O.T -Article on front page- By Tom Shane

[faba]

Tom has a very good new article on front page and I am jumping the gun in promoting it- interesting reading.

NFL is the worst at sterotyping players and athletes at what position you are capable and qualified to play.

The bad thing about this is trickles down to all of the lower levels- college, high school, all the way to your local pop warner leagues.

That is why you also do not see any white CB's in the NFL

[Stonehands]

That is the kind of article you will never see in the "mainstream" media, but it is a real topic and very well written. Just one of those things that make you go hmmmm...

[Jets28]

Kudos to the man they call Tom "have no shame" Shane... ..that was a great article and oh so true. I enjoyed reading it during my down time here at the plantation. Most enjoyable..

[bitonti]

just an FYI Adrian McPherson is black and should go in the first 3 rounds

but overall i was engrossed

here's a question for discussion - does Matt Jones' race HELP him as a marketable commodity? the gentlemen's Randy Moss?

[TomShane]

just an FYI Adrian McPherson is black and should go in the first 3 rounds

but overall i was engrossed

here's a question for discussion - does Matt Jones' race HELP him as a marketable commodity? the gentlemen's Randy Moss?

sh*t! Thanks for pointing that out Bit. I KNEW I was forgetting someone. Serves me right for using a list of NCAA draft eligibles. sh*t that sucks. That's what I get for writing an article at 3 a.m.. You had to see me trying to research who the last white wide receiver drafted in the first round was. I got back to 1978 and couldn't even remember ever hearing of the guy. Finally I just said "**** it."

As for Matt Jones being more marketable as a white guy, that's a great point. There's no doubt that Shockey and Todd Heap and Wayne Chrebet get more pub and more love because they're white, IMO. If Matt Jones can play even a little bit, he'll be a star wherever he goes.

Kudos to the man they call Tom "have no shame" Shane... ..that was a great article and oh so true. I enjoyed reading it during my down time here at the plantation. Most enjoyable..

Thanks, Shak. I was worried about crossing the lines here and there. I certainly didn't want to offend either way.

[YJF]

just an FYI Adrian McPherson is black and should go in the first 3 rounds

but overall i was engrossed

here's a question for discussion - does Matt Jones' race HELP him as a marketable commodity? the gentlemen's Randy Moss?

It helped Shockey. There's race involved with the way fans treat players too sometimes.

Sports is the only place where I never think about color or religion or nationality or any of that stuff. I don't know what Chad Pennington's ethnic background is and I don't care. Is he Irish, Dutch, French. I have no clue.

Great article by TS. Gues he thought McPherson was Irish.

One of my cousins who is a casual Jets fan. Didn't have a clue who Eric Barton was when The Jets signed him last year.

He calls me up from Florida and says " Why did The jets sign a white linebacker"?... He said "White Linebackers suck"...

There's actually reverse racism in sports.

Bring me up Heath Miller with any Jets fan behind closed doors and they will say " Oh man, I don't want to draft another white TE". Even though Miller is half white..LOL

[Verde]

I certainly didn't want to offend either way.

That's a statement you'd never think you'd hear out of TomShane!

[TomShane]

Great article by TS. Gues he thought McPherson was Irish.

I hate you and I love you.

[stormshadow19]

Shoot, I'm shocked it wasn't written in crayon!

But seriously, it's a damn fine article Tom. Great work!

[YJF]

I didn't give you enough credit the first time. That was an excellent and original article TS.

Truly TS style. If you wrote that article for Sports Illustrated. In this politically correct society. They would not have allowed you to put it in their magazine.

You are dead on when talking about the league being a copycat league. It's not only an issue on the field but off the field as well.

The race issue extends from the pros all the way down to high school. If you are a white WR in high school. They send you to TE in college. If you are a white CB, They send you to LB or safety. Everything you stated is true.

It all starts in high school because they follow what the pros do.

A funny story is James Harris. The Jaguars GM who used to be with The Ravens and was a pretty good QB back in his day. He was a black QB at a time where there were very few.

All 3 of The Jags current QB's are African American. Guess that's his way of getting back at "THE MAN".lol

They are all pretty good though, Leftwich, Garrard and Gray. It's like if Wayne Chrebet becomes a GM one day and his entire WR group on his team is white.

[TomShane]

I didn't give you enough credit the first time. That was an excellent and original article TS.

Truly TS style. If you wrote that article for Sports Illustrated. In this politically correct society. They would not have allowed you to put it in their magazine.

You are dead on when talking about the league being a copycat league. It's not only an issue on the field but off the field as well.

The race issue extends from the pros all the way down to high school. If you are a white WR in high school. They send you to TE in college. If you are a white CB, They send you to LB or safety. Everything you stated is true.

It all starts in high school because they follow what the pros do.

A funny story is James Harris. The Jaguars GM who used to be with The Ravens and was a pretty good QB back in his day. He was a black QB at a time where there were very few.

All 3 of The Jags current QB's are African American. Guess that's his way of getting back at "THE MAN".lol

They are all pretty good though, Leftwich, Garrard and Gray. It's like if Wayne Chrebet becomes a GM one day and his entire WR group on his team is white.

Thanks, brother. Doing the research I was doing on this article, it's crazy what history tells us about race and the draft. I couldn't find the last white WR drafted in the first round, and I looked all the way back to 1978. Likewise, I was trying to find the last white running back (not fullback) drafted, and the best I could find was Brock Forsey out of Boise State 3 years ago, but before him, it's bleak.

What is even worse is trying to find the last white guy drafted to play cornerback. Even Jason Sehorn, who was a very good player for a short while, was drafted to play FS (NFL.com even lists him as being drafted solely as a FS). Before him, you're looking at Scott Case of the Falcons who was given serious consideration to take the field as a true corner and not just as a 7th round throwaya pick on a special teamer.

It's a really interesting deal. I hated to play with race issues and in such an admittedly under-thought manner, but what the research showed was crazy. And like I said, I don't think it's about race, per se, but it's about trying to simulate what teams won with the year or years before.

It also should be noted that Reggie McNeal, Omar Jacobs, Chris Leak and Vincent Young all have a chance to be first round picks at QB as early as next year. Leak and Jacobs, in particular, could be top ten picks. If Vince Young learns how to throw the ball straight, he might be the most impressive athlete playing quarterback in the league, Vick included.

*Note: because I'm a gutless turd with a poor sense of journalistic ethics, I went and tried to fix my Adrian McPherson oversight.

[Savage69]

Standing Ovation...

[Savage69]

Thanks, brother. Doing the research I was doing on this article, it's crazy what history tells us about race and the draft. I couldn't find the last white WR drafted in the first round, and I looked all the way back to 1978. Likewise, I was trying to find the last white running back (not fullback) drafted, and the best I could find was Brock Forsey out of Boise State 3 years ago, but before him, it's bleak.

What is even worse is trying to find the last white guy drafted to play cornerback. Even Jason Sehorn, who was a very good player for a short while, was drafted to play FS (NFL.com even lists him as being drafted solely as a FS). Before him, you're looking at Scott Case of the Falcons who was given serious consideration to take the field as a true corner and not just as a 7th round throwaya pick on a special teamer.

It's a really interesting deal. I hated to play with race issues and in such an admittedly under-thought manner, but what the research showed was crazy. And like I said, I don't think it's about race, per se, but it's about trying to simulate what teams won with the year or years before.

It also should be noted that Reggie McNeal, Omar Jacobs, Chris Leak and Vincent Young all have a chance to be first round picks at QB as early as next year. Leak and Jacobs, in particular, could be top ten picks. If Vince Young learns how to throw the ball straight, he might be the most impressive athlete playing quarterback in the league, Vick included.

*Note: because I'm a gutless turd with a poor sense of journalistic ethics, I went and tried to fix my Adrian McPherson oversight.

Simply put Tom you are the Greatest writer that I've

seen in my Lifetime!!

[TomShane]

Simply put Tom you are the Greatest writer that I've

seen in my Lifetime!!

Savage, I want to make sweet love to your avatar.

Thanks, my man.

[The Troll]

I've gotta think that it really starts far earlier than the NFL. In the past three or four years in college football, how many black quarterbacks and white recievers have been absolutely dominant and shown that they are worthy of being high draft picks? Not a lot. Why is that? Perhaps it's because the coaches in college and high school start them down the road of their particular positions. There's a talented white kid without a position and a talented black kid without a position. So the high school coach sticks the black kid wide at reciever and the white kid at quarterback. Maybe if it were the other way around a little more often, we'd see more black quarterbacks and white wide recievers get drafted into the league.

In the past three years, other than Leftwich, what black quarterbacks on the collegiate level have shown they have the skills to translate it to the pro game? Campbell, fresh off his first good year out of his four? (Although it did work for Carson Palmer.) Brad Banks? Seneca Wallace? Ell Roberson? None of those guys projected to the pros as a quarterback. I'd run down the list of white recievers, but I can't think of any, which is why I think this starts much deeper than the third weekend in April.

TS, you're right though. This upcoming year's draft class will be a lot like 1999's. It isn't so much about race...it's more about projecting college success to the next level. Look at Jason White. This is a guy who absolutely dominated in college, but will be a late-round pick, if at all, because his skills don't translate to the NFL level. The same goes for Craig Krenzel, Matt Mauck, John Navarre, and Ken Dorsey. All extremely successful in college, all late round draft picks in the pros, all white.

I really don't think race plays as much of a difference as some think. Had Matt Jones moved to reciever four years ago, if he's as amazing as a lot of people think he is, he could've been the first pick in this year's draft. I'm not saying the NFL is sqeaky-clean here, but I think the biggest problem starts far earlier.