The Life of a Black NFL Quarterback

Every year at the NFL draft the debate seemingly always comes up about whether or not a quarterback can lead an NFL offense. Last year it was with Pat White and numerous teams talked about drafting him and moving him to another position. It seems that most of the time this debate is often about black quarterbacks and NFL teams seem to be scared to death to take a chance on one these days. Is this just a negative stigma or is there a legit reason behind this school of thought?

If you look at recent NFL history there have been very few black quarterbacks able to maintain a good level of success throughout their career. I would certainly say that men like Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb have had a great deal of success at the position. But there have been numerous busts here lately at this spot.

If you just look here recently you have Byron Leftwich, Daunte Culpepper, Charlie Batch, Akili Smith, Mike Vick and Travarius Jackson all with very shaky NFL careers. The verdict is still out on Vince Young and JaMarcus Russell but from the looks of things I doubt they become much of antything. The one young guy in the NFL that I think is coming along is Jason Campbell and interestingly enough his team was trying to dump him this offseason for Mark Sanchez. Was it because he's a black quarterback or did they just really like Mark Sanchez?

I doubt many people out there understand how much extra pressure is put on the typical black quarterback to perform at a high level. There is pressure on any quarterback in the NFL but when you add the racial tension to the situation it goes through the roof. Maybe Pat White will be the guy to lead a new wave into the league and become the next highly successful black quarterback.

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