Recently, Donovan McNabb went on record saying that black quarterbacks are far more scrutinized at their job than white quarterbacks. He went on to say “There’s not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra. Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn’t want us to play … is low, so we do a little extra.”

Once again, I find myself asking, aren’t these people who don’t want black people as quarterbacks, or as celebrities at all, the same people whose opinion shouldn’t matter anyway? There can’t be THAT many people whose opinions affect the business life of black athletes, can there? I mean, most of the truly ignorant racists that I see (and in Alabama, they thrive) are trailer scum who want to place the blame of their failure on anyone they can wag their tobacco stained finger at. Why does their opinion even affect anything?

I don’t doubt for a second that black QBs face more scrutiny than white QBs, because I’ve seen it. No one faces more flack when they fail than McNabb and Vince Young. But, let’s take the Consortium of White Antagonists out of the equation and see if we can figure out another possible solution this issue, rather than fall back on the easily laid race card. The dividing factor that I’ve found from looking at the stats is this; it appears that black quarterbacks are far more prone to pulling the football equivalent of splitting kings: the scramble.

Of the 32 NFL franchises in existence currently, there are 26 white starting quarterbacks, and 6 black starting quarterbacks. In 2006, the top 5 rushing yardage totals for quarterbacks went like this: Michael Vick, Vince Young, David Garrard, Charlie Frye, Donovan McNabb. So far in 2007, the top 5 rushing quarterbacks are: Vince Young, Jason Campbell, J.P. Losman, David Garrard, Tony Romo. In 2006, 4 out of 5 are black; in 2007, 3 out of 5. Also, so far in 2007, Tarvaris Jackson is #10 and Donovan McNabb is #12.

So what? Right? Well, the casual fan sees the scramble the same way the observer sees someone at the blackjack table splitting kings. Yes, it’s exciting to see happen. The guy could lose it all. But, if you had something vested in that hand, you’d be screaming “YOU NITWIT! STAY! STAY!” Casual fans have their time and loyalty vested in NFL franchises. We love our teams. But, like a business investment (or for the sake of the article, a stake in your blackjack playing friend’s winnings), sometimes our investment treats us better than others.

To continue with my blackjack analogy, when faced with a pair of kings, 9.9 times out of 10, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady will stay. Sometimes they’ll stay on a 15 when the dealer’s got a queen showing, and you’ll say, “DAMMIT! Why didn’t you HIT THAT!?” Just like football, when Vince Young and Donovan McNabb get rushed and they’re scrambling out of the pocket, they see a line and they start booking upfield. They may lose yardage when they get tackled, they may fumble the ball. When Peyton Manning or Brett Favre get in that same situation they’re far more prone to just lob the ball out of bounds and start fresh, no harm, no foul.

The casual fan we love to see the scramble that could break open a huge run. It’s exciting, it’s fun, but it’s high risk, high reward. So, just like the blackjack player prone to doubling down on 15 or splitting kings, hoping for two blackjacks, the scrambler is going to catch far more flack for his style of play than the player who goes out and does what’s safe.

It just so happens, according to the statistics, that black players are far more prone to the scramble. There’s nothing wrong with that style of play, but you have to accept that it opens you up to far more scrutiny from the people who have invested their time, heart, and loyalty to the franchise. Please stop playing the race card all the time, it doesn’t help anything and only slows the progress that happens every day.

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