Rhoden breaks new ground in Sunday Column

Nothing like admitting your mistakes, uh Rhoden? Sad indeed, Ben. Imagine if this were a white columnist doing the same thing, the heat he would receive. What a load of crap.

 

You know, this is such a good point, I have to come back to it. Why write about the hometown teams? I mean, there's no race angle there with the QB's, what's the point, right William?

Nope, so let's go to Philly and take up the cause of the injured QB, the guy who was leading the team nowhere after a cupcake early schedule in the first 4 games and a victory over the Bledsoe Cowboys got the Eagles to 4-1. After that, the Eagles tanked.

Garcia comes to the rescue. Garcia is a minority QB, why isn't Rhoden championing him? What's up with that, Billy? WTF?! Right, he's not African American. So ignore him and focus on Momma McNabb's kid. Total crap. This stuff makes me freaking sick. And people just accept it like it's all normal, like Rhoden's a tenured professor or something. Bullsh*t. Total BS.

H.A., thanks again for the thread and the excellent example. I couldn't resist coming back to this huge softball toss. Peace.

All columnists should be judged based on their work, not their background, their politics, etc. Rhoden is a one-trick pony, and that's all he is. I would, and have, said the same thing about any number of non-African-American columnists. Rhoden should not get a pass because of his ethnicity. The only possible acceptable 'pass' for him is that he is speaking to a like-minded audience. I get that, much as I get that in Scoop's case. Other than that, he should have been ousted a long time ago. His mind is not open, and that's always a bad thing for a columnist.

 

I agree with you. Wholeheartedly.
Some of what Bill does has merit. Some of his columns -- or parts of -- are valid.
Most of what Bill writes comes off as defensive and myopic.
Bill has a voice and a forum and an audience. He gets a reaction.
And, when it comes down to it, that's his job and purpose. Look at the multiple threads on this board about Bill. These threads contain passionate responses and some wonderfully-thought-out arguments. That's what Bill does.
Do I agree with him? 94.3% of the time, no. But, I agree his voice is necessary for a healthy debate, whether it is in the home or among colleagues on a board.

 

I don't happen to agree with Rhoden, but in his defense...if this is what he believes - and he obviously does - and he thinks it's an issue, then he probably oughta write about it. Right?

 

Alma, fishwrapper - Totally agree with you both. Good points, guys. Hey, Rhoden has an audience and he generates discussion. The NYT is thrilled. I was just assessing him with a different metric. But you're both correct, IMO.

I've said it before, but let me say it again: I have nothing against Rhoden personally. Everything I've heard is that he's a great guy. I like his writing style - he takes strong positions. My criticisms are just of his writing content, not anything else. I know you two know that, I'm just saying it for anyone else who might not know my feelings.

Thanks.

 

this thread has taken a strange turn. i don't have times select so i can't read the whole piece, but anyone who argues the black QB theory is about 5-10 years late. maybe there used to be racism in choosing QBs but there isn't any more. i doubt you'd find a single NFL coach who won't let a guy be a quarterback because he's black. same probably goes for major D-I college coaches.

 

I'm in the same boat as leo, but he's right about the whole black quarterback thing for the most part. Most schools in the SEC have broken that barrier and it's only the idea that there are two black quarterbacks playing in the national championship game for the first time that has some kind of relevance.

Now if you want to talk about the number of black coaches in D-1, then that's fair game.

 

Oh yeah, do us a favor - post the column next time. Think I'm paying 50 bucks a year for TimesSelect?

 

Ohio State’s Troy Smith and Florida’s Chris Leak do not know each other. They have seen each other in passing, have exchanged hellos, but they do not really know each other.

“I’ve just followed him and what he’s accomplished through the years,” Leak said Friday when asked about Smith during media day for the Bowl Championship Series national title game. “Just watching him maturing as a quarterback, what he’s been able to accomplish, winning the Heisman Trophy. He’s had a great career.”

Leak and Smith will be central players in the continuing evolution at the quarterback position. Tomorrow night’s championship game will be the first time in B.C.S. history, and only the second time in the history of the Associated Press poll, that black starting quarterbacks have met in a game involving the No. 1 and No. 2 teams. In the 1994 Orange Bowl, Charlie Ward’s Florida State defeated Tommie Frazier’s Nebraska.

•

Earlier in the season, Smith told reporters that he felt the African-American quarterback angle was a dead issue. “We’re way beyond it,” he said. “It’s not significant at all with quarterbacks. That’s a moot point. We should stay away from that.”

He added: “I don’t see color, I see people in any situation. I disliked it so much when they said Warren Moon was the first African-American quarterback inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s a quarterback. I didn’t appreciate that.”

With all due respect to Smith, the Buckeyes’ senior quarterback, if you respect Moon, you must appreciate the arduous path that took him from Los Angeles to Edmonton to Houston to Canton. Moon helped clear the way for Smith to flourish in Columbus and for Leak to survive in Gainesville. Someone cleared the path for Moon, and earlier generations cleared a path for that pioneer.

There was a time when African-Americans were not allowed to play the game at all, and once allowed in were largely blocked from playing quarterback. The deeply entrenched stereotypes held that African-Americans could not think under pressure, lacked courage, lacked leadership skills.

Tomorrow night’s national championship game is a milestone that should be celebrated, not shunned, embraced as yet another marker of progress and triumph in the meandering history of race and sport in America. Never forget the history.

We are not talking ancient history. Michael Vick, possibly the most dynamic player to set foot under center, continues to be ridiculed. Last year at this time, legions of Vince Young’s critics said he lacked the necessities, the mechanics; some even suggested he might be a better receiver or running back. Young was recently named the offensive rookie of the year in the N.F.L.

Louisiana State’s JaMarcus Russell turned in a dominating performance in the Sugar Bowl, a game in which the announcers were singing the praises of Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn while soft-pedaling Russell. When it became clear that Russell was going to lead L.S.U. to a rout, they changed their tune.

Leak watched some of the game and heard the broadcast. “That’s the world we live in,” he said.

Leak and Smith represent a historical threshold of African-Americans playing quarterback. The writer Malcolm Gladwell might call them the sports equivalent of “The Tipping Point.” Today, having a quarterback who moves, and moves with speed and purpose, is not a luxury, and that is the essence of the revolution at quarterback. On Friday, Florida Coach Urban Meyer talked about his requisites for the position, which were the ability to get out of trouble and to turn a bad play into a big play.

It is fascinating to observe how tenaciously so many in the news media cling to the old standard of quarterback, as if it were the last preserve of culture and civilization.

Will the quarterback position become as Africanized as, say, the defensive secondary or the receiving corps in the N.F.L.?

The Eagles’ Donovan McNabb expressed his doubts in a recent interview, saying: “I don’t think so. A lot of organizations — they may not say it — but that’s not what they want. I don’t know if they really want a true leader, an African-American, to be the face of their team.

“They’re billionaires. It’s all about making money. So they won’t have an African-American quarterback be the face of their team.”

During an interview in Jacksonville earlier this season, Byron Leftwich of the Jaguars said: “I think it all depends on how much the quarterback position changes. If you can still win by throwing the ball in the pocket, no. But if the game changes, where that man behind the center has got to be able to run around in order to win, then I think you’ll see that change, because that’s just what’s going to happen.”

•

Last week, a reader, Luis Guyenda, said that my (incessant) predictions of transformation at quarterback were way off.

In an e-mail message, Guyenda said: “Did you notice the 12 teams that made the playoffs? All of them have pocket-passer QB’s. You all too often write about the future role of that position. Your daydream of having ‘exciting’ QBs like Vick and Young changing the way that position is played is still far off.”

I told Guyenda that he was in denial. The revolution is not coming — it’s here. And this time, the revolution will be televised.

E-mail: wcr@nytimes.com

 

Isn't Leak a pocket passer?

 

Unless his 1.7 yards rushing per game is revolutionary.

 

Rhoden is about 20 years late to the coming-out party for black quarterbacks.

I'm covering the BCS title game. I've been to all the media functions. Not once have I heard, "Wow, the fact that two African-American QBs are starting this game is a great story." Maybe for Tony Rice and Major Harris in '89. But not today.