A couple of Sundays ago, while desperately trying to escape my homework that was due the next day, I sat on my couch to watch a little NFL football. I turned my satellite dish to Arizona vs. Tampa Bay, where former Oregon Duck LeGarrette Blount had finally found a spot for the Buccaneers.
Then a few minutes later, Blount did something reminiscent of his days with the Ducks, by hurdling an oncoming Arizona defender and ripping off a huge gain.
The producers at Fox, rather than replay of a similar play from his college days, decided to show footage of his infamous right-hook striking Boise State’s Byron Hout.
I thought to myself, when Tim Lincecum strikes someone out in the World Series, do Joe Buck and Tim McCarver mention the time he got arrested for possession of marijuana?
When Brett Favre makes an amazing play, does one of the announcers mention the on-going investigation by the NFL regarding the sexual harassment of former New York Jets employee Jenn Sterger when Favre played for them?
Do you think when Ben Roethlisberger escapes a sack and makes a big play down the field, that the announcers will mention either of the sexual assault charges filed against him (that’s right, he has had two filed against him.)
The answer to all those questions is no.
Many times in sports, which are frequently dominated by African-American athletes, the media likes to get behind the white guy.
Let’s be honest. When else do you hear the cliches like, “He is a blue collar guy,” or, “He might not be the fastest or most athletic guy on the field, but he just outworks everyone else”?
The perception made by the media is that the white athlete works infinitely harder than everyone else.
Let’s take a minute while I shed a tear for the “gun-slingers” and “students of the game” (both frequently used white athlete cliches) of the world.
This notion of course implies that the black players are lazy, got to where they are by talent alone and didn’t have to go through all the struggles that the white players have had. This is a load of crap.
Often, when a white player succeeds, the media often gives the perception that the player had some handicap that has held him or her back. This is not true; they are amazing athletes and anyone in college or in the professional ranks has worked their ass off to get there.
Also, like in the case of Blount, many other black athletes struggle to escape any past mistakes.
The consensus by many in the media on Auburn’s Cam Newton was that he was surely going to be ruled ineligible, although these assertions were made before any ruling from the NCAA.
Even as recently as Tuesday morning, another black athlete with a troubled past could not escape the accusations.
Michael Vick had just come off not only the greatest individual performance in the history of Monday Night Football and arguably the greatest performance by a quarterback ever.
The following morning, Mike Florio, a writer for NBC’s profootballtalk.com, was a guest on the Dan Patrick radio show, addressing a possible contract extension for Vick. Early in the interview, Florio’s focus was that Vick owed millions of dollars to creditors, as well as his time in prison. Even though Vick had one of the best individual performances in NFL history, the next morning, respected members of the media were focusing on his poor credit score and his criminal record.
In fairness to Patrick, he has been one of the few members of the media to even touch Favre and Roethlisberger’s issues with a 10-foot pole.
It took Ron Artest many years and an NBA championship to finally start not being looked at as a thug.
Terrell Owens is having a great season, but the media often preface his success with the lowly Cincinnati Bengals with, “His success is coming at the expense of the team.”
Favre, who is constantly babied by the mass media, has been and will certainly continue to get a pass for any of the allegations that have come against him.
Roethlisberger’s infamous, bizarre and creepy trip to a bar in the small town of Milledgeville, Ga., is already in the mass media’s rearview. Now all the talk about him is about how he has changed so much as a person, even though the first sexual assault allegation wasn’t enough to change him.
Athletes like Blount, Newton, Vick and Artest have had to work twice as hard to finally shake poor perceptions of them, while white athletes can play away their follies within the span of weeks.
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