49ers analyst suspended over racist comments about Lamar Jackson
(Edit: to bclemms) You’re a good poster and I agree with your thoughts usually but we just differ on how much “punishment” someone should receive. This plumber totally failed at his job and caused harm as a result. What consequences would be fair in this case? I’ve worked a lot in customer service and one thing that would absolutely get me fired (not even suspended) is to say the wrong thing to a customer. That is my purpose in my job. Tim Ryan’s purpose is to talk extemporaneously about football. He inexplicably said something that at best is contextually ignorant and at worst is a vile racist stereotype. I don’t see how this is an overreaction. Not to mention, there still exists systemic racism and to perpetuate it even unintentionally or indirectly is much worse than causing a flooded house.
I just want to tack onto this, bclemms, because I share NP's admiration for you as a poster. You said this:
Warren Moon was in the NFL for his arm, not his feet.
You know, Moon is illustrative, perhaps the trailblazer, of the black quarterback's journey from stereotype to success. Despite his stellar collegiate career, Moon went undrafted by the NFL. Do you know why?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/theundefeated.com/features/warren-moon-nfl-black-quarterback/amp/
In Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey, Moon chronicles the racism he encountered. Most black players of his generation, and definitely those who came before Moon, could tell similar disheartening stories. Repeatedly pushed to move to another position by coaches who assumed he lacked the smarts to play quarterback, Moon, believing he had the chops to lead, never gave up.
“In football, the ‘thinking’ positions down the middle — quarterback, center, [inside] linebacker — were the ones that we weren’t allowed to play.
Despite the fact that there were a lot of African-Americans playing in the National Football League in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, there was a stereotype that we weren’t capable of succeeding at certain positions. If you played those positions in college and you got drafted, you knew you were probably going to get moved in the NFL. Supposedly, we weren’t smart enough or had the leadership qualities or whatever it took. At every position, for African-Americans, conquering that myth at quarterback was so important.”
So, in reality, it took Moon going to the CFL and "proving" he could play quarterback before the NFL took him "for his arm." 5 straight Grey Cup championships and 2 Grey Cup MVPs along with 21 thousand yards and 144 touchdowns before the NFL considered him worthy of playing the position. Moon's CFL and NFL yard and touchdown totals? 70,553 yards and 435 touchdowns. Better career numbers than Dan Marino. Only behind the quartet of Manning, Brady, Brees and Favre.
Statistically, probably the 5th best QB of all time but spent the first six years of his career playing in Canada fighting stereotypes about black men. And he was a "pocket passer" to boot. Imagine the battle for guys who weren't quite as gifted throwing but were still capable of playing the position. I know it is hard to fathom for some but these tropes didn't die overnight. They are still here, still with us, and vigilance is required, by all of us, if we want to truly make them "the past."