I think you are right on about the troubling side of Rush’s comments. I read the Slate article earlier today, but I still can’t buy the argument that the media want to see Donovan McNabb succeed because he’s black. The media love Brett Favre and Jeff Garcia and Peyton Manning, too; but do they want to see them succeed because they’re white? And why don’t the media pull for Jeff Blake, or Aaron Brooks, or Quincy Carter to succeed - all of whom are either ignored or even savaged by the media in comparison to other QBs in the league. I think the “hype” over Donovan comes more from the spark he gave the Eagles as a team when he came on board - much like Michael Vick has done for the Falcons. I really and truly do not think race has anything to do with it. It’s amazing how race-neutral football really is. I see white guys wearing Aaron Brooks jerseys at Saints games, and I hear black fans call in to post-game radio shows just tearing into Aaron Brooks after a loss. It’s the excitement of the sport and the energy of a team that generates the media hype - not the color of the quarterback’s skin. And the quarterback of a team that generates excitement, as the natural team leader, often receives the benefit of this hype. Look at Fran Tarkenton, as another example. He was exciting to watch - a great scrambler among other things; but his stats weren’t so stellar and he also never won a Super Bowl ring. But the media loved him and always pulled for him to succeed. And it wasn’t because he was white, nor because he was statistically a very good QB; but simply because he was a spark, an exciting player to watch. I think the same about Donovan McNabb when I watch him play. I always get the feeling that something exciting will happen when he’s on the field.

In the end, I just think Rush is wrong - wrong on the facts of Donovan McNabb’s ability and wrong to make the media’s fascination with McNabb a question of his race.

Chris R. and I were talking about this offline, and he brought up a great point. The league and the press are interested in the next big star more than anything else. We’ve just passed an era of truly gifted QBs—Montana, Aikman, Marino, Elway, Young, etc. The only active QB who still has that kind of luster is Brett Favre, and he’s in decline and playing for a questionable team. Kurt Warner had it, but has waned in ability over the past couple of seasons, and now he’s riding the pines. Of all the positions on the field, QB is easily the most visible and good QBs become heroes like almost no other player position (except RBs in some rare circumstances, such as Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton). The league and press want a hero—black or white, doesn’t matter so much—just a hero to hang the game’s ID on. It gives them something to talk about, and something to market. Vick and McNabb, and Culpepper to an extent, represent where the position of QB seems to be going—more of a running threat, combined with a great arm and at least one great target to throw at. So the league and press hype these guys, hoping one of them turns into the star they want. I would’ve thought that their skin color is less than incidental, but Barra—an actual sports reporter, as opposed to, say, a blogger—says otherwise.

As for why Carter, Brooks, etc aren’t hyped—they haven’t shown anywhere near the skills or the smarts that McNabb displays routinely, so they’re just not as hypable, if that’s a word.

Bryan,

I agree that McNabb is overrated. His team plays at the same level whether or not he plays. The team actually performed better with Koy Detmer and AJ Feeley. So basically, McNabb is an average QB on an average offense.

If McNabb was an average QB on a GREAT offense, he would look great. Kind of like Troy Aikman! ;-)

I was going to drop this until you slammed Aikman. That guy was week in and week out accurate to a nanometer. Just as a QB needs quality targets, solid blocking, a good run game around him to look good, all those other things need a solid QB to move the ball. And Aikman was the definition of a solid QB. His timing on passes was uncanny, and his accuracy was legendary. He wasn’t average at all. That Dallas team he played for was exceptionally talented—the most talented overall offense ever, imho—and Troy was the guy that led it and made it all work. The system they had simply wouldn’t have worked without him at QB.

I’m curious about something related. Just for the purpose of discussion, I’d like to hear some thoughts on this: Do you think that the media hype of and honeymoon with mediocre (I think) wide receivers like Bill Schroeder or Joe Jurevicius or Ed McCaffery is part and parcel of Rush’s same line of argument - only this time, a bit of “social concern” in the NFL to see white receivers be successful at a position dominated by superstar black players?

Bryan,

OK, I admit Aikman was better than average. But hey, I’m a Skins fans. I have to take my gratuitous shots when I can!