This blog is a visual articulation of MY views of the world around me. I will present various sides of arguments, and always sum them up with my own personal take.
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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Can He Kick It? Yes He Can!
Another outdated article that I wanted to comment on during the days leading up to the NFL draft.
It’s no secret; football means a lot to me. I am the person I am because of my tumultuous love affair with the game. From my years playing the game, to my horrible divorce from it, to my infatuation with everything NFL, football is ingrained in me. One my favorite parts of the NFL season is the draft. What’s more exciting? Teams are looking for players to take their franchises to the next level, young men are anxiously waiting for someone to show interest in them. I normally spend the weeks and months leading up to the draft paying attention to every story that comes out, analyzing the players weaknesses and strengths and formulating my own mock drafts. What can I say? I get in to it.
When I came across this article, I was SUPER excited to share it with others. Not only is it about the draft, it also brings up an issue that is often overlooked in the NFL; the lack of Black kickers.
In high school, most predominately Black schools either had the lone white person on the team be the kicker, or the most athletic player did the double duty. Even if the kid was an AMAZING kicker, they would never want to continue in that position. Why you may ask? Because who really wants to be a kicker?!
I think there is something about the Black community and the stigma of being a kicker. Although kickers receive the same amount of scholarship money, opportunity to make it to the next level (i.e. NFL) than any other position, the Black community seems to think being a kicker is somehow less of a player. Granted, the TV shows on ESPN and commentators seems to disrespect kickers regularly, so I can see why nobody, especially Black youth, would want to kick, but I think we should give it more of a shot.
I don’t think the lack of Black kickers has anything to do with the same racist doctrine that surrounds Black QBs. Then again, it might…
Honestly, if I knew how to kick, I probably wouldn’t have been a kicker in high school. What I can say, honestly, is that when I coach my kids team, I will encourage all the kids to kick and to try and be good at it, just like they try to be great at the other positions.
I hope these two young men find a lot of success in their future NFL careers. I hope they become examples to young Black football players. I hope they help break the stigma. I think they can, we’ll see.
