Crossing Broad
Let’s talk about this tweet that made the rounds earlier in the week:
I would disagree on the face-value understanding that Philadelphia fans and media are equal-opportunity haters and always have been. Carson Wentz was the whitest individual you can possibly be (a hunter from North Dakota) and white Eagles fans absolutely destroyed the guy between 2019 and 2021, calling him “zit neck” and a loser and annihilating him at every turn. He did have his defenders, like any quarterback does, but when Indianapolis finally came calling via trade, you had people climbing over each other to drive him to the airport, figuratively speaking.
It’s true that Carson never won a Super Bowl here, while Jalen Hurts played well enough to win two of them, so if you want to argue that the negativity Jalen receives is not commensurate with what he’s done on the field, you can do that. But it doesn’t change the fact that the last white starting quarterback got absolutely killed by a large portion of white fans, because more than one thing can be true.
The assertion that Philadelphia is racist towards black quarterbacks has always been nebulous, certainly unable to be proven or disproven without mind-reading technology that currently does not exist.
What we can confirm is that the Eagles have had more black franchise quarterbacks in their history than anybody. In fact, black quarterbacks have started more than 375 games for the Eagles over the decades. A large portion of us grew up with either Randall Cunningham or Donovan McNabb, who started 22 Eagles seasons between 1985 and 2009. That segued into four years of Michael Vick before the Nick Foles, Sam Bradford, and Wentz era, with some Kevin Kolb and Mark Sanchez mixed in. Now we’re enjoying a run of five seasons with a black quarterback at the helm who has taken the Eagles to two Super Bowls and won the franchise its second Lombardi Trophy.
(And before Randall, there was Ron Jaworski, who old school fans will remind you took a lot of hate after the Super Bowl appearance, especially during the short-lived tenure of Marion Campbell)
“Colorblind” is kind of an outdated term when talking about race, the concept that we only see people and not skin color. Academics don’t like it because they equate it to willful ignorance, but we’re not talking about redlining here. We’re talking about whether or not athletes are playing hard and winning games, which is the only thing that matters to Philly sports fans.
Along those lines, black Eagles are some of the most revered athletes in the city’s history. Brian Dawkins, Reggie White, and Brandon Graham. Harold Carmichael, Brian Westbrook, and now guys like DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley. Hell, look at the respect for guys like Mike Quick, Ike Reese, and Seth Joyner upon their transition from players to media.
Then you go to the other sports. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard jerseys were everywhere during that Phillies run. Allen Iverson might...
