NFL_Historian
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2008
- Messages
- 1
I am an ex-Professional athlete (Cycling, think Tour de France, not Motorcycles). I played some high school football, our team was approximately 30% black, 70% white. I think there is irony in my becoming a cyclist because I was always a miserable distance runner. Just the thought of running a marathon gives me pain, however I was always an outstanding sprinter. Cycling of course requires endurance and oddly enough I do well on a bike, but I am terrible at any kind of distance running (anything beyond a 1/4 mile).
Our cycling team's sports physician noted that I had monstrous thighs, which is to be expected when you are a cyclist or speed skater. He also commented that considering the amount of time I spent pushing the pedals, my calves were leaner than normal. I also had very little padding on my butt. He remarked that with my massive thighs, tight butt and thin yet muscular calves that I was built more like a "black athlete" than a "white athlete". He also commented that I was probably a fantastic sprinter, without having any foreknowledge of my sprinting/football playing days.
It seems that the demise of the white athletein the NFLat the positions of halfback and cornerback is partly due to body stereotyping, which ina way leads to racial stereotyping as there are physiological differences between black and white men.
I am not a experton this subject, but sometimesI wonder ifthe more agile and fasterwhite football players in high schoolhave been conditioned to be in the mindset of "I need to bulk up and focus on being a fullback, tight end, slot receiver or safety"...because these are the only realistic positons for white guys in college and pro ball.
Before NFL scouting and drafting became scientific and a "meat market", coaches looked for guts, football instincts, desire and results on the field. White humans didn't suddenly evolve into being slower creatures over the past 20 years.
Afterthe NFLbecame integratedthere were stillguys like Roger Wehrli, Pat Fischer, Bobby Bryant at cornerback and guys like Lance Alworth, Don Maynard, Roger Carrat wide receiver, all real burners. I am not going to sit here and make a list of all the great white speed receivers of the '60s & '70s or all the white cornerbacks of that era. I think the reader gets the point that I am making.
The combination of body typebias and white athletes being brainwashed into believingthat some football positions are only meant to be played byblack men, is causing white athletestobebanned or noticeably absentfrom certain positions.
It's interesting that the NFL has focused on the imbalance inpercentage ofblack coaches and quarterbacks, but has neglected the new imbalance of white players in general and the noticeable absence of white cornerbacks, receivers and halfbacks.
Racial bias and prejudice works in both directions. I think it's time for the NFL and NCAA to address this issue.
Our cycling team's sports physician noted that I had monstrous thighs, which is to be expected when you are a cyclist or speed skater. He also commented that considering the amount of time I spent pushing the pedals, my calves were leaner than normal. I also had very little padding on my butt. He remarked that with my massive thighs, tight butt and thin yet muscular calves that I was built more like a "black athlete" than a "white athlete". He also commented that I was probably a fantastic sprinter, without having any foreknowledge of my sprinting/football playing days.
It seems that the demise of the white athletein the NFLat the positions of halfback and cornerback is partly due to body stereotyping, which ina way leads to racial stereotyping as there are physiological differences between black and white men.
I am not a experton this subject, but sometimesI wonder ifthe more agile and fasterwhite football players in high schoolhave been conditioned to be in the mindset of "I need to bulk up and focus on being a fullback, tight end, slot receiver or safety"...because these are the only realistic positons for white guys in college and pro ball.
Before NFL scouting and drafting became scientific and a "meat market", coaches looked for guts, football instincts, desire and results on the field. White humans didn't suddenly evolve into being slower creatures over the past 20 years.
Afterthe NFLbecame integratedthere were stillguys like Roger Wehrli, Pat Fischer, Bobby Bryant at cornerback and guys like Lance Alworth, Don Maynard, Roger Carrat wide receiver, all real burners. I am not going to sit here and make a list of all the great white speed receivers of the '60s & '70s or all the white cornerbacks of that era. I think the reader gets the point that I am making.
The combination of body typebias and white athletes being brainwashed into believingthat some football positions are only meant to be played byblack men, is causing white athletestobebanned or noticeably absentfrom certain positions.
It's interesting that the NFL has focused on the imbalance inpercentage ofblack coaches and quarterbacks, but has neglected the new imbalance of white players in general and the noticeable absence of white cornerbacks, receivers and halfbacks.
Racial bias and prejudice works in both directions. I think it's time for the NFL and NCAA to address this issue.
