So Donovan told it like it is, and people who don’t wanna be self-reflective can’t hear him. What else is new?
Here’s what I know: being an NFL fan in general, but an Eagles fan above all, particularly with the Eagles being my home team, I know what the deal is in Philly. It’s a given that Philly is a tough sports town, although some incidents, like the snowball assault of Santa Claus are a tad overblown. (I mean, yeah, it happened, but it wasn’t like the Santa in question was your regular, jolly, ho-ho-hoein Kris Kringle. If you look into the incident a little more, there’s some other stuff goin on. He wasn’t Black, either.)
Anyway, situations like this help to illustrate the fact that we are not as far along racially as we think we are. That is, there has been a great deal of progress, and we should be happy about that. However, the fact remains that the only racists in the world aren’t members of organizations that tout hateful beliefs. Naw, in some people, it lurks beneath the veneer of acceptance, waiting for just the right challenge to be exposed. Such is the case, I think, with many fans. As in, some of the people arguing against what Donovan is saying are inadvertently proving his point. It’s like when some Muslims were threatening to assassinate people for saying they are violent.
The funny thing is, the HBO show wasn’t about Black quarterbacks, per se. It was about where Donovan grew up. If people took the whole thing in context, it might have been easier for them to understand. But I’m fairly convinced that in most matters, not just issues of race, the last thing people want is for their thinking to be challenged. People like their categories neat and clean. White racists are in the kkk.
I think it’s kinda unfortunate that this interview didn’t air while Donovan was in the middle of an MVP-type stretch like he was last year, though. With the 0-2 start, it looks very current, when the interview was done last summer. And as far as the start goes, I got 2 words for you: Andy Reid. For the life of me, I cannot understand what this dude is doing. Last year, when the Eagles were winning with Garcia, the run-pass ratio was manageable. It was very close to even. The other night? Donovan passed over 40 times, with Westbrook only getting, i think, 17 carries. We already KNOW what works. We knew it last year. The rest of the League BEEN knew it. Andy Reid, though? I don’t know what the deal is. He seems to think Donovan is a Madden player or something. Not to mention that they keep calling plays that don’t make sense for the personnel they have. As in, they’ll have 3-5 and throw a 3-yard pass. Now I realize that the plays are designed for the receiver to get the ball and then make the extra yardage on their own, but they never get those receivers. They had one for ONE year. When they did? It was good night for the NFC. Avent, Brown / Pinkston Thrash, same difference. The Eagles’ X and Z are #3 receivers at best, and Reid refuses to run the rock. Wha’chu THINK gon’ happen? Sheesh.
So to summarize, yeah, being criticized goes along with being the QB. Everybody knows that. The criticism Donovan has gotten his whole career? Extra. But it’s not just about him. It’s about the whole system; it’s about how certified scrubs can get jobs as starting QBs before Black cats with winning records for their career get a call. Remember my premise: equality isn’t about excellence, it’s about mediocrity; it’s not about having the chance to succeed, it’s about having the chance to fail repeatedly. (And don’t fool yourself, the only way it’s possible to say that Donovan ‘failed’ is to say that he never won the Super Bowl. But in many ways, that’s a false measure of a player’s achievement; Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, but even most crackheads know better than to say that they’d take Dilfer over Donovan.) Never forget, an equal sign has a high bar AND a low bar.
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