Black NFL vs Black MLB players

[referendum]

Obviously there is a much lower percentage of US black MLB players than there is NFL players. Still, it seems that a greater percentage of black NFL players seem to be getting into trouble with the law, their teammates, whatever, than their baseball counterparts. Maybe I'm forgetting some incidents, but I just can't think of many black MLB players with such outlandish/thuggish behaviour as your typical Michael Vick/Ron Mexico, Sean Merriman, Pacman Jones, Minnesota Vikings boat antics, etc. type behavior.
I'm wondering if black baseball players come more from middle class backgrounds than their NFL counterparts. Also, look at the names of baseball vs. football. Not as many D'brickashaws, and Craphonso's and Turdells among black baseball players. Again this points to a middle class background perhaps. Not sure where I'm going with this, just some interesting observations.

 

[GWTJ]

The reason is a simple one. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with character.

To reach the major leagues, a player must have positive qualities like, patience, dedication, humility and a willingness to sacrifice everything for a distant goal.

Football players need none of these qualities as they are pampered and rushed to the NFL with virtually no skills other than their football skills.

 

[Don Wassall]

One thing I will grant the NFL is that the blacks that make it to Canton are mostly of high personal character. I watched the speeches by Charlie Sanders, Bruce Matthews and Roger Wehrli today. Great stuff by all three. Sanders' speechgave me (limited) faith in American blacks.


I didn't watch the induction of Thurman Thomas and Michael Irvin. I do know that if Irvin was white he wouldn't standa chance of making it to the Hall of Fame based on his criminal record alone. How did they do?

 

[foreverfree]

One thing I will grant the NFL is that the blacks that make it to Canton are mostly of high personal character.   I watched the speeches by Charlie Sanders, Bruce Matthews and Roger Wehrli today.   Great stuff by all three.  Sanders' speech gave me (limited) faith in American blacks. 


I didn't watch the induction of Thurman Thomas and Michael Irvin.  I do know that if Irvin was white he wouldn't stand a chance of making it to the Hall of Fame based on his criminal record alone.  How did they do?

I watched a little bit of Matthews' presenter's (Mike Munchack) speech while channel surfing. Five inductees, five presenters. That's ten long-winded blabs. Nothing like Cooperstown where they don't have presenters. At Canton as elsewhere, the NFL makes everything into a big production number.

John

 

[white is right]

The reason is a simple one. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with character.

To reach the major leagues, a player must have positive qualities like, patience, dedication, humility and a willingness to sacrifice everything for a distant goal.

Football players need none of these qualities as they are pampered and rushed to the NFL with virtually no skills other than their football skills.

Baseball players have to have an entirely different mindset to play the game. It's like going to work everyday, so the average prospect has to be more level headed. If you were of the mindset of Lawrence Phillips or even Michael Irving I highly doubt you would get beyond rookie ball, before you would blow up.....

 

[Don Wassall]

One thing I will grant the NFL is that the blacks that make it to Canton are mostly of high personal character. I watched the speeches by Charlie Sanders, Bruce Matthews and Roger Wehrli today. Great stuff by all three. Sanders' speechgave me (limited) faith in American blacks.


I didn't watch the induction of Thurman Thomas and Michael Irvin. I do know that if Irvin was white he wouldn't standa chance of making it to the Hall of Fame based on his criminal record alone. How did they do?

To answer my own question, I saw the replay of Irvin's speech today and it was outstanding. Very impressive. I've ripped on him a lot here but gotta give him big-timecredit for what he said and the sincerity with which he said it and the way he handled himself all weekend.

 

[White Shogun]

Well, Don, don't keep the rest of us in suspense! Can you recap a little of what Irvin said for the rest of us who missed the show?

 

[White Shogun]

Well, Don, don't keep us in suspense! Can you recap a little of what Irvin said for those of us who missed the show?

 

[Don Wassall]

Irvingwas gracious and humble and in awe of the honor being bestowed upon him, very aware of his flaws and willing to admit them to a national audience, which is rare for any public figure, black or white. It didn't seem as if he was reading from any prepared notes, and he spoke for quite a while.


I watched the speeches of Sanders, Wehrli, Matthews, Gene Hickerson's son, and Irving, and was impressed by all of them. Hickerson is in very poor health and after his son spoke for him, Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and another Browns running back whose name escapes me right now wheeled him out, symbolically it was Hickerson leading the way for them one last time. A lot of genuine emotion was involved, in sharp contrast to the fantasy construct we get fed the rest of the time from the media and U.S. institutions.


What gets me the most is that Wehrli is the one and only white cornerback who will ever be enshrined unless theNFL's Caste System is broken, and white enshrinees in general will be greatly outnumbered more and more in years to come. It won't be long until 80 or 90 percent of the inductees will be black, offset only by the occasional white quarterback, or o-lineman picked by the veterans committee. Just as much as baseball, football is a white man's sport, and a truly American sport, but like all other American institutions it is irredeemably corrupt at its core.

 

[Tom Iron]

Don,

Excellent post and I agree with you about blacks dominating the hall of fame in the years to come. However, their time of dominance, I think will be short lived. They're coming apart at the seams. Look at this moron Vick. Perfect example. He had it all going his way and was able to louse it all up, and don't think he doesn't have it in him to mess up some more. Same with the other jerk, packman. Also one would think that any normal person would learn something for jerks like them and not get into the messes that they did, but in the case of the blacks, they won't learn a thing and will continue with their idiotic conduct and finally end up killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Right now, it's hard to see, but I think there's already been a swing in our direction, but it'll be a couple more yrs. until it's visible to the naked eye.

Tom Iron...