The NFL has 69% Black players, but only 21% Black Quarterbacks. There has long been a racist theory that Blacks were not “smart” enough to hold football’s “thinking” position–that of quarterback. But in 2018, many would think we have moved on from such inane beliefs. Well, it seems we haven’t.
It was revealed a school superintendent in Texas wrote a Facebook post blasting Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, stating, “you can’t count on a Black quarterback.” Lynn Redden, superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District, said he thought he was sending a private message but inadvertently made a public post. Still, public or private, the statement is very revealing.
Redden made the comment in “reference to the final play of the Texans’ 20-17 loss on Sunday to the Tennessee Titans during which Watson held onto the ball before completing a pass to receiver DeAndre Hopkins as time expired, leaving no time to try a last-second, game-tying field goal,” the New York Post reported.
“That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I’ve seen in the NFL,” Redden wrote on a Facebook comment on a Houston Chronicle story about the game. “When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a Black quarterback.”
Redden later deleted the post and told the Chronicle, “I totally regret it.” He claims he is not a racist and added that Black quarterbacks just aren’t as successful. “Over the history of the NFL, they have had limited success,” Redden told the Chronicle.
Redden oversees 1,130 students and 175 staffers as the district’s superintendent and so far he is not facing any discipline in connection with the remark.
It has always been hard for Blacks to be considered for the quarterback positions, from the college level to the NFL. “Doug Williams in 1988 became the league’s first Black quarterback to lead his team to a championship, taking the Washington Redskins over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. Williams, who started the season as a backup, was named the game’s MVP after completing 18-of-29 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns,” the New York Post reported.
In 2014, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the second Black quarterback to “win it all, beating the Denver Broncos 43-8 in his second season as a pro.”
‘When Redden made that comment, there 26 white quarterbacks starting in the NFL that week. Their combined career winning percentage was .568.
Six black quarterbacks started that same week. Their combined winning percentage was .597,” The Root reported.
