Racist Dog Whistle Versus Reality: Looking At The “Black QBs Can’t Win” Thing

There is some nuance here.

Lamar Jackson last night had a home game, arguably the best team in the NFL on his side, and was 10 days away from probably winning his second league MVP award. Instead of advancing Baltimore to the Super Bowl, they laid an egg (at home, no less) and are now on the scrap heap of 2023 NFL history.

Before we go much further, let’s say the obvious up front: football is a team sport, and won and lost on how multiple people perform. However, we also do heap a lot of good and bad context on quarterbacks, as they are the pre-eminent guys on the field.

In 58 or so Super Bowls, we’ve had a black quarterback win the whole damn thing only a few times. You have Doug Williams with the then-Redskins in 1988, Russell Wilson over the Broncos (Wilson also appeared in back-to-back Super Bowls), and Patrick Mahomes twice. The last one may be contentious for some people, as Mahomes I think racially is often seen as Jeter, i.e. “light black,” which allows some MAGA thwots who want to be racist to still clear for him — and turn their Chiefs animus towards Travis Kelce, who promoted the COVID vaccine and dates a famous singer who is anti-Trump and anti-MAGA. Carry on.