The Football Manuscript

Football broadcasts are often riddled with stereotypical code labels of white and black players. Even on the biggest stage of the year, the Super Bowl, there often is not any exception to this. This year, we saw the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons battle in Houston for the Lombardi Trophy. Fox was on the call, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth. Buck was only doing play-by-play, so it was Aikman who was giving these labels to certain players. When talking about white players in the Super Bowl, Troy Aikman often resorted to typical labels. New England wide receivers Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman’s commitment to the team and overall sense of grit were mentioned multiple times. Aikman also pointed out Patriots quarterback and now four time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady’s knowledge of the game and ability to break down the opposing defense. We saw this specifically late in the game, when Brady was in the shadow of his own end zone facing a heavy Falcons pass rush. Aikman mentioned that Brady recognized this blitz and was able to complete a …show more content…
I’ve been a football fan my entire life and have been watching the game for as long as I can remember. So, when I hear comments describing a white football player as “gritty” or “deceptively fast” or a black one as a “gifted athlete” or “prototype player,” I am almost numb to it; I’m so used to people like Danny Woodhead being labeled as a “North-South” runner that I don’t even think twice about it. With all of these types of comments, there are some truths to it. There’s no denying that Julio Jones is an incredible athlete or that players like Julian Edelman fight for extra yards often. But, these labels don’t have to be the only ones that they’re known for; Jones can make “gritty” plays and Edelman can make physically skilled catches