Posted on 06/03/2021 6:12:59 AM PDT by The Houston Courant
In 1976, Dick Vermeil took over as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles who were coming off a last-place finish and one of the worst teams in the NFL the year before. During training camp, Vermeil held a tryout for a 30-year-old teacher and bartender, who never played college football. His name was Vince Papale and Vermeil added him to the team’s roster. It was meant to bring a culture and attitude change to the locker room. His story later became the basis for the 2006 biopic Invincible yet despite this underdog story and triumphant tale, Stephen A. Smith would have probably claimed Papale was added because of “white privilege.”
The other week on ESPN’s “First Take,” Smith criticized Tim Tebow signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars and insinuated the only reason Tebow received this opportunity was because of the color of his skin (a comment in and of itself laced with prejudice and bigotry, but I digress).
“I’m happy for him, meaning Tim Tebow specifically, but when you look at the totality of the situation, if I'm gonna bring up white privilege when I brought up Steve Nash getting the job in Brooklyn, is this not an example of white privilege?” Smith said. “What brother you know is getting this opportunity?”
Apparently Smith, who has enjoyed success the better part of the last two decades as a prominent sports pundit, is not familiar with the stories and careers of “brothers" Dez Bryant, Deion Sanders, Plaxico Burress, and Michael Vick—the latter two who returned to the NFL after two years away because they were in prison!
(Excerpt) Read more at houstoncourant.com ...
It’s an intentional distraction. If the media are talking only about Tebow, and they will be, then they won’t be focused on the growing pains of a #1 draft pick coming onto a bad team with a new coach.
The Tebow contract with the Jags is simply Urban Myer being loyal to his former college star to allow Tim to have enough roster time to be fully vested in the NFL players pension plan.
Stephen A. Smith is a loudmouthed know-it-all, and is the type who is forcing sports off the airways. And for that, I suppose we should be thankful.
There is no "white privilege" in the NFL when 73% of the players are not white.
Privilege is still having a job like Smith does in the same industry that Smith has tried really hard to run off the fan base from.
He has been absent from the NFL because he did not fit into the NFL's radical, far-left culture; he was blacklisted.
It all boils down to one word. Tryouts.
Tebow had them and the coaches likes what they saw.
Kraperdink was offered them after the team bent over backwards to give him a chance and he avoided it like the plague.
I think you nailed it. Plus Tebow was and perhaps still is a very gifted athlete. We’ll have to wait and see if he makes it to a 53 man roster.
Great comebacks are not dependent on skin color.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/881265-the-25-most-astounding-athletic-career-comebacks
“What brother you know is getting this opportunity?”
I believe the percentage of black athletes in the NFL exceed that of the percent of black people in the US by quite a bit.
I’d say a lot of brothers are getting opportunities.
Bottom line: Kaepernick SUCKS! He does not have what it takes to be an NFL player. Deal with it...many others have to.
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