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African Americans In College Sports

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I wanted to first say that these are strictly my own opinions and I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback. First, there is a perception in sports that I heard numerous of times that African Americans do not make the best coaches. I would definitely argue that notion. I believe that African Americans in most cases do not receive the same treatment as any white coach in college and major sports. I do believe there needs to be a Rooney Rule, especially in collegiate sports. For instance, almost 88% of coaches in Division I college football are white, only 21% are African American in division I football. There must be equal representation especially when you contend that 58% of division I basketball players are African American, and almost …show more content…

pitcher and catcher in baseball and quarterback in football. The stereotype that all black players do not have the intelligence to read defensive schemes and formations is a reason why very few African Americans played the position in the NFL before Doug Williams with the Redskins, started the 1988 Super Bowl win over the Broncos. I know that relating race to intelligence is a very touch subject in our society. Yet, many people have related the rise and fall of past NFL African American quarterbacks such as Vince Young, JaMarcus Russell, Byron Leftwich, Josh Freeman, Tavaris Jackson, and Jason Campbell to the narrative that African American do not have the mental capacity to be successful at QB in the NFL. Yet, the last time I looked, the quarterback position is considered the most demanding position in all of sports. In NFL history, many African Americans have been phenomenal quarterbacks----Fritz Pollard, Joe Lillard, Joe Gilliam, Vince Evans, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, and today’s stars such as Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Teddy Bridgewater, and Jameis Winston. There is no evidence that shows that African American players cannot be great quarterbacks and have the football intelligence to play the position. Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick all had marvelous scores on the NFL Wonderlic Test the years they were drafted. So, it should come to no surprise that African Americans can be exceptional quarterbacks in the NFL, and that they are knowledgeable enough to make great progressions in the pocket, understand opponent’s defensive schemes, and comprehension to learn sophisticated offensive playbooks present in the

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