From Russell Wilson to Justin Fields, the legacy of cheap shots at Black QBs endures

It finally happened. The reservoir of patience that New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson had drawn from for the entirety of his 14-year NFL career had dried up, and for at least one tweet, the usually tight-lipped signal caller stopped giving a damn.

“Classless… but not surprised…. Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media,” he tweeted after Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton appeared to take a jab at Wilson being benched for rookie Jaxson Dart. 

“They found a little spark with that quarterback. I was talking to [Giants co-owner] John Mara not too long ago and I said we were hoping that change would’ve happened long after our game,” Payton said after the Broncos’ stunning 33-32 comeback win over the Giants.

Payton and Wilson “joined forces” in Denver for the 2023 season, with the coach setting the tempo before the season by telling his star QB to “f—ing stop kissing all the babies,” another jab at Wilson’s manicured image.

On Oct. 22, Payton said “in no way, shape or form” did he mean to insult Wilson, and that he saw his former player’s comments.

“I did [see it],” Payton said. “In the euphoria, the way that game unfolded, that was strictly about Dart. And that was in no way, shape or form anything that was directed at Russ. And I might be able to see how he might perceive that. Coming off that win and watching how [Dart] played, that wasn’t any intention at all.”

The tweet was such an about-face from “Wilson Inc.” that some folks thought his superstar entertainer wife, Ciara, hit send from her husband’s account. If only the continuing disrespect of Black quarterbacks would experience a 180-degree turn.

The legacy of taking cheap shots at Black quarterbacks by coaches and upper management endures, even with the collective of African American starters making an unprecedented leap. It could be argued that Wilson has been disrespected for much of his career, which calls back to the time when on-field rivals such as Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton faced similar treatment. Russ and Kap were seen as supplementary pieces for dominating defenses. Meanwhile, Cam was slandered for his style of play and swagger.

Years later, it is apparent that the indignity of being benched for a rookie quarterback or being thrown under the bus by your owner after the Jets’ 0-7 start isn’t enough for so-called leaders in high places.

One of the worst owners in sports and the overseer of a quarterback graveyard thought it would be a good idea to throw his young quarterback under the bus.

“The offense is just not clicking, and you can’t run the ball if you can’t pass the ball,” New York Jets owner Woody Johnson said in an indictment of starting quarterback Justin Fields, who the Jets signed to a two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason, with $30 million in guarantees. “That’s football 101.”

The “worst owner” label isn’t just a designation I’m making. In February, Johnson was the only NFL owner to receive a failing grade from his team’s players via a survey conducted by the NFL Players Association. Here are some lowlights:

• The NFLPA said the players “cite perceived top leadership issues, with some describing issues as ‘top-down problems.’ ”
• NFLPA chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter to reporters at the scouting combine, referring to the Jets’ survey: “[The players said,] ‘It’s a culture of fear here.’ And I think that stood out in those grades.”
• “Rather than addressing concerns, players believed that management responded to feedback by making conditions worse,” the NFLPA said.

Singularly blaming Fields for the Jets’ woes makes as much sense as running a fake punt at midfield on fourth-and-11 in a tie game. Oh wait, that happened at Fields’ expense as well. The Jets haven’t made the playoffs in 15 years, which is more than half of Johnson’s tenure as owner. And while the QB carousel in New York hasn’t spun quite as fast as the one in Cleveland, it is disconcerting to see the success that former Jets such as Aaron Rodgers and Sam Darnold are having while Johnson’s group can’t get out of the starting block.

It’s unlikely, but let’s say Tyrod Taylor shines over the next month (it’s even less likely now since Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury on Saturday just as he was reportedly in line to start against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday). The opportunity to move Fields, and certainly the young QB’s trade stock, has been torpedoed by a reckless rant from the Jets’ owner. It’s enough to make Jets enthusiasts of all generations lament their affiliation with the struggling football team, as evidenced by an online exchange between a content creator and a fan:

“Thoughts on the game?” the content creator asked.

“I hate this team,” the fan responded. “I was born into this. …I’m always a Jets fan, just, I hate this team.”

If only the disrespect was simply reserved for quarterbacks on teams with losing records. The Philadelphia Eagles are the reigning Super Bowl champions and have a 5-2 record, but you would never know it with the weekly referendum on Jalen Hurts’ play. In the Eagles’ first four games, all wins, folks complained because he didn’t throw the ball all over the yard. And even with a sterling performance against the Vikings and an average of 296 yards passing over his past three games, he still garners much of the blame for the team’s “vanilla” offense.

It’s the type of coded language we hear when folks think Black quarterbacks aren’t intelligent enough to run NFL offenses. And it’s a commentary that is rarely, if ever, ascribed to coaches’ sons.

A 2016 Associated Press story leads in with how Hurts’ love for the game was forged in high school football practices in Texas, where his father, Averion Sr., was the head coach at Channelview High near Houston.

“I remember as a kid I always wore a shirt that said, ‘Born To Play Football,’ ” the younger Hurts recalled. “I was born into this stuff because of my dad. I’m happy it happened that way.”

It’s that understanding of the game that allowed him to adapt to four offensive coordinators in four college seasons, and five OCs in six NFL seasons.

Fortunately, slander hasn’t defined Hurts – nor his quarterback kin. It was refreshing to see him and Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders dialoguing at a joint practice on Aug. 13, when Hurts effectively made a promise to pay it forward: “I’m always there.”

It would be nice if apologies were as loud as the disrespect. But they don’t have to be as long as the presence of Black quarterbacks, from the field to the booth, continues to persevere.

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