The NFL's Diversity Problem

American Thinker ^ | October 16, 2009 | Jack Cashill

[neverdem]

"I, myself, couldn't even consider voting for him," said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay of accused thought criminal Rush Limbaugh. "As a nation, and as a world, we've got to watch our words and our thoughts."

"Divisive comments are not what the the NFL is all about," agreed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL."

Before these execs start doing their end zone dance about Limbaugh's exclusion from the NFL ownership club, they might want to address a major diversity scandal brewing in their own house.

I refer here not to the exclusion of women from the NFL, although I could.  After all, fire departments have adjusted their testing standards to allow for the hiring of women despite the fact that fighting fires -- particularly the pulling of hose kneeling down and the rescue of incapacitated people -- puts as much a premium on upper body strength as does playing football.  Besides, no one has yet to die from an errant pass or a missed block.

The difference, of course, is that fire departments can adjust their assignments to keep women out of harm's way or at least out of the public spotlight.  Football teams have no such cover.  Everyone is visible.

What is difficult to justify, however, is the veritable exclusion of Asian-American and, even more incredibly, Mexican-American men from the NFL.

An analysis of Irsay's AFC South division reveals a shocking lack of genuine diversity, a shortfall that is representative of the NFL in general.  Of the 208 players in the division, there are no Japanese or Chinese-Americans and only two players of any kind of Hispanic descent. 

According to the U,S, Census Bureau, Hispanics make up 15.4 cent of the American population, but less than 1 percent of the AFC South and of the NFL in general.  Asian Americans make up 4.5 percent of the American population and zero percent of the NFL unless one includes Scott Fujita, a Caucasian adopted by a Japanese family.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida gives the NFL an A- for racial hiring practices and a C on gender hiring practices, but these grades are largely for front office jobs. This would be like giving Goldman Sachs an A- for hiring minority janitors. The real money, in either case, is on the field.

Although African American men make up a commendable 69 percent of the players in AFC South and 66 percent league wide, there are problems here too.  Black players -- Pacific Islanders as well -- tend to be ghettoized in blue-collar clusters.  In the AFC South, for instance, blacks make up more than 80 percent of all linebackers and defensive backs.  They make up more than 90 percent of the running backs. 

As it happens, only the white-dominated, "white collar" positions of kicker and quarterback have rules specifically designed to protect them from rough play.  Interestingly, all six of the kickers and quarterbacks on Irsay's Colts are white.  This is not to say that Irsay is a racist, but rather that he is insensitive to matters of race.

The quarterback position presents a variety of troubling issues.  As of this writing, the ten quarterbacks with the highest official ratings are all white. This can only indicate a racial bias in the design of the rating system.  Ideally, these ratings should be based on job related criteria and be predictive of success.  The fact that the top four rated quarterbacks -- and five of the top ten -- play for undefeated teams means little. This is surely an historical fluke. 

What we know from the media and academia is that there are no genetic differences among races.  Knowing this, we can infer that the testing the NFL does to choose its players and assign them to positions is flawed.  Intentionally or not, this selection process has had a disparate impact on certain underrepresented groups, Hispanic Americans most dramatically.  The token hiring of Mark Sanchez by the New York Jets does not begin to address this injustice.

If our fire departments can "look like America," why not the NFL?  Where is La Raza when we need them?

[Malesherbes]

Absolutely. These people, e.g. Irsay, Goodell, and the other pompous hypocrites, need to have their noses rubbed in it. Blacks are over represented; Hispanics are under represented. Not just in football; how about TV ads?

[scooby321]

Did the Irsays leave Baltimore in the middle of the night because Baltimore demographics change to a white Indianapolis

[Right Wing Assault]

Criminals in the NFL, no problem. But we CAN’T have divisive comments.

[Rome2000]

Yeah, the Plantation system is alive and well in the NFL, the massrs have the house servant and field hand thing down pat.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Little old widow ladies on limited, fixed incomes have to pay much higher property taxes on their homes in NFL cities to finance the bonds used to build NFL stadiums WHILE MILLIONAIRE PLAYERS PLAY THE GAME AND OWN THE TEAMS.

The NFL is the biggest con game on Earth.

[catfish1957]

As it happens, only the white-dominated, "white collar" positions of kicker and quarterback have rules specifically designed to protect them from rough play.

Tell that to Joe Theisman

[nhwingut]

I love this. Right back at ya. What’s the population percentage of midgets (little people). They need to be hired as long snappers or something.

[upcountryhorseman]

Yes, the NFL does need racial diversity. In addition to the lack of americans of mexican decent, there is a lack of
oriental americans. Just like basketball, blacks have taken
iver most positions in the NFL.

[highlander_UW]

"Divisive comments are not what the the NFL is all about," agreed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL."

Is Goodell going to step down then? After all, his comments are divisive because they exclude conservatives. Hypocrisy is a defining characteristic of liberals.

[Publius Valerius]

I believe ALL of pro sports has a disproportionate number of blacks

You need to check Major League Baseball.

[Publius Valerius]

The Irsays are the ones who stole the Colts from Baltimreo in the middle of the night.

Maybe had the state of Maryland not tried to use eminent domain to seize the Colts from the Irsays, the team would still be in Baltimore. Just sayin.

[traditional1]

Yeah, MLB is rife with discrimination against white players, too. I think their “testing” is discriminatory, and favors non-whites....that should be enough for an EEOC Complaint, as it is in the government and private job qualifications, always.....

[TBP]

Irsay join ing in the smear attack on Rush shows what kind of people the Irsays are.

[Publius Valerius]

Well, if you think it’s discriminatory, then I encourage you to tackle that project. Best of luck.

[Publius Valerius]

The Irsays? Bob is long dead. It’s just Jim.

But don’t give me this “they are terrible people because they moved out of town in the middle of the night” nonsense. They moved out of town in the middle of the night because the State passed legislation to take the Colts by eminent domain—the middle of the night move was to beat the state from seizing the Colts’ facilities and property.

It was Maryland that ran the Colts out of town. Maryland was too tightfisted to build a new stadium and was crapping all over Irsay. So he left.

[Military family member]

Right, so the Ravens should leave and go where so Colts can return? Cleveland? Oh yeah, they have a team. Does this mean the Chiefs go back to Texas? The Titans go back to Texas? The Rams to LA, the Cardinals back to Chicago? It gets a bit hazy after that.

[traditional1]

"Well, if you think it’s discriminatory, then I encourage you to tackle that project. Best of luck."

Right....with the Court system we have today, a populace educated in Public Skoolz (OJ-type Juries), common sense only applies to WHITE guys' actions. Hiring the most-qualified ONLY works when there's no minority to file a complaint, or bitch about tests written in plain English (which they can't speak and don't understand).

We already have too many requirements for Hispanic text, and soon will have Ebonic test requirements, too......

[LibLieSlayer]

I only have Nascar left. I truly gave up on the nfl, long before vick.

LLS

[neverdem]

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[gaijin]

We just put females on nuclear submarines. Are the stakes there high? Interpersonal harmony is a key job performance input, and each Ohio-class sub carries more firepower triggered IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

If we’re integrated there, well, I want to see 50% female linebacker representation.