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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25379712/cris-carter-white-wrs-dont-get-enough-credit-for-their-athleticism
Usually the conversation is about black quarterbacks, but ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer Cris Carter made a case on Tuesday about why white NFL wide receivers don't get the same recognition as their non-white counterparts.
“I just don't think they give them credit," he said during an appearance on Mike & Mike. "They make excuses, they say it's the system, they say it's the quarterback. But a guy has a certain skill set and that means if he plays outside, plays inside, to me they are very, very good athletes. And they don't give them credit for their athleticism. Kind of like when Serena (Williams) was always playing tennis and people would always talk about how powerful she was and how her serve was so great, they never talked about her intellect or her strategy, which now has taken her game to another level. But earlier in her career, they never, ever talked about that and I think that had something to do with race.”
According to SportsGrid, there were 185 wide receivers on NFL rosters last season and 17 were white. Two -- the Packers' Jordy Nelson and the Patriots' Julian Edelman -- were among the top 10 in receptions (98 and 92, respectively). Nelson's 2015 season ended before it started -- he suffered a torn ACL in August -- and Edelman will be out 6-8 weeks after breaking his foot last Sunday. Still, three white receivers, are among the league's best, according to Football Outsiders' metrics; the Jets' Eric Decker and Edelman are top 10 in total WR value while the Pats' Danny Amendola ranks 7th in value per play among WRs.
Still, not a season goes by that an undersized, quick slot receiver with great hands isn't compared to Wes Welker (see the Cowboys' Cole Beasley, for example). Sure, it's a compliment, but it's also lazy, much in the same way those Cam Newton-Daunte Culpepper and Robert Griffin III-Michael Vick comparisons were lazy. This narrative feeds the perception that white athletes have to work hard for the same success that black athletes reach through their God-given talents.
"I believe the celebration with Cam Newton has something to do with race, but I evaluate wide receivers and I evaluate what they can do and what they can't do, how to utilize them within their offense, not what color they are or limiting their athletic ability, in my mind, before I look at the tape," Carter said. "And Jordy Nelson is one of the best route runners, very, very explosive, a deep threat and can run any route in the route tree and is great with the ball in his hands after the catch.
"Now, Edelman is a tremendous slot receiver, has great short area quickness, has the understandability to read the defense and great chemistry with Tom Brady," Carter continued. "I believe he's just as good as Troy Brown was but people give credit to Troy Brown for being good, and I think Wes Welker and Edelman and some other guys don't get credit because they're white. And when people evaluate them they think that they're less athletes or products of the system and I just don't think that's fair to what they're doing and what they're accomplishing."
This is more a media creation than anything; players aren't going around calling Edelman, "a helluva white wide receiver!" In fact, we're guessing Brady will miss Edelman for one very simple reason: he's a huge part of the Patriots' offense.
"When someone's really integral to part of basically everything you're doing, and then you lose that person, it may take a little bit to kind of figure out how you can move things around and get comfortable with what you're doing," Brady said earlier this week. "Because you want to have a lot of confidence in the things that you're doing."
Which is exactly what Brady had when he was throwing to Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens and Randy Moss. _______________________________________
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