Bill Romanowski - Racist Or Misunderstood?

[kwassa]

75. Your theory is racial. Find the science, or you are a racist.

and you don't have it, and won't find it, because it doesn't exist.

Here is the history of racism against blacks in the NFL who dreamed of becoming quarterbacks. Read it and get past some of your absurd racial prejudices.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/the-black-quarterback-s-long-road-to-glory-1.6449822

Eldridge Dickey was the first black quarterback selected in the first round by an AFL or NFL team, in 1968. But despite a strong showing in training camp, the Raiders moved him to wide receiver.

Gilliam beat out future Steelers Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw in 1974 to become the first black quarterback to start in the regular season after the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. But despite his 4-1-1 record, Gilliam received death threats and withstood racial epithets from Pittsburgh fans. He soon was benched in favor of the inconsistent Bradshaw, who in an interview years later said of Gilliam: "He gave me my job back. I didn't earn it back."

Change of position

"For so many guys in my era, that was just how it went," said Tony Dungy, 58, the first black NFL coach to win a Super Bowl. "They would say, 'Hey, you can play in the NFL but it's going to be a position change. Or you can go to Canada and play quarterback because the style of the game kind of fits what you do.' And that's what happened in the '70s and '80s."

Dungy made the switch as well, moving from quarterback to safety and winning a Super Bowl with the Steelers in 1978.

So did McDonald, who was a high school All-American playing quarterback and safety in Fresno, Calif. But he knew his scholarship to USC meant becoming a full-time defensive back.

"Not a lot of kids grew up believing they could be a quarterback," said McDonald, 48, a Super Bowl champion with the 49ers (1994) and six-time Pro Bowl safety.

He has no regrets about switching positions, but he had some doubts back then.

"Probably 60 percent of my mind wanted me to go play quarterback," said McDonald, the Jets' secondary coach. "But my goal and my dream -- being an NFL player -- pushed it the other way."

Almost 10 years earlier, Thurman made the same choice.

He played quarterback against Moon in Pop Warner from the age of 10 in Southern California. But for Thurman, 57, just playing football was more important. So he went to USC and played defensive back.

"When you're a kid, throwing the ball around and playing quarterback in the alley or on some kid's lawn, you knew at some point you had to stop," said Thurman, who is in his first season as the Jets defensive coordinator. "You weren't going to get to do it. It was disheartening."

Those attitudes weren't relegated to the quarterback position. For decades, NFL teams were unconvinced that blacks could play safety, middle linebacker or center -- positions where "you had to think," said Thurman.

"The hoops that we had to jump through, just to compete on the same level, it's kind of been forgotten," said the Jets defensive coordinator. "But when we begin to talk about it, you begin to feel some of those feelings you had back then. It didn't feel good."