We have come full circle with Donovan McNabb. A few years ago when Rush Limbaugh claimed the liberal media wants McNabb to succeed because he is black, the Eagles quarterback ridiculed the notion he gets preferential treatment. That was then, this is now. Today it is McNabb who claims, as a black quarterback, he is criticized more harshly than if he were white. It is Limbaugh’s argument turned on its ear.
Let’s put aside for the moment the hornet’s nest McNabb has wandered into with the bulk of the football season yet to be played. Let’s put aside whether his team should have to deal with McNabb’s racial issue along with its coach’s personal family problems and all of its sports-related problems. Is McNabb correct?
First, let me say I do not come at this question with a na�ve perception about race relations in this country. I have hosted sports talk shows for many years and I have heard all the code words and irrational arguments racists make. Are they still out there? Yes, but it is undeniable they are being replaced by a younger generation that is pretty much colorblind. Interracial dating is more prevalent. Philadelphia just had a mayoral primary where competence, not race, was the key factor. Nowhere is the change in attitude more apparent than in the way whites treat black quarterbacks.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the National Football League took promising black college quarterbacks and forced them to learn a different position. The abuse Joe Gilliam, James Harris and Doug Williams took when they defied the stereotype is well-documented. Black NFL quarterbacks paid their dues. To their credit, their sheer persistence and ability helped combat racial stereotyping. When Oakland made a black quarterback its first pick in this year’s draft, the event largely went unnoticed. In his recent HBO interview and subsequent statements, McNabb ignores the progress. Donovan McNabb seems to be trapped in a time warp. Why is that?
McNabb is not the product of the mean streets of Chicago. This doesn’t mean he hasn’t run into racism along the way. Since Donovan is highly intelligent and grew up in the middle class, this may have made the racism even more baffling to him. But because of his skill on the field, McNabb has lived the pampered, sheltered life of the typical American athlete. From the time he began to excel on a high school gridiron, Donovan McNabb’s life was far better than the average African-American in this country. His professional football contract ensures once his playing days are over, if he so chooses, he will never have to work again. So what exactly is gnawing at Donovan McNabb?
McNabb has a notoriously fragile ego. The truth is all quarterbacks — black and white — get far too much blame when their team loses and too much credit when it wins. The quarterback is the lightning rod for criticism, perhaps more so than any other single position in all of sports. It is a position where the faint of heart rarely succeeds. It is not a position for athletes with thin skin, and one has to wonder if even with his marvelous athletic ability, McNabb may not have the emotional makeup to be a great quarterback.
Success for quarterbacks is usually defined as winning a Super Bowl ring. It is why John Elway and Peyton Manning did not get their just due until they both won a Super Bowl. Both Elway and Manning are white, but that didn’t stop the media and fans from claiming neither could win the big game. That is until each won the big game. Yet McNabb indicated, in responding to a question, he doesn’t believe Manning and other white quarterbacks are criticized as harshly as him.
At one time black athletes rightly complained they were ignored when it came to endorsement deals, but it is no longer unusual to see black stars doing just that on TV. McNabb himself has had no shortage of such opportunities. He and his mom were leading spokespersons for Campbell’s Soup and this season, Donovan is featured heavily in Vitaminwater ads.
This is not to say McNabb hasn’t been the subject of his share of criticism. His public image took a hit after he fell out of favor with Terrell Owens. Worse, it was whispered that in the dispute with Owens, he had lost the confidence of his teammates. McNabb seemingly acknowledged the problem by hiring his own public relations guy, an unprecedented move even for high-profile athletes. McNabb became more accessible to the media in the off-season. It worked, until his controversial HBO interview threw his team into the middle of another non-football controversy.
McNabb is generous to good causes, but his self-pity overshadows everything else. His complaint, after all, was not about the six black youths in Jena, La., but about how he — a multimillionaire — is treated poorly. When it comes right down to it, McNabb is mostly concerned about McNabb.
