Fisher DeBerry

[Kaptain]

Air Force Academy football has always been mostly white and have almost always had winning seasons. This year they have struggled with a 3-5 record. The cowardly coaches knee-jerk response was to blame his team's poor performance on a lack of black players. I wonder if he thought that when Kyle Bell of mostly white Colorado State ran for almost 200 yards on him a couple of weeks ago. I also wonder why coaches of traditionally all-black teams who have losing records year after year (there are plenty) don't make a public push for recruiting more white players. Below is press release on Fisher's comments. Should he be fired?

DeBerry: Blacks have edge
After rout, coach says Air Force must 'recruit speed'

By Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News
October 26, 2005

AIR FORCE ACADEMY - Air Force Academy coach Fisher DeBerry said Tuesday his football program needs more black athletes because "they run extremely well."

Speaking at his weekly media luncheon, DeBerry, in his 22nd season as Air Force football coach, reiterated comments he made Monday about the lack of minority athletes at Air Force.


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"I just want to recruit speed; we need to find speed as much as anything," DeBerry, 67, said when asked if he believed there was anything wrong in saying he wanted to recruit more black athletes because they are faster.

"The black athlete, statistically, from program to program, seems to have an edge as far as speed is concerned."

An Air Force Academy spokesman said Tuesday night the academy is aware of "media reports" about DeBerry's comments.

"We cannot comment further until we have a chance to review all the reports, the coach's actual statements and to speak with the coach personally," said Col. Laurent Fox, AFA director of public affairs.

DeBerry kept his staff huddled late Sunday night to discuss Saturday's 48-10 Mountain West Conference loss to Texas Christian. The coaches talked about recruiting and the need to enroll faster players.

"It was very obvious to me the other day that the other team (TCU) had a lot more African-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did," DeBerry said Tuesday. "It just seems to be that way. African-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well.

"Their (TCU's) defense had 11 African-American kids on their team and they were a very good defensive football team. So that's exactly what I was talking about."

Wide receiver Jason Brown, a senior from Arvada West who leads the Falcons with 31 receptions, is one of the team's best athletes. He is black but many times hasn't been in the game on key downs.

"That's the way we substitute, that's the way we call plays," DeBerry said. "Jason Brown, if we used him every play of the game, over time as any wideout in any program anywhere in the country, if you used them just to run downfield and be a decoy over a period of time, would wear down."

Asked whether Air Force needs more black players to become a better team, DeBerry said, "Have you looked at the NFL rosters lately? Have you looked at most college rosters? Enough said."
Edited by: Kaptain Poop

 

[jaxvid]

Very disturbing article. The Air Force Acadamy has been quite succesful over the years with their mostly white teams. A single loss or losing season should not be enough to cause this kind of outburst. This is the kind of stuff that sets us back, a respected coach mouthing the party line to salvage his job or reputation.

He must be really out of touch. Th Air Force can't get blacker. They have to train officers to fly and operate the most high tech machines in the world. There are NO black athletes with "speed" that are going to be able to go to the Academy and do that as well.

His remarks were racially insulting and sterotypical. He should lose his job for them. That kind of behavior should not be allowed at a service academy.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I think he should be fired as well. He effectively just told his white players (majority of the team) that the team would be better served without them. If I were white and playing there, I wouldn't even get on the field after what he said. He obviously cares nothing about them. I hope this doesn't start a chain reaction of ridiculous "need for speed" by other MWC coaches. That's the worst thing that could happen. DeBerry is a traitor to the Air Force and a liability to maintaining the integrity of our military. He should be fired immediately.

 

[sunshine]

DeBerry is not the first coach to make such comments but you wonder why would anyone say that? And as mentioned his teams are usually good.Apart from being just plain stupid or looking for excuses it makes no sense.. The guy coaches at the Air Force for crying out loud you think he would have learned how to act like a man by now.

 

[SteveB]

It's funny that he didn't make these comments after beating a very black UNLV team 42-7 a couple of weeks ago. Remember Dee Dowis (Heisman finalist) and Beau Morgan (All American). Those guys seemed fast enough to me. He just needs to suck it up and realize that his team is not good this year.

 

[Don Wassall]

Beau Morgan kicked around the fringes of the NFL for a while as a tailback, mainly with Dallas, but never played in the regular season as best I know. You're right SteveB, that this pathetic racist doesn't see black when his team beats a mostly black team, but does when his team loses to one. And the idea that speed alone makes a superior football player is just as wrong. His mindset is appalling.

 

[Kaptain]

BTW, no surprise but it looks like most people in the media (ESPN) are defending Fisher's comments and calling for him not to be fired. Another double standard.

 

[Kaptain]

This is funny! ESPN is interviewing the Director of the Black coaches association and they are acting like Fisher's were racists against blacks! But there not that offended and think he deserves to keep his job. No Sh*t. Why would blacks be offended?
The black guy on PTI said that he is not offended as a black American. Again, No Sh*t.
Even a comment being labelled anti-white when it is blatantly anti-white has to be spun somehow to be anti-black in order to be newsworthy.
Yet everyone in the media cried for the firing of a RADIO guy for accurately stating "brain-dead Carribean hitters". Nobody asked David Duke if he was offended. Edited by: Kaptain Poop

 

[Colonel_Reb]

As expected, DeBerry wasn't fired, just "reprimanded."


DENVER (AP) - Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry was reprimanded by the top commander of the academy on Wednesday after making statements about black athletes and recruiting.

DeBerry issued a public apology, saying "I realize the things I said might have been hurtful to many people and I want everyone to understand that I never intended to offend anyone."

DeBerry raised the topic Monday while discussing Air Force's 48-10 loss to TCU, telling The Gazette of Colorado Springs the academy needed to recruit faster players and noting, "you don't see many minority athletes in our program."

Asked about it Tuesday, DeBerry noted that TCU had more black players than Air Force.

"It just seems to me to be that way," he said. "African-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well."

Athletic director Hans Mueh said he talked with DeBerry early Wednesday and told him his comments were inappropriate. Mueh and DeBerry went to the home of academy superintendent Lt. Gen. John Regni, who took command on Monday, and Regni also reprimanded the coach.

But Mueh said the 67-year-old coach, in his 22nd year as head coach with the Falcons, would not lose his job.

"That's an easy one to answer," Mueh said. "I've known Fisher DeBerry for all the years he's been here. This is a man who's produced leaders for our nation for 25 years. He's our coach. He'll continue to be our coach until I lose confidence in his ability to produce leaders for the Air Force and our nation."

 

[JD074]

Great points, guys. He says, look at the college and the NFL rosters, "statistically, from program to program," blah blah blah. We all know how ridiculous this argument is. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Coaches, like this dumb*ss Deberry, assume that blacks are superior, mainly seek out blacks at most positions(and only seek out blacks at certain positions,) then, when blacks mainly/ only excel at those positions (with some really talented whites slipping through and doing great,) they say, "Hey, blacks are better, we need more blacks!" Morons.

Why not take all these ignored exceptional white high school players, give them scholarships- when deserving- give them playing time- when deserving- and then we'll "take a look" at the NFL and college rosters. If only these people had just a tiny bit of brain power. It would be like Moneyball multiplied by a factor of at least two or three, in my opinion. Just like Beane and other GM's have taken players who can draw walks and get on base (that other GM's have overlooked because they can't run fast or hit home runs,) so could these football coaches make a killing rounding up neglected white football players. Air Force isn't the place to do it, but there are many other colleges that could do this if they were smart enough.

 

[Bronk]

This is a hot topic on college football boards all over the Internet. I looked at Texas' and Missouri's and they all have threads on this. Go thorough them and read some of the utter BS (as well as a few good comments) regarding DeBerry's comments.

 

[white lightning]

Can you guys imagine what would happen if some one said whites were faster or stronger than blacks.They would never work again.You can only say good things about blacks.Even if it's not true,you are allowed to say that no one can compete with them.What a flipping joke!!!

 

[SteveB]

I can see the same arguments being made about whites and baseball. Joe Morgan says that the Astros are too white. What if Phil Garner came back and said that whites were better pitchers and hitters than blacks? He could even back the statement up with tons of statistics. Garner would be booted immediately.

 

[JD074]

There was a thread on another forum about Deberry that I responded to. Here's what I said:

He needs Kyle Bell on his team... you know, Kyle Bell, the WHITE Colorado State running back who torched Air Force for almost 200 rushing yards a few weeks ago. Maybe Deberry could use HIM on his team?!?

I think it's really disrespectful to his white players. He has had a lot of success over the years, using a lot of white players. I respect his freedom of speech, but he is in a position of authority over white athletes. They deserve better. If it were somebody in the media (like Rush Limbaugh and his comments about McNabb a few years ago,) it would be different.

Plus it's the Air Force; they have obvious limitations that other teams don't have. They can't field a team full of illiterate thugs who have never seen the inside of a classroom (maybe a jail cell,) but who are blessed with some running ability.

 

[JD074]

And there was a post in that thread where somebody mentioned the best 200m times, or something, and I responded:

This is football, not sprinting.

Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, and Tim Brown weren't extraordinarily fast, but obviously they had great careers. [Well I guess Brown had a good, not great career, but I just kept it simple and said "great" for all three.] Football is about much more than straight-line speed. The racial differences may be big enough that they impact the elite level of 100m and 200m sprinting, but that's totally different from football. There are so many slow black guys in football. So many mediocre black running backs, so many pathetic black cornerbacks. I don't mean to be offensive, I'm just being objective.

Furthermore, white high school teams beat black high school teams all the time. White players who do just as well or better as black players at their positions, against the same competition or better, same stats or better, are routinely overlooked. Div. I coaches simply don't give out scholarships to white players at positions like RB and CB, regardless of how good they are.

 

[Kaptain]

I think the players should turn it around and demand that the university gets a black head coach that is more in tune with the "modern-day" athlete. Nobody likes affirmative action when their job is affirmatively acted upon.
DeBerry's apology was pathetic as he only apologized for offended some people but never retracted his statements as inaccurate. His should apologize to his players first and then step-down as head coach or get fired.

 

[sunshine]

Hate to paint the entire media with a big brush because not every sports journalist buys into the stereotypes but the mediacoverage of DeBerry etc.. has been pathetic. And a cruel reminder that nothing has changed and possibly things are getting worse.ESPN radio hostColin Cowherd has been mentioned before but this weasel is one of the worst. He not only basically defended DeBerry's crude comments he went on a rampage saying baseball players are not athletic--apart from the few blacks he mentioned--and kept saying the reason why was because the "real athletes" (blacks ) are too busy playing football and basketball. He even went on to say Pod would be a kicker in the NFL. This jerk is so cluelessI am convinced that ESPN's head honcho's are a bunch of scoundrels. Dan Patrick was bemused by angry white callersintimating that they are just cry babies. As for Pod not being athletic? Oh sure. The guy is built like a sprinter and perhaps with the proper training could have been a 100 meter track star. He is surely faster than most NFL players if not all. My guess is he would leave them all in the dust.Cowherd has his head up his rear end. Remember the undefeated LSU team a few years back. They were led by QB Matt Mauck. Mauck was causing havoc with his running ability. And guess what. He was also a baseball catcher. If a catcher can make SEC athletes look silly well do I need to go on.


One other thought or two. Pretty sad state of affairs if a coach at a fightingAcademy figures whites are inferior. With this line of thinking we will be China's lap dog sooner than expected. AndI do not buy this harmless little comment bit. This was a well thought out attack on his own palyers and white athletes. Like JB Cash says --COWARDLY. And Cowherd should be fired. The guy is a menace. And for the whining Joe Morgans etc of the world. Morgan who has proclaimed black superioirity is also a grade a jerk who should be removed from the air waves.

 

[sunshine]

SI web site has nice piece by Tim Layden who covers T& F. Kind of surprising since I never thought he was very enlightened in the past.

 

[SteveB]

Just read Layden article and it is good. Here it is.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tim_layden/10/ 27/five.out/index.html

Was Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry simply saying publicly what many coaches -- or people -- say in private?

Possibly, but that doesn't make it right. Or accurate. To review: After losing to TCU last weekend, DeBerry told reporters on Tuesday that TCU might have won the game because the Frogs, "Had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did.'' He continued: "Afro-American kids can run very, very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well.''

That's a lot of stereotyping for one sentence. DeBerry apologized for his comments this week, saying, "I have made a mistake and I ask everyone to forgive me.''

This isn't about DeBerry. This is about a cultural presumption with deep roots. Have I ever heard a football coach evaluate players by equating certain traits with race? Absolutely. (Often they speak in the accepted code: An assistant football coach once described his recruiting base as "largely Northeastern kids, and, of course, we go to Florida for speed.'' Well, that's thinly veiled stuff). Have I ever heard a fan divvy up players by race? Haven't you?

The majority of NFL and major college wide receivers and cornerbacks -- speed positions, inarguably -- are African-Americans. From this, conclusions are drawn that should be challenged.

Let me shift to another sport. In the track and field world, coaches preached for years that the racial imbalance among sprinters was due in some significant part to the fact that fast white kids simply weren't trying to become sprinters. Last summer at the World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland, the first two finishers in the 400 meters were white, U.S. Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner and Andrew Rock. The bronze medalist was Tyler Christopher of Canada, who is the son of a Jamaican father and a white Canadian mother.

One year earlier I had sat in a hotel restaurant in Sacramento, interviewing Wariner and Darold Williamson, who was then his teammate at Baylor. Williamson is black. I broached the subject of Wariner's race because successful white quarter-milers are rare. Williamson scrunched up his face and said, "Jeremy is just fast, period.

I spent time in recent weeks with a football player who hopes to be playing wide receiver in the NFL next year. I'm not going to name him, because I'm writing a piece on him for Sports Illustrated, but he hopes to run a 4.2 in the 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine, which is fast for any race ... and most four-legged creatures, too. The guy is white.

We live in a sound-bite culture, but this issue is far too complex for quick, superficial dissolution. I only know what I saw last summer in Helsinki and what I learned about one wannabe wideout. There are fast black guys and fast white guys. The rest is guesswork. And DeBerry sounds very naïve to me.

 

[Don Wassall]

That's a nice article by Layden. Doesn't go nearly far enough, but considering the media source it's a rare bit of fresh air.


BTW, I'll bet the WR he's talking about is Jeremy Bloom.

 

[SteveB]

Good observation Don. I was trying to think which WR he was talking about and Bloom fits the description. I'll bet that if he is hoping to run a 4.2 at the combine that he is already running that fast in training.

 

[Don Wassall]

And even if he does run an eye-popping 4.2, you know how the NFL and the Caste System media will earmark him -- possible kick returner, too small to be a WR.

 

[Don Wassall]

Next game there's a game we should all pay attention to. Colorado State had a great comeback tonight, defeating New Mexico on the road (for Sonny Lubick's 100th victory at CSU). The usual suspects, Kyle Bell, David Anderson and Justin Holland, led the win. CSU is now in second place in the Mountain West Conference, and next week they play at Fisher DeBerry's favorite team, first place TCU with their 11 "speedburners" on defense. Kind of ironic, isn't it? The I-A program that probably adheres the least to the Caste System when it comes to recruiting playing the team that DeBerry envies because it's so Caste System oriented, for first place in the conference.

 

[Bart]

he went on a rampage saying baseball players are not athletic--apart from the few blacks he mentioned--and kept saying the reason why was because the "real athletes" (blacks ) are too busy playing football and basketball. He even went on to say Pod would be a kicker in the NFL.

Cowherd is disgusting. How well did the great athlete Michael Jordan do, playing baseball? Could he fieldor hit as well as Podsednik?No.Jordan wasn't particularly fast on the base path either, being several notches lower than Scott in ability. Pod has stolen more bases the past two years than any player despite missing many games. Instead of getting some respect from Cowherd he gets dissed.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

You know, the strangest thing about what DeBerry said is that TCU's defense isn't all black. It has 3 whites starting on it, an end, a tackle, and a linebacker. I wonder what Deberry was drinking when he "saw" 11 blacks on defense?