Bubble doesn't help black QBs

Foxsports ^

[chessplayer]

Black sports fans and black pop-culture media (not sports media) have created a loosely-formed-but-influential social-media and talk-radio information bubble for black QBs. This network of groupthink roars on sports-talk radio, black-owned radio stations, Facebook and Twitter, pumping out the message that Newton, Griffin and others can do no wrong and any criticism of them is rooted in racism. Fear of backlash from this network of well-intentioned enablers causes many mainstream sports analysts (media and fans of all colors) to avoid being totally honest about black QBs.

That’s how a career-killing, information bubble is formed.

[chessplayer]

Cam Newton's career is going to be all downhill unless he grows up. His team can be losing 40-0, and if he scores a TD he immediateley goes into his Superman routine. And if he doesn't score, he sits with a towel over his head and pouts. Even his team mates are getting fed up with him.

[Carl LaFong]

Isn’t this exactly what Rush Limbaugh said about Donovan McNabb and subsequently had his butt fried by the left-media hive and co-ownership of an NFL franchise denied?

[circlecity]

I believe Rush Limbaugh made essentially this same point years ago and was widely vilified for it.

[trisham]

I remember watching Newton at the combine. I thought that he was an athlete with extraordinary physical talent, but with a weak character. It also appears that he is lacking in leadership ability, since he seems not to consider himself as part of a team.

[wolfman23601]

I hate the Redskins, but have to admit RGIII is looking solid. Problem is, can he stay healthy?

[JacksonCalhoun]

And I’m sure Whitlock was one of the guys raking him over the coals for it.

[RonInNaples]

Solid but not the star he’s already been touted as by the media. Every year it’s a new black QB that will change the game. Oh they change the game alright. Running QBs in the NFL take hits and get hurt. They change the game for their teams while they sit on the bench and heal.

Meanwhile, there was this guy named Warren Moon once upon a time. Pretty darn good QB but didn’t inspire the media with any thuggish qualities. And there’s a young man in Tampa Bay named Josh Freeman. Kid has the tools to be a star for a long time in the league. Hear anything about him as the next best black QB? Nope. Josh is black but not a thug either, so you never will.

The media sickens me. How about instead of anointing someone as a star you let them earn the title?

[RonInNaples]

Solid but not the star he’s already been touted as by the media. Every year it’s a new black QB that will change the game. Oh they change the game alright. Running QBs in the NFL take hits and get hurt. They change the game for their teams while they sit on the bench and heal.

Meanwhile, there was this guy named Warren Moon once upon a time. Pretty darn good QB but didn’t inspire the media with any thuggish qualities. And there’s a young man in Tampa Bay named Josh Freeman. Kid has the tools to be a star for a long time in the league. Hear anything about him as the next best black QB? Nope. Josh is black but not a thug either, so you never will.

The media sickens me. How about instead of anointing someone as a star you let them earn the title?

[Cowboy Bob]

Black quarterbacks in the NFL are as successful as Black Presidents in the USA.

But the MSM LOVES them both!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

See. It worked!

[kevkrom]

RG3 is going to have to continue to learn how to avoid taking the big hits, but I think he has a lot of potential. He seems to keep his cool in crunch time — last week, he led his team to a potential game-winning drive on the road against the Giants, only to see his defense give it away, and then started another drive that was looking promising until a receiver (Moss, who had just been the TD-catching hero) fumbled the ball away.

What I’m most impressed with was watching him throw on the run; he doesn’t succumb to the Favrian “just chuck it” mentality using all arm strength, but actually sets his feet to make a proper throw, even while running. Good fundamentals should serve him well if he can stay healthy.

[wolfman23601]

The funny thing is that none of them ever seem to improve. Think about it. They all show potential early in their careers and progressively get worse as time goes by. You saw it with McNabb, Culpepper, Vick, and you are seeing it with Newton this year. The body breaks down a lot faster with that style of play. Most running backs can’t even last a full year or play at a very high level over a career and they are built for and train for that punishment.

[Doctor 2Brains]

Whitlock is CONSTANTLY writing about black athletes being destroyed in this fashion, so I’m willing to bet JW sided with Rush 100% on this one. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/whitlock/031006.html

He basically said Rush isn’t qualified to discuss race....because he’s “white-wing”.

[PermaRag]

Progress is being made, however: Newton cried like a baby after last week’s game, so Carolina fired the white GM who drafted Newton.

Also, a subject more taboo than anything Rush (who was right about Donobun and his media fanboys) ever said, is the issue of intelligence.

Of course it takes more than smarts to be an NFL QB, otherwise Ryan Fitzpatrick would be on his way to the Hall of Fame, but it takes far more than just being an “aff-weet” too.

Wonderlic tests aren’t exactly IQ tests, but IQ tests aren’t allowed to be used in the NFL because liberals say the tests discriminate — whch they do; they discriminate against the stupid. Most positions in the NFL can get by with being staffed by brawn instead of brains, but not QB. Not yet, anyway.

Despite the NFL’s every attempt to redesign the QB position to favor “aff-weets” over players who actually know how to read a defense, lead an offense, call an audible, and make good decisions with the ball instead of panicking, teams are FAR better off with a QB who has brains and enough athletic ability to get the job done, over the... other kind of quarterback.

[spankalib]

Doug Williams. Improved. Quite successfully.
RG is a huge talent. From what I see, he’s a ‘character guy’ too.

Funny though - the article makes the same point Rush was vilified for.

[Antoninus]

Yup. We've got Mike Vick in the bubble here in Philly. No matter how many times he turns the ball over, no matter how many games he costs us due to bad decisions with the football, you can count on a flock of defenders cropping up to insist he's an elite QB. At this stage in his career, Vick is average, at best, and on the decline. The praise of his defenders is so effusive as to be ridiculous.

Let's get real, people. What makes a Hall of Fame QB isn't running with the football. It's a strong arm, accuracy, quick decision-making, a quick release, the ability to read defenses, nimble feet in the pocket, and the toughness to take the big hit when necessary and not cough up the ball. Running is a plus, but if you can't consistently do all of the above, you can run all you want--you'll never be one of the greats.

[Antoninus]

You saw it with McNabb, Culpepper, Vick, and you are seeing it with Newton this year.

You can't put McNabb in that category. He was an elite QB for a lot of years and was more of a pocket-passer. He did run, but he picked his spots for maximum effectiveness.

[wolfman23601]

Doug Williams did not play that style of QB.

[Night Hides Not]

Newton's going through the same thing that happened to Tony Romo: he's been exposed. Defensive coordinators throughout the NFL spent countless hours analyzing game film during the offseason. His flaws have been isolated, and the defensive game plans have been developed to take advantage of his weaknesses.

All NFL QB's have to keep working on their game, or they will not survive.