Enrique Robles, a friend and colleague of mine, sent me a very interesting piece on the late Steve McNair, and the evolution of the black quarterback. The article, which is a great read by the way, depicted the HBCU's (Historically Black College University) diminishing role in developing black quarterbacks for the professional level. Steve McNair, the last great HBCU qb to excel on the professional level, only played at Alcorn State because the powerhouse programs wanted him to play defense. Today, the black quarterback is given the chance to play qb at the best programs in the country, thus leading to the gift and the curse of the HBCU's quandry. Black qb's no longer have to attend those schools to play qb.
Reading that article made me think of Russell Wilson, and his Super Bowl victory. But not of him being only the second qb of African American decent to win a Super Bowl, but that...to my knowledge...was not dubbed a "black" qb...even with hours and hours of non stop news coverage leading up to the game.
As an African American coming up during the rise of the "black" qb, I can vividly remember those players...most notably Warren Moon, wanting to be known as just a "qb". As a born and raised Nashvillian, I vividly remember Steve McNair's Super Bowl run in 99, and the topic of his race at the position becoming draining to him as the game approached.
In this messy media savy world that we live in, it was refreshing to see the topic of the "black" qb become old and boring. Credit sports fans of all races for not "pitting" Manning vs Wilson, but embracing the game as just that...a game where players of all races are 60 minutes away from reaching a life long goal.
If, as a society, we are quick to point out when the media get's it wrong, then we should also give credit where credit is due.
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