RGIII Benched because he is Black? Michael Irvin...

[HonestChieffan]

There has been no shortage of controversy surrounding Mike Shanahan’s decision to bench Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III for the rest of the season. Between speculation that Shanahan is intentionally trying to get himself fired and reports that RG3 is furious, the situation has turned into a full-blown circus. And now, Michael Irvin has attempted to introduce the race element.

During halftime of Thursday Night Football, Irvin and the rest of the NFL Network panel discussed the mess in Washington. Deion Sanders said he thought RG3 “needed a little humble pie.” Irvin basically said the Redskins wouldn’t be handling the situation the same way if they had a white quarterback.

“You are tearing him down,” Irvin ranted, via Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog. “I doubt that any man can come back from this, walking around three weeks around these guys that you have to lead. And I don’t want to hear about teammates either; we understand as teammates and players, quarterbacks do get special treatment.

“You don’t see people arguing when Peyton Manning or Tom Brady gets (special treatment) — I don’t want you arguing when this kid gets it. He’s the quarterback, and the rest of us brothers have to understand that and treat him as such. I’ve got an issue with all of it. … You think they could do this to Andrew Luck? Let me ask you that, you think they could do this to Luck?”

Keep reading…http://larrybrownsports.com/football...enching/213770

[Rasputin]

I bet Johnny Football gets benched in the NFL.


Hog Farmer won't be pleased.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

I bet Johnny Football gets benched in the NFL.


Hog Farmer won't be pleased.

That's a huge, nasty, inevitable fail waiting to happen...

[Chief Gump]

This entire thread is gold. If you look for racism you will find it.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Rausch

And apparently the Rat was right.

Anyone can see RG3 isn't what he was. If he really is healthy he's done...

He's not. Sitting him now is the best thing that Shanahan has done. It's the constant bullshit that gets spouted in the media about ego and diva that I think is garbage.

[O.city]

So in 2010 while at Baylor, rgIII threw to josh Gordon,Terrance Williams, and Kendall Wright.

Damn.

[A Salt Weapon]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

If that were the case I'd agree that Michael Irvin is full of shit.

It's not been the case. Many commentators and fans are making this oddly personal with RGIII. They are saying he's a me-first diva. Prior to his struggles he was seen as a great teammate and a team-first guy. The moment he started to struggle, people suddenly started calling him a prima-donna.

I don't think he's changed as a person. He was considered a warrior and a leader when he was playing well. Suddenly his character's being called into question when he's struggling.

It's strange and it's not something you see happen in the media for most guys. When Cassel was awful, people weren't calling him an entitled shitheel. That's what people are doing with RGIII and I don't think it's even remotely fair; that's not been who he's been as a person or player throughout his college career and it isn't who he was last year when he was playing well.

Again - the root cause is that he's playing like shit, but lots of guys play like shit without having attacks on their character. I think the media has largely taken an oddly venomous approach to RGIII this season and I think it's definitely fair to question why.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He started playing better. The rumblings about tattoos and immaturity started early on in the season. When he started playing well and they started winning, the whispers disappeared.

Like I said, this isn't straight up racism; had RGIII kept playing well we wouldn't have heard this. I just find it a little unsettling that most of the time a young, black QB starts to struggle, the immediate issue becomes one a 'diva' attitude and an unwillingness to lead. There have been loads of shitty QBs in this league and they didn't take these arrows. Someone mentioned Cutler - he wasn't getting blasted as a lousy leader until a little later in his career; his early struggles were simply the struggles of a young QB.

Others have mentioned Geno - the difference between those 2 is that the "Geno is a shitty leader" narrative has been largely played out; it was the focus of the draft leadup. And with Geno, there is actually some track record to suggest that Geno was a mediocre/poor leader in his years at WVU. Those were surfacing even when he was playing well.

Every single report around RGIII from college through last season was what a great person and leader he was. Suddenly when he's struggling it's not growing pains, it's a lack of personal character and accountability despite 5+ years of high level football that suggest otherwise.

That should make one take pause.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And that's certainly a fair possibility. Members of the media are often hypercritical of guys they once fawned over; it's almost as though they're bitter about being made look a fool. It could also be overcompensating. Guys like Rick Riley, Tom Jackson and Bob Costas are the worst about this sort of thing; the bloviating asswipes that feel 'betrayed'. The PED stuff was the worst display of that you'll ever see.

Maybe there is something to the media types overcompensating for 'buying in' to the RGIII legend in 2012. Like I said, there may be some other explanations for it. But it's worth having the conversation - dismissing it out of hand is willfully ignorant. It suggests that RGIII's struggles have been treated the same as any other young QBs and I simply don't see how you can view what's gone on and believe that to be true.

I can't claim omniscience here; I can't read these guys minds. But the vitriol being tossed RGIIIs way is deserving of suspicion and I have no problem with Michael Irvin wondering aloud why that may be the case.

Originally Posted by Pestilence

He's not talking strictly about the benching. He's talking about the way that the media is now basically attacking RG3 and coming up with bullshit about his ego and how he's a drama queen.

Not to turn this political, but I can't help but thinking that as soon as RG3 came out and announced he was a conservative republican and not in love with obama, the media attacked him. After all it wouldn't be the first time.

[Easy 6]

Havent looked at this one for a while, why... because i simply don't care anymore...it isn't racism imho and it doesn't factor into the Chiefs discussion.

Due to a combination of injury, adjustment to the NFL game and a backstabbing, heartless front office culture, Griffin lost out this year... but it doesn't affect KC, so i don't care, sue me.

[cwhocares]

You don't bench a player because of his race, you bench them when they are not performing well. If he was white this thread would not exist. All this race crap is for the birds. As Chief Gump stated earlier "If you look for look for racism you will find it." So true.

[ThatRaceCardGuy]

White men arguing about what should and shouldn't be racist lmao.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Honestly they say this about alot of highly touted QBs who struggle. Jeff George, Ryan Leaf to name a few.
Posted via Mobile Device

Two of the biggest assholes to ever sully professional sports doesn't seem like an overly fair comparison to Griffin.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Two of the biggest assholes to ever sully professional sports doesn't seem like an overly fair comparison to Griffin.

Griffin is such a great guy - except for when he plays the Chiefs, I'll always pull for that guy.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

You know Cam?

Oh, right... you know what is reported about him. Cam was a young QB. He has to grow. The point is that this narrative seems to be saved exclusively for QB's who fit a certain criteria.

What white QB do you feel had his behavior excused by the media?

[blaise]

I know he's still a college player but Manziel has been called an immature punk plenty of times.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I hate hate hate the race card in QB discussions.

But I've found the treatmentof RGIII to be dubious at best, to be honest. There have been a handful of times where I've flipped to an analysis of Griffin without hearing the beginning of the conversation and could tell immediately it was him they were talking about because of the kind of vaguely dismissive language they used.

I mean they tend to stop short of saying 'boy', but it sure gets close at times.

My first reaction is always to dismiss this kind of bitching. And I agree he wouldn't be getting treated like this if he was performing better - his poor play is the root cause of the issue. But I do think there is some truth to the fact that he's getting a little more of the 'this kid needs to learn his place and shut up' treatment because he's a black QB. Wilson isn't getting crap because he's a minority that's playing extremely well. But I do wonder if a guy like Luck or Tannehill would be taking these kinds of arrows had they struggled like RGIII has. Tannehill's locker room has been a complete cluster!@#$ and we don't hear people blasting his leadership.

In this particular instance, I do think it's fair to ask if there haven't been some racial overtones to some of the things said about RGIII. Is that why he was benched? Nah, I don't think Shanahan's a racist. But I do think his PR has been disproportionally negative because of it.

I absolutely hate this race card nonsense. Could it just be that Shanahan is an idiot? And you mention the PR. I don't pay much attention to the Skins but what I've heard has not sounded racial in any way. Could you be more specific? And if someone provides quotes/sound bytes/etc. then can you prove that these things are not said about young white QBs? It has to be an apples to apples comparison. Irvin comparing RGIII to Manning or Brady is not apples to apples. FTR, I love RGIII and wanted the Chiefs to have a chance to draft him. But he has a long way to go to be in a position to be compared to a couple of future HOFers.

[blaise]

I think it's interesting that the story has basically been RGIII and Shanahan. Anyone familiar with the Redskins over the last 10-15 years knows the organization is poison, and the minute RGIII was drafted by them this sort of nonsense was inevitable.
It starts with Snyder and it's never going to change while he's there. If it's not Shanahan and RGIII it will be someone else.