Doug Gottlieb: “Tony Romo when he retired from the Dallas Cowboys said that football is a 'meritocracy'. He was passing the torch to Dak Prescott. Is doesn’t matter that Dak Prescott is in fact a Black quarterback, but HE IS a Black quarterback. And it shouldn’t matter that Jameis Winston is a Black quarterbac. But can we just point out that sports are not only a microcosm for so many stories in real life, but in many ways it’s BETTER than real life. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that racism doesn’t exist, but the narrative in the NFL at the quarterback position that you will hear from many people in my position is stuck in a foregone era. You were told that Lamar Jackson was questioned about his ability in the NFL as a starting quarterback, and people would add onto it saying ‘wElL iT’s beCaUsE hE’s bLaCk!’ It was because he was wildly inaccurate. He had some of those wild misses when he was at Louisville. He’s not a guy who’s super verbal in terms of in front of the media, which is what most of these quarterbacks have always been. When teams tried to get him in for workouts they had to work through his mom because he didn’t have a traditional agent and she didn’t return phone calls. Remember, he was the SECOND pick of the first round for the Ravens, they didn’t take him first. They took a tight end who they have already traded away. But you’re told by people in my position that sports is somehow determined by your race. No, it’s not, it’s determined by your talent, your ability to lead, your sports aptitude, but more importantly, ‘can you help me win games and are you not going to be in jail?’ And at quarterback, can you lead a room of men?... When you factor everything in, it’s reasonable to go ‘Wow, this guy Jameis Winson, mess off the field’. He goes to New Orleans, sits for a year, and not only beats out a quarterback, but beats out a guy with sweat equity, beats out a guy who makes more money than he does, and beats out a guy who – oh by the way – Taysom Hill is White. So before you come at sports with your thoughts that Deshaun Watson was passed on by the Chicago Bears because the Bears inherently had some underlying racism, just know that’s not what actually happened. They misevaluated Deshaun vs. Mitchell Trubisky. It happens, and it happens more than you’d like to believe. Really smart people that love football, watch guys work out, talk to doctors, talk to coaches, do their own evaluations, and they miss… It has nothing to do with the color of your skin, it’s ‘can you help me win football games? Can you do your job? Can you lead men? Are we better with you on the field as opposed to anybody else on the field?’ That narrative that you’ve been told still exists in the NFL, and questions about the Black quarterback, that’s not how anyone actually thinks in sports, and it should be celebrated that we’re way past that.” (Full Audio Segment Above)
Listen to Doug Gottlieb explain why he thinks news of the New Orleans Saints deciding to start Jameis Winston at quarterback in Week 1 is more evidence that racism doesn’t exist in the NFL at the quarterback position.
Check out the audio above as Gottlieb details why football is the ultimate meritocracy, where a Black player like Jameis can beat out a White player like Taysom Hill for the starting QB position simply because his coaches believe he gives their team the best chance to win football games.
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