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my point is that we are always harsher on a black high pick, than we are on a white high pick...a white pick has to basically flame out, a la Ryan Leaf....before he gets a lot of heat. if not, we 'understand' them sucking, and deal with it.
Black qB's who have caught grief after being 1st round picks since 99...
McNabb Akili Smith Dante Culpepper Jason Campbell Mike Vick Jamarcus Russell Cam Newton Vince Young
All have been questioned at some point whether they are smart enough to get it...even though a few of them (like them or hate them) have balled out (McNabb, Vick, Newton). The only two who didn't really catch grief are Leftwich (got injured), and Freeman, who is currently trying to be viewed as elite, even though he has been carrying a shitty team.
Conversely, look at white QB's who have been selected in that period as first round picks, and sort of sucked. But they didn't get the 'he is not smart between the ears' or 'mentally fragile' label. It is accepted that they are physically not up to par. But they are first round picks:
Tim Couch Cade McNown David Carr Joey Harrington Patrick Ramsay Carson Palmer Kyle Boller Rex Grossman Mark Sanchez Philip Rivers JP Losman Alex Smith Matt Leinart Jay Cutler Brady Quinn Tim Tebow Jake Locker Blaine Gabbert Christian Ponder Chad Pennington
Some of these guys just plain suck. But they go on and play for other teams with no 'fragile mentality question. Some of these guys were great at one point (Palmer, Rivers), but they never get dressed down for the horrible years they put up after. In the case of Rivers, why isn't his mentality questioned when he makes some absolute horrid throws by not reading coverage? Palmer has been shit post injury, but everything else was blamed for him sucking; coaches, receivers, line (Cutler gets the same treatment). Some of these guys suck, and have people campaign for them to get new jobs, and get described as such a great teammate (Tebow). Pennington is the Leftwich of this list. Eli, Brees, Big Ben, Discount Doublecheck, Ryan, Flacco, are accepted successes...and Stafford, whom I think has struggled some, has gotten paid with no question about his suckage (even though he has the best receiver). Alex Smith sucks, but everyone claims he never got a real chance, and his offensive coordinator got changed a lot, his coach got changed a lot. But the coach who saved him, doesn't even want him, and replaced him the first chance he got. But he never got the 'not smart enough' logo. He has a new gig. For the most part, these dudes suck in peace.
All I am asking, is for the black QB's who are first round picks, to suck in peace too. Be a backup, get a check, and fade out eventually.....instead of being thrashed for their mental make up, and how they went broke. White QB's get broke too, and make bad decisions. We just don't hear about it. They are allowed to suck in peace.
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