Fascinating article tying racism to the NFL's handling Beast

[monkey]

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/31/7956685/marshawn-lynch-media-race

I may not agree completely with everything said here, but with very few exceptions, I agree with the vast majority of it.
I think this may be a topic we want to put on the shelves to discuss when we're not looking ahead to the biggest game ever, but I wanted to get this down, and here as something we ought to visit and discuss.

[savvyman]

That article is a reach - a very long reach......

[Hawktown]

That article is a reach - a very long reach......

I felt the same!

[burrrton]

"A power move for black athletes"??

LOL.

Look, I support ML's freedom to talk or not talk, but to portray this group of guys who make more per year than 99% of Americans will see in a lifetime as some kind of pathetic bunch of victims in need of a "power move" is laughable, and typical of Vox.

[jshawaii22]

I'm sure they think the same of Rap music moguls, like the 'N.W.A.'... the problem is, Marshawn doesn't want to become main stream and eventually their own success kills the golden goose, or someone else with a different life style overtakes them.

Michael Jordan, in many ways, is viewed that way by the other NBA owners. There are articles about him being left out of certain 'events' that the owners have had.

[SalmonBB]

I agree with a lot of what this article states. But I think it extends beyond racism, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that people want the sport to reflect what they want it to be, versus finding the beauty in what it is as a reflection of life itself. They only find satisfaction in it when their QB is a 6'6" pockett passer who can speak eloquently at press time, and react against anyone who challenges that stereotype. Doug Flutie was an example ... and all the guy did was win, but it wasn't enough. Unfortunately, when they shut down these individuals who don't fit the mold, they don't see the beauty of the people who dare to do things differently. They miss the beauty of football play, and community contributions. They miss Marshawn helping people in his own community in his own way, which is more authentic and effective than if he put on some contrived personna. They miss Richard Sherman's positive interaction with the fans. They miss the beauty contained in the winning ways of guys like Doug Flutie, overcoming all odds ... just because "he's too short to play football."

The thing I love so much about the Seahawks organization is that they don't try to change who their players are; they just do everything they can to make them their best selves possible. And that is extraordinarily beautiful. If one can break through the race, the height, the way one speaks (or doesn't speak), and start to value real contributions such as winning on the football field, community service, and life in general ... then we will be capable of seeing true beauty. But instead, people listen to these idiots in the media, form their strong opinions based off of faulty assumptions, and remain entrenched in their little comfort zones regarding what the sport of football should be. They don't hesitate to label Sherman as a "thug" when he demonstrates the intensity of the game in a post-game interview (despite the fact he's anything but that, what are they basing their "thug" label on?). And they don't hesitate to label Marshawn as a non-cooperative malcontent when he doesn't pay allegiance to the almighty media.

I used to be one of these people. The thing that changed me, in addition to some self-introspection and a few years of wisdom gained, was after I watched the 30/30 on "The U." I was blown away by it. My first take from it was that the Miami Teams of the 80s/90s were even more "thug-like" than I had ever imagined. But then I watched it a few more times (it is incredibly entertaining), and realized that what I had really held against them was that they didn't play the "style" of football I grew up respecting and knowing. And when I realized this, I actually started to see some beauty in the way those guys in South Florida played it. I saw that those teams brought a city which had been previously divided by race and by incomes-levels together in their support of "The U." I saw that the reason half those guys were doing some car-radio-stealing on the side was because they weren't getting enough food at the cafeteria. I realized that different parts of the country play different styles of football, and what should make mine any better?

I think there is a lot of credibility here in this article. I think racism underlies it to an extent. But I think the broader issue is the inability of a large percentage of the media and the public being unwilling to accept anyone who doesn't fit the mold of what they think football ought to look like. They are consumed in defending their long-held beliefs, and afraid to open themselves by looking into things a little further. They want to change people, rather than find the beauty in them.

Fortunately, Pete Carroll and the Seahawks embody the very unique - and beautiful - concept of succeeding in football and in life by embracing the individual strengths of each player, and then making them better as individuals and as a team through their philosophy of competition. I say unique, because most teams in the NFL are consumed with playing a certain way with certain individuals; they are busy trying to change the people on their rosters. This is our edge. I love our team, and I applaud Pete Carroll, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and all our players for ignoring the noise and the pressure and focusing on being the best they can be as players and as human beings.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[monkey]

Excellent post!
The article may be a bit of a stretch, as others have pointed out, but I do see some validity to many of the claims made as well.
I will say this, I am pretty sure that if I had been born somewhere like Compton, I would see this issue (and I assume many others as well) differently than I do now.
I was born and raised in the mid west, brought up to always show respect to your opponent, always act like you've been there before when you find success, and always play with sportsmanship and humility.
Those are values that I was raised with and that I was taught to believe are the highest ideals in sports, and I will always believe that to be true, but I understand that there are others who don't, or at least don't place the same emphasis on those values, perhaps because they value other things higher.