There is one in every crowd. And I anticipate darts being thrown my way. And being written off as a groupie. Yes I am a charter member of the Tanner Muse fan club ( I think I saw member Extra Point's name on the masthead of a recent fan club letter) and I have my badge. Plus a bumper sticker and some Tanner buttons.
I think the idea of maturing white athletes acting like shrinking flowers and wallflowers is pretty much a thing of the past. Yes without any argument there are still
crushing sociological and cultural barriers that prevent white athletes from rising to the top. Not to mention that horrible practice of development interruption of white athletes including of course
slotting which starts at very early ages.
White athletes being hypnotized into thinking they are inferior is something they have to overcome on their way up but by the time they start succeeding in high school that type of thinking is being washed away these days. The days where someone like Pete Rose says that he is "pretty fast for a white guy" are effectively over.
The reason for that is budding white high school athletes and college athletes proudly
boast about their abilities on
Twitter now. Most athletes have Twitter accounts and you can bet the house if they run a fast 40 or 60 yard dash it will be posted predominantly on their Twitter page. Young white basketball, baseball and football players are using Twitter as a wonderful outlet to advertise themselves and this is a
new phenomena that has
exploded over the past five or more years. It certainly adds a different dimension to the way white athletes see themselves and any scan of their Twitter posts leave you no doubt they
don't lack in confidence.
Of course the jury is still out as to whether Twitter has helped the cause of young white athletes but I feel it is a very
positive development.
Of course Tanner has a Twitter account and one that is quite entertaining to boot. Recently he has awesome footage of Gorillas at play plus a clip of him pushing a car among other things while being cheered on by his parents.
Muse is very smart and that has been pointed out by many. While his comment about being a special teams demon strikes some as capitulation I see it as something a little different. Even I had mentioned his special teams potential before the draft so I am not surprised that initially that is where he is being penciled in at. But I don't believe we are looking at a ST lifer like the Cowboys Bill Bates. For starters Bates was not in the same athletic category as Muse. But like Bates I imagine Muse becoming an instant fan favorite because of his electric play.
I like unselfish players and in general I think whites are less selfish than black players. Think of the black WR divas who constantly bitch about touches. By being the first kid in the class to raise his hand as a special teams volunteer Tanner instantly ingratiated himself to his teammates. The extreme end of that spectrum would be to waltz into the locker room and tell the "black bitches" to get out of his way. That doesn't seem like a good approach. I should mention his best friend straight as an arrow DL Clelin Ferrell is on the Raiders too along with two other fellow Clemson players. So he is in a comfortable situation. Tanner even softened up the media with his opening special teams statement. They sort of like him all of a sudden.
Now the proof will be in the pudding. I consider him a defensive version of Taysom Hill. A crackerjack Swiss army knife defender who can play all over the field. And like Taysom he will be immensely popular. I don't want to put a timetable on when his defensive snaps will start coming but I also think Chiefs S Daniel Sorensen is another good touchstone for Tanner. Sure with his #55 number it screams linebacker but I think he will get to roam around a bit. About that number. Halfback Red Grange wore #77. Ha.
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And as far as a defensive player changing positions? I have less of a problem with that than I do when they convert white running backs into fullbacks. Yes we are looking at a white safety deficit league ( and can empathize with that sentiment) but a certain player comes to mind who was switched from linebacker to defensive tackle in the NFL and ended up being one of my all time favorite players. I speak of the Cowboys Randy White. Now I am not suggesting Tanner will reach that rare air but I think we should allow Tanner some space and so far in his career he has come through. I highly anticipate him doing the same at the NFL level. Tanner a shrinking violet? I don't think so.
