This article in no way shape or form is intended to insight or offend anyone.  This article is for educational purposes and in hopes that you read this with an open mind.  We can’t control what others do, we can only control ourselves.  We can also control how we model our behavior for the people around us or the people that look up to us.  I hope you enjoy this article and look forward to your thoughts or comments. Let’s get straight into it with Microaggressions In Sports: The NFL Needs To Do Better.

What Are Microaggressions?

A microaggression is an indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group.  Some examples of this are often found in stereotypes or backhanded compliments. Microaggressions can be found in common phrases or jokes like: “That’s so gay.”  “That’s so white of you.” “You people…” Imitating accents or dialects of others. Assuming someone is from another country because of their race or assuming someone is good or bad at something because of their race is another example. An example from work or even the locker room would be someone complimenting a black person’s hair by touching it without permission or making it the topic of discussion. This may seem like a compliment, but this is also very invasive and can make someone feel self-conscience.

A lot of microaggressions when isolated can seem like they are not a big deal. That is a common misconception from those who are typically not experiencing them. These microaggressions are like mosquito bites, they may seem small and annoying but, as they pile up they have a greater effect on the person experiencing them. Denial of racism can be one, people who claim they are not racists because they have black friends. Yet would never let someone of color date their siblings or daughters. If you are not willing to put a person of color in power or have them be your quarterback even, you are not treating the person equally based on their race.  Steph Curry talks about his experiences with Micro-Aggressions.

Microagressions In The NFL

Microaggressions are a big topic of discussion in the NFL right now with their coaching hires. You see a lot of comments like this “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,” or “Everyone can succeed in this society if they work hard enough.” This is the myth of meritocracy which asserts that race does not play a role. Suing people and claiming racism may not be the answer to this, but the ratio of minority coaches in the NFL is no secret.

It was suggested that a lot of times the black coaches do not have relationships with the owners like the white coaches because they do not spend time together in the off-season. That these relationships or trust can be the reason someone gets chosen in these close decisions. The speaker proposed the NFL creating more opportunities in the off-season for owners and prospective coaches to spend time together would be a way to help create a level playing field.

The 2022 NFL Draft

The 2022 NFL Draft is right around the corner and the quarterback position is not only the most polarizing position in sports. The NFL Draft process itself also has a history of bringing out a lot of microaggressions. Black quarterbacks are all assumed to be running quarterbacks, we saw this when Stephen A. Smith assumed that Dwayne Haskins was a running quarterback.

Lamar Jackson has won the MVP as an NFL quarterback and NFL teams publicly asked him to work out as a wide receiver. Jackson was the last pick of the 1^st round of the 2018 NFL Draft and the fifth quarterback picked, behind Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen. Jackson’s Wonderlic Score was used to highlight his questionable intelligence. Jackson scored a 13 while Jake Fromm scored a 35 and Nate Stanley scored a 40.  Richard Sherman tweeted, “LOL, if you guys only knew how the guys treated the Wonderlic test.”  This year the test will actually be eliminated from the NFL Combine process.  The Wonderlic test was created in 1937 to assess the intelligence and cognitive ability of job candidates.

The Future of the NFL

The NFL and the NFL owners continue to struggle with these microaggressions as well as other offenses.  It took until 2020 for the Redskins to change their name. The Houston Texans Owner Bob McNair referred to the players kneeling in protest as “Inmates running the prison.”  The Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was forced to sell the team after he received backlash for sexist as well as racist comments about employees. The NFL still has never had a black owner in the league. This, however, could change with the Denver Broncos here in a short time, which in itself would be a big step forward.

The NFL has a massive platform and they are currently not doing enough to educate the owners or hold them accountable. We continue to hear stories or examples of microaggressions being apparent in the NFL to this day. It’s not just in the NFL, but all major sports are guilty. There is still a lot of progress to be made and we can only hope that the NFL continues to move in the right direction.

We’d love to hear your personal stories about mental health and sports. Please contact us if you’d like to share your story!

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