Here's a solid article on Hartline. It gets into stereotyping without mentioning race; in fact the paragraph i've highlighted in bold is very oddly phrased, as if the writer was downright scared to state what he was obviously talking about.
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<h1 style="border: medium none; text-align: left; color: rgb0, 0, 0; text-decoration: none;">Miami Dolphins' Hartline quietly puts together strong season</h1>
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<div style="border: medium none; text-align: left; color: rgb0, 0, 0; text-decoration: none;">Despite having the numbers to back him up, Brian Hartline's role and importance in the Dolphins offense is often misstated.</div>
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<div style="border: medium none; text-align: left; color: rgb0, 0, 0; text-decoration: none;">BY DAVID J. NEAL</font></div>
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dneal@MiamiHerald.com</font></h3>
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Sometimes, perception clouds reality. Take the case of Dolphins wide receiver Brian Hartline.
Hartline's from Canton, Ohio -- 45 minutes from Cleveland -- so he really wants to have a good game this week, just to keep the Browns fans who are his pals back home quiet over the summer.
Also, it would allow him to indulge his own brashness. He's kid-faced but has the hard-nosed mentality that used to be associated with Ohio football back in the 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust days. He drew plaudits from Dolphins coach Tony Sparano for his blocking of defensive ends last week.
Perception: Not starting against Cincinnati, the only game Hartline didn't start this season -- in front of a crowd from Canton that came to see him -- served as a wake-up call. Since then, he has caught 18 passes for 328 yards -- 53.3 percent of his 2010 receiving yardage -- in the past four games.
Reality: Neither Sparano nor Hartline thinks that's the case.
``Nothing's changed as far as preparation and mind-set or anything,'' Hartline said. ``It's a weird circumstance.''
Sparano thinks Hartline's just seeing more opportunities.
``While [wide receiver] Brandon [Marshall] was out there, we've seen a lot of heavy coverage go to Brandon, and that opens some things up and some opportunities up for Brian, which it really has all year,'' Sparano said. ``He's made the most of those opportunities, and then, of course, the last couple weeks he's had run-after-catch opportunities, particularly last week. When Brandon went down in the Chicago game, Brian started to pick up a bunch of the pieces there.''
Perception: The Dolphins don't have a receiver who can stretch the field, get behind the defense for the long pass or turn a short out into a touchdown.
Reality: That might not be said if Hartline wasn't the fastest Dolphins wide receiver regularly in the lineup.
Hartline's 16.3 yards per catch led the Dolphins last year and he had the longest (67 yards) and third longest (57 yards) receptions of the season. This season has been nearly a rerun: His 14.3 yards per catch leads the Dolphins regulars, and his 54-yard catch was exceeded only by the 57-yard catch-and-run by sometime-inactive Marlon Moore last week against Oakland.
That was Hartline running 2 yards behind the safety on the first play against the Jets earlier this season. Chad Henne overthrew him, but Hartline was there.
``That's some people who don't know what they're talking about,'' Hartline said. ``I don't know why it comes that way. I don't know if it's stereotype. I couldn't tell you. Saying Brandon can't do that, myself or Marlon [Moore] or anybody for that matter, that's silly.
``We've missed opportunities. Maybe on the stat sheet it doesn't show up that way, but the ability to do so is not lacking.''
It could be stereotype. When Cleveland coach Eric Mangini gave thumbnail opinions of the Dolphins receivers other than Marshall, he called Davone Bess ``dangerous with the ball in his hands'' and ``he can take a short one a long way,'' though Bess averages only 10.9 yards per catch with a season long of 29 yards.
For the 6-2, 195-pound Hartline, Mangini gave the ``runs outstanding routes, is tough, has good hands'' summary so often given to wide receivers too big for the Speedy Gonzales mold (i.e. Brandon Stokely, Tim Dwight, Don Beebe).
Although he might not have the Top Fuel dragster speed of former college and NFL teammate Ted Ginn Jr., Hartline was a state champion high hurdler in high school and ran the high hurdles for Ohio State's track team.
Moore, the only wideout who might be as fast as Hartline, said, ``When he catches the ball sometimes, he comes back to the sidelines and says, `Did I look fast?' I was like, `Duh!' '' Moore said. ``Brian is fast.''</div>Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/1956616/unhyped-hartline.html#ixzz177lpjqzT
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