Equal opportunity for white stars.

[white lightning]

So I'm sitting here and thinking about the season that
we have watched this year.We saw both Bennett and
Stokley go over 1000 Yards Receiving!Then you had
Kevin Curtis have 3 straight 100 yard games receiving!
Is this going to open some eyes to the athletecism that
many whites have.How many receivers have to continue to
get screwed over!What doesn't anyone want Kevin Kasper?
What about Danny Farmer?How about Schroeder?Then you
can't forget Standeford?Where will it end?Will it ever
end?Have we made any progress?This are all questions that
I ask myself.Will we ever see a white running back get
a chance again?That is as hard as the cornerback position.There are no white cornerbacks and only one
white running back who never plays.Besides,Forsey might
not even be on a team next year.No matter how good these
kids are in college,most are ignored because they are
white.I want to see equal opportunity.Let's hope that
2005 is a even better year and we continue to slowly
prove how good these athletes are!Opinions?

 

[bigunreal]

I have to think that, unfortunately, the success of both Stokely and
Bennett will not result in any meaningful changes for whites who try to
play skill positions. In Stokely's case, he has already re-signed with
the Colts, and will almost certainly remain in his role of 3rd
receiver, which is a great fit for him, but is still keeping him in his
"place." As for Bennett, it will be interesting to see what happens in
Tennessee next season. Tyrone Callico is a highly touted young WR, and
Derrick Mason, as a veteran black, is guaranted the other starting
spot. No matter how well Bennett did this season, I would bet that he
has to compete with Callico for a starting job in training camp. As for
Curtis, he looks like a potential star, but once again he will
probably, like Stokely, be forced into the "white" position for WR- the
slot or third receiver. As for RBs, that appears impossible in today's
NFL. If Forsey and Hoover couldn't get a real chance to start after
performing so well in their limited opportunities, then what would it
take for a white RB to get a chance to start? Jason Sehorn's experience
tells us what any future white CBs can expect. They would have to be
superlative as Sehorn was early in his career, and EVERY time they are
burned for a TD or long gain, the announcer will mention their name
prominently, which they don't do to your typical black CBs, just so the
message gets through to the audience. It works very well; in the last
few seasons he played, Sehorn was lambasted constantly in the press,
despite still playing decently.

 

[sunshine]

Very good points people. We can only hope things improve.

 

[Don Wassall]

I agree with B&R. I've been following this too long to expect any but the most incremental changes from one season to the next. Exactly right about the probable status of Bennett, Stokley and Curtis. Almost all fans and "experts" will agree that Derrick Mason is the Titans' number one receiver and that Calico deserves a chance to be a starter, Stokley has found his niche as a non-starting slot receiver who would be over his head if he were promoted, and that to be like Stokley is the most Curtis can aspire to (if they've even taken notice of Curtis yet).

Good point too about the CBs. White quarterbacks are routinely blasted for their mistakes, while there are so many lousy black defensive backs, jobs that should be held by whites who are properly developed at the college I-A level but aren't, who get away with blown coverages, slow foot speed, failure to make even the most cursory attempts to tackle, etc.

I think the best we can hope for next season is for football to have a few more Clyde Harts, coaches of conscience who at the college level will recruit and develop deserving white talent, and NFL coaches who will give opportunities to the many whites, especially at receiver, who have perservered and shown great ability in spite of the caste system.

There are a precious few Clyde Hart types out there now; if a few more will follow their example that would be the most we can realistically hope for.

 

[sunshine]

I agree progress if there is some will be slow and measured. From my vantage point it seems unlikely a tailback would emerge form a major college program. Call me crazy but I am not convinced black teammates would respond well to having a star white running back. Would they block for the guy? CB is weird. BYU started two CB's last year and both are athletically gifted. Indeed Nate Soelberg , who will be a senior next year is a lithe sprinter who fits the bill. A little raw but aren't a lot of CB prospects? It is amazing to me that there are so few white CB's in college. Unlike tailback it shouldn't rankle those who feel uncomfortable with a white tailback hogging all the glory. But it has taken on a life of its own.Same holds true in basketball where whites in the USA are not supposed to "hog" the ball. Ultimately though things still look bleak but one can dream and hope for the best.

 

[IceSpeed]

I think the first great white "tailback" will be a
crossover from another sport, or perhaps another country. He will
probably play lacrosse, baseball, or run track. However, look for
the next great white tailback to be a former Rugby player from another
country. Some of these guys have 4.4 speed. They can run 36
yards in 4.8-4.7 which translates into 4.5-4.3. Many of these
guys are white. When some of these fast players do not make it in
Rugby, they will try football.

 

[IceSpeed]

Whites need a superstar in another league at
RB. A RB that does well in Europe might get a chance to do well
in the NFL.

 

[Don Wassall]

Sunshine, you hit on a major factor that keeps the Caste System going so strongly. Blacks take great pride in their monopolys over certain positions and don't want to see any white interlopers, even as teammates. The ethos on teams is geared toward appeasing blacks. Developing "chemistry" and "unity" means keeping a team's overwhelming black presence relatively content. Many people who think that white owners, coaches, recruiters, etc., are only interested in playing the best players regardless of color, don't take these kinds of important racial dynamics into account. The reality is that most whites are not racially conscious, but almost all blacks are. The kinds of things we talk about on this site are matters of keen interest to many blacks, both athletes and non-athletes, the difference being that it is "taboo" for whites to discuss them or have opinions that differ from the pro-black party line.

We have mentioned this important subject before but it is one with more anecdotal evidence than lots of verifiable facts. Stories occasionally make local and national news about white basketball and football players being called racial slurs. Those rarely publicized cases are most likely merely the tip of the iceberg of what it is like to be white on a black dominated team, especially whites that play virtually all-black positions.

One of the unwritten laws of the Caste system is that once something goes black it never goes back. Whites are fighting back and making some headway in boxing, sprinting and basketball, but there is still a long way to go. But football is America's religion and that is where the caste system is most firmly entrenched.

 

[sunshine]

Well put Don. I think this is a very delicate situation but it needs to be addressed because some elements of black entrenchment has taken root and at the end of the day obviouslynot a good thing for white athletes and in a round about way harmful to blacks in the long haul. Even though many blacks are quite pleased with the way things are at this point in sports history. Let us face facts. Many blacksare happy to see white athletes humbled by being 'slower" and "less exciting "etc.. Recall Spike Lee a few years back when the Williams sisters and Tiger Woods were emerginggetting giddy over the prospect of black dominance. in all sports.Albeit in his book on the Knicks and basketball Spike does show some unbiased knowledge of the game. StillI have seen the prejudice up close when attending sporting events and it is ever present in the media. And for sure it plays a role for example in the construction of a football team and who plays what positions.

 

[sport historian]

Don, do you remember the quarterback situation on the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers? There was a player's strike during training camp. Some players went in, most stayed out initially. The Steeler's 3rd string QB, Joe Gilliam, went in and looked good in the preseason games. He started the first six games, looked shakier as time went on.


The best opinion was that Gilliam should be replaced, but it was hard to do. Sports columnists in Pittsburgh, I read, were saying that Chuck Noll kept playing Gilliam to avoid a racial split on the team. The next game was a Monday night with Atlanta. Bradshaw started at QB, and Rocky Bleirer got his first start at RB. The Steeler went on to win their first Super Bowl that year. Doesn't seem like 30 years ago, but it is.


Bradshaw was still shaky at times, the running game and defense carried the Steelers when they had to. Bradshaw came on strong in the late 70s as Franco Harris faded somewhat. It was notable that Noll was able to bench Gilliam and keep things going.


Gilliam kept himself in a permanent drugged state. Roy Blount admitted (reluctantly) in an Esquire article that Noll had given Gilliam a good shot and Jefferson Street Joe had blown it.

 

[Don Wassall]

SH, I remember Gilliam well. Chuck Noll always liked to play head games with Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw didn't return to Pittsburgh for many years after his retirement because of his resentment toward Noll. It wasn't a mature way to handle it and Bradshaw now admits as much. But there's no question Noll was very rough on him virtually his entire career.

Gilliam was much like the black QB of today. He made some great downfield passes, but was very inconsistent. He was a novelty and received a lot of favorable press attention. He died at a young age because of lifelong drug abuse.

There was a famous book about the 1973 Steelers, "Three Bricks Shy of a Load." In it, various white Steelers are quoted (off the record) as saying that Noll blatantly favored the black players over the white ones. He let them get away with things the white players couldn't do, rarely yelled at them, things of that nature.

The great Pittsburgh teams usually had 11 white starters and 11 black ones. That seems like a lot today, but wasn't at that time. Having that many black starters and treating them differently than white players kept the team from having any serious racial problems.

Bradshaw was a great quarterback, but was very slow to blossom. Noll deserves credit for sticking with him that long (though he was periodically benched), but he was a cold fish personality who was quick to criticize and Terry needed more positive reinforcement than what Noll would or could give him. You're exactly right about Bradshaw -- he was the weak link on the first two Super Bowl champions, but he carried them to victories when they came back to win two more. It took Bradshaw five years to develop -- about four years longer than a high draft pick rookie white quarterback gets today. Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[sport historian]

Don, thanks for your comments. There was a similar situation (though more bizarre) on the 1974-76 Los Angeles Rams. Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom had gone out of his way to give black QBs a chance. When he owned the Colts, he wasted a high draft choice in 1971 on Karl Douglas, who couldn't play. When he moved to the Rams, he gave John Walton (later a backup elsewhere) a full shot in 1972.


The same year, Rosenbloom signed black QB James Harris, who had been cut by the Bills. Harris was working for the OEO in the Nixon administration at the time. In 1973, the Rams traded a sore-armed Roman Gabriel for a bunch of high draft choices, and traded for John Hadl. Hadl became the starter in 1973 with Harris No2 and Ron Jaworski No3. Hadl looked great the first half of 1973, but hurt his shoulder off the field, and didn't perform well the rest of 1973 and the first six games in 1974.


The Rams then traded Hadl to Green Bay for several high draft picks. Dan Devine was desperate for a QB to save his job (he didn't). So the Rams had unloaded two sore-armed veteran QBs, and were able to draft several good players. Ironically, QB would be their weakness the rest of the 1970s.


Harris was made the starter and was up and down the rest of 1974. In the NFC Championship in Minnesota, Harris made several blunders as the Rams lost. This was his pattern. Harris would look good when he got plenty of time to throw, but he was prone to the big error in critical situations. In 1975, he had good stats, but Ron Jaworski looked better when he played. In the NFC title game against the Cowboys, Harris made blunder after blunder. 1976 saw more of the same. Harris had two bad Monday night games. Pat Haden started the last half of the 1976 season.


The black press accused Rosenbloom and the Rams of racism for benching Harris. Rosenbloom had bent over backwards to give an opportunity to a black QB and was rewarded by being called a racist. This never seemed to affect the Rams on the field, as far as you could tell. Their defense (seven white starters most of the decade) carried the team as they went through several QBs.


Chuck Knox behaved stangely through all this. He let Rosenbloom take the heat. In a book years later, he inferred that he had nothing to do with the QB change in 1976, even though he was head coach. Maybe he wanted to appear PC.


Harris was traded to San Diego and started when Dan Fouts held out most of the 1977 season, performing in mediocre fashion and returning to backup when Fouts returned. He was a prime example of a QB who was just good enough to get you beat.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Good info guys, as a 27 year old, I can't remember anything from those years and I'm sure it hasn't been on TV, so you two are the only ones that can provide that type of info. I had no idea Bradshaw was benched in the mid-70's. If you have any more info like that about pro or college teams, especially the SEC, please let me know.

 

[Don Wassall]

27 years old? You're awful young to have reached the rank of Colonel!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Good one Don!A lot of people don't realize that until not so many years ago you could buy titles like Captain, Lt.; Colonel, General etc. here in Mississippi. All you had to do was get the Governor to sign a document giving you that title. As you pointed out, I am not one of those fortunate individuals, but I know of a few here in the Delta.
My username comes from the Ole Miss Rebels mascot, which they so unceremoniously discarded in the summer of 2003. Look it up if you want to know more, as it is a worthwhile subject to research. I will not go back to another Ole Miss game. Now they have a Ragin Cajun coach who is bringing in the blacks like there is no tomorrow. I will be supporting white friendly teams only in the future.
The liberalism and whitewashing of history by Ole Miss has forever ended this fans lifelong loyalty to a formerly beloved institution. Oh yeah, Chancellor Khayat, I was and still am a true Ole Miss fan. That Ole Miss suffered a heart attack in 1997 and died in 2003. Those who are left with you and Pete Boone are blind or are part of the problem!

 

[white lightning]

Whether it's at Ole Miss,Florida,USC,Michigan or where
ever,whites on big time college football teams have been
dissapearing like disonaurs.No matter what school you
root on or are a alumni of,we have to band together to
root for schools like Boise State,Iowa,Texas Tech,Col.
State,and others the are fair to the white athlete.I am
so tired of seeing these kids not offered scholarships
or forced to play different positions.It takes place all
the way from Pop Warner up to the NFL.It's funny because
the CFL is alot more white friendly than the NFL.I want
guys like Jesse Lumsden to get the opportunity he
deserves.We need these guys to get the word out and
demand respect.They need to refuse to switch and go to
the media if they are forced to.We need to educate.We
can and will make a difference.It will take time but we
need to stay patient.I think we are slowly making gains
in all sports but it is a uphill battle.