a lot of the time worked against him having a good NFL career.

Being 30 is old if a man actually played, but just keeping in shape and watching has preserved him. He could still produce a couple of good years. He won't get a chance though -that we know.
 

SneakyFast

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Being 30 is old if a man actually played, but just keeping in shape and watching has preserved him. He could still produce a couple of good years. He won't get a chance though -that we know.

Its all about being allowed to compete and lord knows white are never given that chance hardly EVER....whistling past the grave yard of the Hass's, Hester's, Vardell's etc.
 

Leonardfan

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Gerhart was undone by injuries early in his tenure with the jags. Once healthy they never have him a fair chance. I am sure he could play for another 5 years especially when we see what most teams put out their at the RB position.
 

SneakyFast

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Gerhart was undone by injuries early in his tenure with the jags. Once healthy they never have him a fair chance. I am sure he could play for another 5 years especially when we see what most teams put out their at the RB position.

Smith, Byner, Bettis were all given tons of years to rumble and fumble around, but they had the right "color" to be allowed to do so
 

Quiet Speed

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Being 30 is old if a man actually played, but just keeping in shape and watching has preserved him. He could still produce a couple of good years. He won't get a chance though -that we know.

Adrian Peterson, now 32, received glowing after glowing praise at the recent Saints mini camp. Peterson has maintain his physique but does he have anything left? If Toby had found a team with a worth while offensive line he could have been the featured back for a few years - his body being young and all.
 

SneakyFast

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John Riggins was 34 and 35 with back to back 1,000 yard seasos he was the oldest by far to have done so and he had wear and tear worse than Toby, but I think Toby mileage wise is way lower if he stays in shape and dedicates himself he my eyes because of little he was used is more the equivalent of a 27-28 year old. He should have been a started right out of college but to avail the NFL lords make sure he was buried on the Vikings behind Peterson...
 

SneakyFast

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Fournette is one of the few black players I have watched highlights on with some consistency. I don't care how good Jacksonville's offensive line is. I think he will be mediocre at best. He has very good speed for someone his size but dare I stereotype and say this speed is " straight-line " only. He can cut and run with power but this guy is going to get banged up. The hits are going to pile up and I would not be surprised if he misses considerable time in his first 3 or so years. He runs to upright and truthfully I hate to stereotype here but he is tight in the hips. He runs like a white guy. :) Joke. He is a little stiff and I just don't think he is going to be that thousand yard guy the Jaguars want as he is just not elusive enough to keep the big hits from piling up on him. Time will tell. Now of course white rb , Rob Konrad ,who dominated at Syracuse had the same size/speed ratio yet arguably was much more elusive than Fournette got to play fullback for many years. Same type of player and skill set yet is white so racially slotted to his caste position.

Fournette in my eyes is the most over hyped black RB in a long time rivaling one Mr 1 Yard and a Cloud of failure Trent Richardson.
 

Ambrose

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Smith, Byner, Bettis were all given tons of years to rumble and fumble around, but they had the right "color" to be allowed to do so

Especially Bettis. They even nicknamed him "the bus" if I recall correctly? He was slow and shiftless but the mistral show must go on...
 

SneakyFast

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Especially Bettis. They even nicknamed him "the bus" if I recall correctly? He was slow and shiftless but the mistral show must go on...

Yea Jerome even had bad ASTHMA lol I remember him huffing on his inhaler and the announcers just wetting themselves over his "toughness" lol he ran for like 30 yards on 15 carries in the game if I remember, it wasn't this espn/nfl peice they did on him it was a game form way back when. Ahh yes the black privilege....
 

Don Wassall

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Bettis was a power back, of course with his size he wasn't going to be very shifty. He was very durable and ran for almost 14,000 yards. You know, when you don't give black football players any credit at all it greatly weakens our arguments in the eyes of a lot of White fans who might be fence sitters or otherwise interested in what we have to say, and understandably so.
 

SneakyFast

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Bettis was a power back, of course with his size he wasn't going to be very shifty. He was very durable and ran for almost 14,000 yards. You know, when you don't give black football players any credit at all it greatly weakens our arguments in the eyes of a lot of White fans who might be fence sitters or otherwise interested in what we have to say, and understandably so.

I watched Bettis he averaged 3.9 yards a carry in an offensive era and played on some good teams. It doesn't weaken my argument to point out how exagerrated announcers are. Also lets consider was he playing against the best defenders all the time? Was he deserving of being lauded as the one of the best of all time? I never heard a single game where Collingsworth or Madden ,anyone ever said a single bad word about ANY PLAY he made EVER? How many whites could have done what he did but receive the same treatment. We are talking about Cowher's Steelers during the most caste period in NFL history in my eyes. Yes he was durable and had 3 nice 4.4-4.8 ypc seasons statistically(one of his 1,000 yard season was 3.2 yards per carry do you think he would have been a starter if he did that while being white as he was next season with the Rams?) tons of carries ,my point is why was he considered "elite" and given all the support and the opportunity considering his size, medical conditions and his slowness to play RB for that long as the "premier" back on an NFL team? Fact a white person with same talent or better would have be moved to fullback and/or NEVER given an opportunity to have 300 plus carries in a season EVER if he was like Bettis. Vardell, Leonard, Toby etc. Lets say a white RB has asthma like him would you think he would be given a legit chance? I don't see that happening, and NEVER have. Bettis was never questioned, criticized, opposed zero. Even when it was career as of 2000 he had lost a step he was still the starter for many years and the feature guy. Whites can't even get on the field to be injured and God help them if they average one season of 3.5 or 3.3 or 3.2....Bettis was allowed to improve, allowed to become a veteran, given the support the reps etc. Meanwhile hey if you are white movedto Fullback now, Mcaffery slot receiver now, etc. You don't belong. That was my point.
 

Don Wassall

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I don't recall Bettis ever being called one of the best of all time. Nor was he beyond criticism; I live in Pittsburgh and follow both the local and national sports media. I also watched Notre Dame a lot when Bettis went there and was impressed back then how a guy with his roly poly build was able to be such a good RB.

Bettis was a borderline Hall of Famer who made it mainly due to a long and productive career rather than because he was a dazzling ball carrier. My comment was in reference mainly to what both you and Ambrose wrote. Of course there's a Caste System, of course announcers are biased, and of course Bettis was a beneficiary of it. That's the point of this site is it not? But that doesn't mean he was a talentless bum who was lined up in the backfield for so many years simply because he was a black body. Bettis played a long time, was rarely injured and consistently produced -- moved the chains on third and short, ate up clock, scored a lot of touchdowns, was an asset to an offense. And yes, he was a popular teammate and player in the Caste NFL. Unlike a lot of his contemporaries, he is affable and friendly, including with the public.

Again, to never say anything positive about black athletes doesn't do our cause any good. Even with the Caste System, the NFL isn't going to have featured backs that play for 13 years unless they are doing a lot of things right. You're right that Bettis had a 3.9 yards per carry average in his career -- so did another running back in Canton, John Riggins, another power back known for his durability and long career, who finished with about 2,300 fewer yards than Jerome Bettis.
 

SneakyFast

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I don't recall Bettis ever being called one of the best of all time. Nor was he beyond criticism; I live in Pittsburgh and follow both the local and national sports media. I also watched Notre Dame a lot when Bettis went there and was impressed back then how a guy with his roly poly build was able to be such a good RB.

Bettis was a borderline Hall of Famer who made it mainly due to a long and productive career rather than because he was a dazzling ball carrier. My comment was in reference mainly to what both you and Ambrose wrote. Of course there's a Caste System, of course announcers are biased, and of course Bettis was a beneficiary of it. That's the point of this site is it not? But that doesn't mean he was a talentless bum who was lined up in the backfield for so many years simply because he was a black body. Bettis played a long time, was rarely injured and consistently produced -- moved the chains on third and short, ate up clock, scored a lot of touchdowns, was an asset to an offense. And yes, he was a popular teammate and player in the Caste NFL. Unlike a lot of his contemporaries, he is affable and friendly, including with the public.

Again, to never say anything positive about black athletes doesn't do our cause any good. Even with the Caste System, the NFL isn't going to have featured backs that play for 13 years unless they are doing a lot of things right. You're right that Bettis had a 3.9 yards per carry average in his career -- so did another running back in Canton, John Riggins, another power back known for his durability and long career, who finished with about 2,300 fewer yards than Jerome Bettis.

Riggins was moved to FB for a little bit and in my eyes played in a tougher defensive era. The point is Bettis is overrated imo, and I heard a lot of comments that seemed ridiculous to me from our wonderfully caste system of announcers over the years that made me chuckle even at the time, essentially from what I saw watching the media outlay him even at Notre Dame was the same attention and "support" that would never be given to a white RB. I beg to differ on the "bum" status aka poor performance specifically early on and late in his NFL career...My point is whites don't get a shot and if they put up number like him early on or late They would be sent packing. For a white to be at the RB position you have to be off the charts special not just servicable or decent that won't cut it, and cannot falter....and then you are screwed at the college level and the NFL. The NFL mindset is keep Bettis at RB but for Vardell "types" it was you are going to move to FB...but in my eyes similar type backs aka Vardell had the a better college career behind an inferior team and o-line and talent at the position. But a person like him was never given a shot as a RB even though Bettis was until he was allowed to show he could perform. I'm just making a comparison in terms of treatment, production, and understanding of the game by the general media and system at large. I actually don't have an axe to grind against Bettis. I'm merely asking if a white RB had asthma do you think they would get that type of support and non scrutiny by the NFL scouting and coaching system? I mean they already aren't "athletic" enough regardless of the reality...in fact in my original post I mentioned that. This is along the lines more of say a Luke Staley and his injuries and treatment by the NFL vs Willis Mcgahee...Both had bad injuries, I remember watching Willis's break in the OSU game, very nasty btw he spent all his first year recovering. Willis was first round I believe, Luke was 6th or 7th the Walker award winner. That was the context of the post. The treatment of whites vs. blacks when it comes to certain things injuries, health problems etc.
 
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