Football Positions Dictated by Historic Racism?

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by 2003TexasGrad, Oct 21, 2020.

  1. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    I was having a drink at a local watering hole last week and an interesting conversation came up with one of the younger regulars, a doctoral student at UT. He is a very nice young man and I get along great with him, but he insisted that there are no differences between White or Black athletes, and that the only reason why positions such as DBs and RBs are overwhelmingly dominated by Black athletes is because they are basically pushed into playing those positions because of historic racist stereotyping. He said that White players typically have more to look forward to professionally after college and that Black athletes lack these opportunities and so there end up being more Black athletes in the NFL than White athletes because of this.

    He used examples such as Christian McCaffrey, Jason Sehorn and Steve Nash as White players who have been successful as RBs, DBs or PGs to bolster the idea that there is no difference between White athletes and Black athletes. He seemed incredulous when I pointed out that in track and field Black sprinters are almost always faster than their white counterparts.

    Basically I am pretty stunned that intelligent people think that there are more Black profession athletes in the NFL and NBA more because of racism than the fact that Black athletes are generally just more physically gifted than White athletes at certain positions.

    Am I the crazy one?
     
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  2. Monahorns

    Monahorns 5,000+ Posts

    the whole world is crazy, not you
     
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  3. utahorn

    utahorn 500+ Posts

    I would like to respond but that idiotic logic from a doctoral student could make my head explode. Sounds like it might be easy to get a PhD from UT. I might apply.
     
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  4. Hideo Gump Jr.

    Hideo Gump Jr. Summer Soldier and Sunshine Patriot

    I think you’re crazy.
    And so do I.
     
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  5. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Whaaa? Didn’t they accuse the assistant coach on “Friday Night Lights” of saying something like that? Actually he did to a degree. I think your friend watched the show and gets his athletic expertise from a TV show. Darn good one by the way but not where I’d develop my life opinions.
     
  6. humahuma

    humahuma 1,000+ Posts

    I will take a couple of years of NFL or NBA salary.
     
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  7. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    I think he is partially correct. I watched the opening of 1974 Monday Night Football game with Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford on YouTube. There were many white DB’s in that game. I also heard from scout leaders that many black parents steer kids away from Scouting into sports. Not everything is 100% biological.
     
  8. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    2003,

    There is a simple reply to your friend, but while factually accurate, it got Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder fired from a sweet gig he had.
     
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  9. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    I actually made this point.
     
  10. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    He's an idiot. The presence of a handful of white players who have been successful DBs, WRs, and RBs isn't proof that there's no difference between black and white players. Of course there's a difference. Anybody with a brain can see that. However, this guy pretty much has to pretend that there isn't, because the academic world has largely abandoned scientific racial difference as a valid area of study and research. (See the **** storm about the Bell Curve.)

    Of course, for decades, that wasn't the case, and I'm not aware of any of that being discredited on evidence. I suspect that it was made taboo for other reasons. I think people realized that it's too easy for "acknowledged differences" to morph into superiority. Obviously Nazis were into studying racial differences and "racial hygiene," and that led to horrific consequences. We didn't want that to happen in the US, so I think we just avoid "going there."

    Nevertheless, there is clearly a difference, and it's not "racial stereotyping." If it were, then you wouldn't see the difference outside of the West. You clearly do. Is it stereotyping that makes Kenyans so go at running track? In other words, this guy is wrong, and Jimmy the Greek was wrong. The differences exist, and it's not because slaves were bred to have muscular thighs. It's probably an evolutionary or adaptation thing based on living in Africa. If I lived in Africa, I would want to be able to run fast too.
     
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  11. iatrogenic

    iatrogenic 2,500+ Posts

    I didn’t know McCaffrey was from Kenya. I was thinking the McCaffreys, two really good athletes, reproduced a superior athlete. I’m also thinking two tall people will probably produce taller children, but maybe Jimmy The Greek was wrong.
     
  12. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    This issue is not as black and white as some of you think (funny pun). You need to look at this like a bell curve, one for blacks and one for whites. In terms of IQ, we are told the difference is caused by sociological issues, not biology. That is partially true. Same goes for athletes. For athletics in pro leagues, the issue is the number or percentage of folks on the right hand side of the tail of the bell curve. How much genetics and how much sociology? Also, is it self reinforcing (same applies to IQ)? I agree that to say there is no difference is idiotic. The PhD is likely confounding two different fadish thoughts: everyone is the same (no racial differences) and blacks are over represented in sports based on biology alone. I disagree with the former and agree with the latter.
     
  13. Monahorns

    Monahorns 5,000+ Posts

    2003TexasGrad, this is a great example of Leftist logic. Racism leads to better lives for black athletes. When you turn everything into racism, then it starts to look okay.
     
  14. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    I'd be content with a season of league minimum...hell, even practice squad pay isn't a bad gig when you can get it ;)
     
  15. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    There's a difference between "racism isn't the reason" and "Racial stereotypes and prejudices have nothing to do with it at all".

    I think there is some, often unintended, attempts to shove players into a category where more other players look like them. In some situations, for example, a unusually tall and beefy kid who's black might get steered to playing DL, while if he's white, he might get steered to playing OL.

    Much like how fans and even analysts always seem to compare players to other players of the same race. It's more obvious in basketball (any tall white guy who is a good shooter gets compared to Larry Bird or Dirk Nowitzki, even if his game is actually more like Sam Perkins' or Chris Bosh's) but happens in football too. If Ehlinger were black, would he still get compared to Tim Tebow?

    It's the same phenomenon that leads the average voter to be more like to vote for a taller man than a shorter man. They aren't necessarily deliberately going out there with an agenda, but they are basing it on what they already think a good politician looks like.
     
  16. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    I think these are good points but that only goes so far. Sam might be compared more to Dak Prescott than Tebow if he was Black. We do like to compare White recievers to other White recievers and similarly Black players with Black players.

    But if White players made better DBs overall than Black players I doubt coaches across the country would all be hitting their heads against the wall forcing Black guys to play DB. Or RB.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2020

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