McNabb plays race card

[Zool]

God man. I wanted to axe that thing just for the pic. I still have nightmares about it.

I like to poke fun at Rush cause he's such a blowhard who got caught with his proverbial pants down. Maybe they should send him to London?

McNabb is a whiner and extremely overrated (Partial). He's always been erratic on some throws that an NFL QB HAS to be able to make. Check the 4th quarter throw near the goal line Sunday with some pressure on him. That was at the very least a first down and possibly a TD. You can blame the knee, but Palmer had the same situation last year.

[The Leaper]

Rush said nothing about Donovan McNabb personally and he gets painted as a racist. But at the same time, Bryant Gumbel and Keith Olber-dork can say whatever they want about race and not get called on it because they fit the liberal template.

It's a really pathetic double-standard.

Of course it is.

Look no further that Isaiah Thomas' current legal woes...where he claims he sees nothing wrong with a black man calling a black woman a bitch, but feels it is certainly wrong for a white man to call a black woman a bitch.

Where is Al Sharpton now to condemn Thomas? He was quick to the front of the line to criticize Imus...but is very silent with Thomas.

What about Kanye West and his whiney rant at the MTV Music awards. "Give the black man a break" Really, Kanye? You are a multi-millionaire in the music industry crying for a break? Please. Spare us your pity party.

Most celebrity African Americans are among the most coddled and ignorant people on the face of the planet. They want everyone to believe they have it so rough, but in reality their view is a load of crock.

I completely agree that Rush was well within his right to say what he did. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, but it was certainly not racist or demeaning to McNabb.

In fact, McNabb now seems to be AGREEING with Limbaugh in terms of the pressure the media is heaping on him to "succeed".

Ironic.

[Deputy Nutz]

Quite the hot topic. I really don't like to comment a lot on race because it can turn on you in a hurry, and I also either end up playing devils advocate, or I am on the fence with a a subject and can see it both ways.

The bottom line is that playing QB in the NFL is simply the most critiqued and criticized position in sports. Black, white or Green it is hard to escape serious criticism while playing the position, if McNabb feels he is more criticized for being black while playing the position then I think he is splitting hairs.

[VanPackFan]

I'm just old enough to remember what a novelty it was to have Doug Williams quarterback a Super Bowl winner.
And I'm just old enough to remember Warren Moon spending five years in Canada because no NFL team would give him a chance.
Is the situation better for black quarterbacks 20 years later? Yeah, I'd say so. There's a large (and growing number) of black quarterbacks now holding starting jobs — and proving they can do the job just as good, if not better, than the next guy.
Is it perfect? Not by any stretch, and I do think black quarterbacks are scrutinized more than a caucasian counterpart would be.

Having said that, Donovan also has to take a few things into account. First, he's established himself as injury prone. That puts you under the microscope. Second, he's struggled early on. That puts you under the microscope. And third, he plays in a notoriously tough media town where they boo Santa Claus. Every sports star in Philly, black or white, is under the microscope.

I don't think he'd be pulling out the race card quite as quick if he played in an NFL city with less tenacious fans/media.

[the_idle_threat]

Newsflash (for McNabb): If the league doesn't want black folks playing quarterback, then how does he explain who was drafted #1 overall this past spring?

For that matter, McNabb himself was drafted #3 overall 8 years ago, right behind another black QB--Akili Smith.

Steve McNair, Mike Vick, Daunte Culpepper ... heck---even unheralded guys like Aaron Brooks, Jeff Blake, Anthony Wright, Tony Banks. All of these guys have been starters in the league, and some have been very big stars.

Seems like teams are plenty willing to give quarterbacks a chance regardless of their race, and it's been that way for a long time now.

As Van mentioned above, there was a time when the league didn't give black quarterbacks this opportunity. Favre might be chasing Warren Moon's records rather than Dan Marino's if Moon had gotten a fair chance in the NFL. But that was 25 to 30 years ago.

McNabb's ideas on race and the quarterback position are outdated by about a quarter of a century.

[mraynrand]

You know, I typically don't look to Charles Barkley for the most intelligent conversation on the planet, but I've met the guy in person, drank beer with him on the Marquette campus, and I've been extremely impressed by two things: 1) he's a genuinely great guy and 2) He understands what it means to be a great player in pro sports. kinda like LeRoy Butler always knew what you had to do to play well and win. So what does this have to do with McNabb? Well, last night Barkley said (and repeated himself over and over) the simple truth - when you are the star of the team (especially a QB), you will get too much credit for wins and too much credit for losses: "It's not right, it's not wrong, it's just the way it is" said Barkley. That's what McNabb is experiencing. It's unfortunate that the race issue is continually raised, because it seems pretty obvious to me that the criticism has to do with McNabb's throwing accuracy, mobility (both impacted by his playing on a not-fully-recovered knee), and the fact that Philly has lost two games. He's going to be criticized. He should be used to it.

[Carolina_Packer]

Perhaps there's even less to this story than we first thought. The point of view of someone being scrutinized, real or imagined is hard to argue. If Donovan feels scrutinized because of skin color, then he does. However, I don't want anyone to cry wolf, because there are injustices based on race still out there and I want them to stand out and be taken care of, and I want trumped up issues (especially ones created by celebrities) to not get so much play as it clouds the bigger picture.

[Noodle]

Re: McNabb plays race card

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3025308"There's not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra," McNabb tells HBO. "Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn't want us to play ... is low, so we do a little extra."

Why would McNabb think "people" didn't want African Americans to play quarterback? Friggin' Vick was the face of the league. If there's one thing we know, it's that Americans want to win. And there's nobody in America, outside some benighted Klansmen, who would give a rat's ass about the color of their team's QB as long as that QB got the job done.

This kind of paranoia is not healthy. I can understand where it comes from, but it is not healthy at all.

[MadtownPacker]

I DEMAND a full investigation into why there aren't any Mexican QB's in the NFL!!

[Patler]

I wonder if Rex Grossman would agree that black QBs are scrutinized and criticized more than white QBs?

[Patler]

It was just what, 3 years ago that the NFC Pro Bowl QBs were Vick, Culpepper and McNabb. I think black QBs have been accepted by the league.

[Patler]

I DEMAND a full investigation into why there aren't any Mexican QB's in the NFL!!

Too short!

[Him8123]

That has been Mcnabb`s problem lately in his career. Earlier when he could play he wouldn`t make excuses, he would go out and shut up his critics with his play. Now that he is regressing and another year of not winning a championship, he is making more excuses than ever. Even resorting to pulling the race card, which is pathetic. I think Brett, Rex Grossman, Joey Harrington, Jeff Garcia all get more criticized than any other QB`s and their white. And of course Mcnabb is gonna get criticized alot, he`s in Philly for crying out loud, the meanest, nastiest, unhappy fan base in the world. Just shut up Mcnabb and play, time to grow up and stop making excuses.

[BlueBrewer]

I DEMAND a full investigation into why there aren't any Mexican QB's in the NFL!!

What about Jeff Garcia, so what if he is pasty white and has red hair, his last name is Garcia, it sounds Mexican.

[oregonpackfan]

I would like to believe that most pro football fans are beyond the stereotype that African-Americans cannot be skilled quarterbacks. At the same time, I am sure there are fans who carry that anti-black, racist attitude towards black QB's.

As a couple of posters alluded to earlier, I think much of McNabb's problem is that he plays for a Philadelphia team. People there are different. The pro team fans there seem to be more short-tempered and demanding.

At one point the fans booed Charles Barkley, who was a six-time pro bowler for the 76'ers. Phillies fans would even booed Mike Schmidt--a white, Hall of Fame player.

McNabb also needs to remember that fans booed him when the Eagles drafted him. Some of them have never accepted him despite his many accomplishments for the team.

My first job out of college was working for 2 years in suburban Philadelphia. I worked in Devon, which is along Philadelpia's "Main Line" on its west side. For a year, I was involved in a close relationship with a grad stuent at Temple University. Temple is located on Broad Street, which is Philly's "Main Street."

Wherever I have lived, I have maintained the position that if you look for the good in people you will find many good people. There will always be a few undesirable people who make life unpleasant for you. Unfortunately, I felt that the Philly area is one place where I did not enjoy living.

Though I met some good people out there, I just did not like the overall atmosphere of that city. There just seemed to be more of a callous, in-your-face type of attitude among many of its citizens.

Perhaps after this season, McNabb needs to try to extend his career in some other city. I know that Chicago would much prefer him to Grossman.
A number of other teams would love to have him as well.