Justin Fields and the double standard of Black quarterback prospects

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Make no mistake, Fields will be one of the first five quarterbacks taken in the draft. But the fact that he started the college season as the consensus No. 2 quarterback prospect, before inexplicably dropping as low as the fifth quarterback at times in some mock drafts – behind two white players with lesser pedigrees – is an indictment of an antiquated system as it pertains to Black quarterbacks.

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Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL forbade in-person timing, testing and interviewing of prospects until official pro days in March. For two months, opinions on draft prospects would have no reason to change. Until they did.

Enter: BYU’s Zach Wilson and Alabama’s Mac Jones.

According to ESPN’s NFL Draft Day Predictor, which forecasts the range of draft outcomes for NFL prospects (based on mock drafts, team needs and Scouts Inc. grades), Fields has a 25.1% chance of still being available at pick No. 9, compared to less than 1% for Jones. Wilson, expected to go No. 2 to the New York Jets, is at 0%.

We can leave the draft evaluating to the experts, but with zero explanation, two white quarterbacks with comparable or lesser resumes than Fields were suddenly can’t-miss picks. Whether that is true is irrelevant; it’s more about what happened to Fields since he declared for the draft that exposes the draft process – and the entire football-industrial complex – for the, let’s say, racial institution that it is.

According to various media reports, two things are currently being held against Fields: intelligence and attitude.

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According to these anonymous personnel, Fields, a Black man, struggles to “process things” and is both selfish and doesn’t have the work ethic of a white man. The dog whistle is screeching.

But anyone who has been following professional football shouldn’t be surprised by this. Race has always been a justification for barring Black players from playing certain positions, coaching or managing teams, or even playing in the sport altogether. NFL owners imposed a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the 1930s and 1946 that prevented African Americans from being able to play in the league.

But when it comes to Black quarterbacks in particular, the NFL has long gone out of its way to keep the position as white as the painted yard lines on the field. Quarterbacks are expected to be smart, rational decision-makers who command a team and act as the de facto coach on the field. Accuracy and strong arms are a plus, but it mostly comes down to what’s between your ears rather than any other physical attribute. As the authors of The Bell Curve would have you believe, few Black men possess those attributes.

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