{"id":252277,"date":"2025-10-26T08:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/252277\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T08:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T08:01:10","slug":"from-russell-wilson-to-justin-fields-the-legacy-of-cheap-shots-at-black-qbs-endures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/252277\/","title":{"rendered":"From Russell Wilson to Justin Fields, the legacy of cheap shots at Black QBs endures"},"content":{"rendered":"

It finally happened. The reservoir of patience<\/a> that New York Giants<\/a> quarterback Russell Wilson<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cClassless\u2026 but not surprised\u2026. Didn\u2019t realize you\u2019re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media,\u201d he tweeted<\/a> after Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton appeared to take a jab at Wilson being benched for rookie Jaxson Dart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey 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\u2019ve happened long after our game,\u201d Payton said after the Broncos\u2019 stunning 33-32 comeback win over the Giants. <\/p>\n

Payton and Wilson \u201cjoined forces\u201d in Denver for the 2023 season, with the coach setting the tempo before the season by telling his star QB to \u201cf\u2014ing stop kissing all the babies,\u201d another jab at Wilson\u2019s manicured image.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 22, Payton said \u201cin no way, shape or form\u201d did he mean to insult Wilson, and that he saw his former player\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did [see it],\u201d Payton said. \u201cIn 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\u2019t any intention at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tweet was such an about-face from \u201cWilson Inc.\u201d that some folks thought his superstar entertainer wife, Ciara, hit send from her husband\u2019s account. If only the continuing disrespect of Black quarterbacks would experience a 180-degree turn.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 0-7 start isn\u2019t enough for so-called leaders in high places.<\/p>\n

\"NewDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said \u201cin no way, shape or form\u201d did he mean to insult Giants quarterback Russell Wilson.<\/p>\n

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe offense is just not clicking, and you can\u2019t run the ball if you can\u2019t pass the ball,\u201d New York Jets<\/a> owner Woody Johnson said in an indictment of starting quarterback Justin Fields<\/a>, who the Jets signed to a two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason, with $30 million in guarantees. \u201cThat\u2019s football 101.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cworst owner\u201d label isn\u2019t just a designation I\u2019m making. In February, Johnson was the only NFL owner to receive a failing grade<\/a> from his team\u2019s players via a survey conducted by the NFL Players Association. Here are some lowlights:<\/p>\n

The NFLPA said the players \u201ccite perceived top leadership issues, with some describing issues as \u2018top-down problems.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

NFLPA chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter to reporters at the scouting combine, referring to the Jets\u2019 survey: \u201c[The players said,] \u2018It\u2019s a culture of fear here.\u2019 And I think that stood out in those grades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than addressing concerns, players believed that management responded to feedback by making conditions worse,\u201d the NFLPA said.<\/p>\n

Singularly blaming Fields for the Jets\u2019 woes makes as much sense as running a fake punt at midfield on fourth-and-11 in a tie game. Oh wait, that happened<\/a> at Fields\u2019 expense as well. The Jets haven\u2019t made the playoffs in 15 years, which is more than half of Johnson\u2019s tenure as owner. And while the QB carousel in New York hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s group can\u2019t get out of the starting block.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely, but let\u2019s say Tyrod Taylor shines over the next month (it\u2019s even less likely now since Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury on Saturday<\/a> 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\u2019s trade stock, has been torpedoed by a reckless rant from the Jets\u2019 owner. It\u2019s enough to make Jets enthusiasts of all generations lament their affiliation with the struggling football team, as evidenced by an online exchange<\/a> between a content creator and a fan:<\/p>\n

\u201cThoughts on the game?\u201d the content creator asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate this team,\u201d the fan responded. \u201cI was born into this. \u2026I\u2019m always a Jets fan, just, I hate this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JustinQuarterback Justin Fields is getting blamed by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for some of the team\u2019s offensive woes.<\/p>\n

Rich Graessle\/Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n

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\u2019 play. In the Eagles\u2019 first four games, all wins, folks complained because he didn\u2019t 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\u2019s \u201cvanilla\u201d offense.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the type of coded language we hear when folks think Black quarterbacks aren\u2019t intelligent enough to run NFL offenses. And it\u2019s a commentary that is rarely, if ever, ascribed to coaches\u2019 sons. <\/p>\n

A 2016 Associated Press story<\/a> leads in with how Hurts\u2019 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember as a kid I always wore a shirt that said, \u2018Born To Play Football,\u2019 \u201d the younger Hurts recalled. \u201cI was born into this stuff because of my dad. I\u2019m happy it happened that way.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, slander hasn\u2019t defined Hurts \u2013 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: \u201cI\u2019m always there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be nice if apologies were as loud as the disrespect. But they don\u2019t have to be as long as the presence of Black quarterbacks, from the field to the booth, continues to persevere.<\/p>\n

Ken J. Makin is a freelance writer and the host of the Makin\u2019 A Difference podcast. Before and after commentating, he\u2019s thinking about his wife and his sons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It finally happened. The reservoir of patience that New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson had drawn from for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-252277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}