While sports journalists obsess about the racial makeup of sports organizations, the NFL is proving itself to be the ultimate meritocracy where race doesn’t matter at all.
Super Bowl LVII will be the first in NFL history to feature two black starting quarterbacks , with Patrick Mahomes leading the Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts leading the Philadelphia Eagles. While many are understandably tired of hearing of obscure racial “firsts,” this one is actually notable. Football long had a history of coaches opposing the idea of allowing black players to play quarterback.
And yet, while this is a noteworthy development, it only highlights just how long ago the NFL reached its level of meritocracy. The first black quarterback to start (and win) a Super Bowl was Doug Williams, who led the Washington Redskins to victory in 1988. Williams was also named the MVP of that game. Several black quarterbacks have started in Super Bowls in the last decade alone, including Mahomes, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, and Colin Kaepernick.
Yet, these quarterbacks did not need a Kaepernick-level obsession with race from the media to reach their milestones. Even Kaepernick himself, when he took over the 49ers mid-season in 2012, was not obsessing over racial grievances but playing football — and doing it pretty well. The recent Super Bowl appearances from Newton, Wilson, and Mahomes were not at all mired in racial discussions at all. All of these quarterbacks were at the top of their game when they reached the big game, and that was the focus of the narrative around their achievements.
The same is true for coaches. Sports media obsess over every head coaching job that doesn’t go to a black candidate, and yet the first Super Bowl between black coaches took place all the way back in 2007. Tony Dungy, who is now considered cancelable by certain media personalities, became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. Mike Tomlin won one with the Pittsburgh Steelers two years later. Like the quarterbacks, it wasn't their race that allowed them to rise to the top of their profession.
Unlike many other areas of American society, which have been infected by past racism or by the racial obsessions of progressives in the present, the NFL world primarily focuses on winning and excellence. Skin color is irrelevant to NFL teams and fan bases who care only about winning games.
The NFL has a stranglehold on American culture for precisely this reason. Everyone wants to see their team stand strong and overcome challenges as a team. The skin color of the players is far less relevant than the color of the jerseys they wear. Sports media used to understand this before they decided to racialize every hire and every firing. Maybe one day they will circle back to appreciating the sport as the meritocracy it has proven itself to be.