Affirmative Action Hall of Famer?
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HALL OF FAMER
RF23 with portions of Kansas City Star and AOL.com sports Columnist
Jason Whitlock
Okay I am going to suggest some of you old timers take your pills or whatever supplement you take to calm your nerves. It's almost Christmas and I want you to enjoy it with your families and be around to have more dialogue of what it was like in your day, when dinosaurs roamed the jungles in front of your cave...
Kansas City Star sports journalist and AOL Sports columnists Jason Whitlock is suggesting that San Diego Charger running back LaDanian Tomlinson is better than......
Jim Brown.
And I'm inclined to agree with him, as a matter of fact, I think Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Earl Campbell is way better than Brown. And you can throw Tony Dorsett, OJ Simpson (pre double murder days) and Barry Sanders in it too.
Why?
As Whitlock suggests, Brown like other highly revered sports legends didn't play against the best competition. For instance, let's take the example of baseball's single season homerun record. We have purists who rely on statistics to base their opinion of whose the greatest and some of these purists are quick to slam an asterik on players that break these highly heralded records. Take Roger Marist for instance, he broke Babe Ruth's single season homerun record and just because the amount of games in the season increased, Marist's record was unfairly hit with an asterik. And since these purists are quick to slam asteriks, I think it's fair to slam an asterik on the purists favorites such as Ruth. Besides, Marist faced something Ruth had not, minority players. And this is why I am quick to hit baseball's segregated best with an asterik.
Which brings me to this, and this is the pill popping point here, Whitlock submits that the NFL allowed each team to have 8-12 black players on their squads in the 60's, the era Brown played in and solidified his greatness, amongst old timers who were around to see this man do the things he did on the field. But there's a problem, the level of competition. Now like Whitlock, I'm not saying whites are inferior to blacks when it comes to athletics, I'll leave that to Michael Irvin. But when Brown played, what was the percentage probability that he faced a defense that was majority white? How about the high nineties? So all the highlights of Brown running past, dragging and running over defenders would not have happened as often as we've seen, if the playing field and the squads were equal. Even Brown has said so, so what about backs like Tomlinson? who faces competition on a level ground with players who are good enough to compete? Do we place them ahead of Brown?
Maybe so...
Portion of Jason Whitlock's Article:
It’s OK to suggest that LaDanian Tomlinson might be a better running back than Jim Brown.
For years NFL experts have pretended that it’s sacrilege to put any running back on the same pedestal as the great Jim Brown. If you suggest that Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Earl Campbell or even OJ Simpson were just as good – if not better – the people who saw Jim Brown play would label you as a young fool.Out of respect to Brown and fear of being pegged an idiot, I’ve always pretty much abided by the unspoken rule that no running back compares to Brown.
Well, I’m now ready to break free and say what I really think.Jim Brown was the greatest running back/football player of the segregation era. Payton, Campbell, Sanders and Tomlinson were/are as dominant as Brown. They might even all be better than Brown. They’ve certainly all faced much stiffer competition.
When I was a kid, I read a book about Jim Brown. In the book Brown stated that one of the things that bothered him about playing for the Browns is that he knew the team (and the league) had a quota system for the number of black players.
Brown said that when he played for the Browns (1957-65), he knew the team would keep six, eight or 10 black players – an even number so every black player had a roommate for road trips. This week I found a couple of Cleveland team photos from Jim Brown’s playing days. Sure enough, the Browns kept eight (of 36) and 12 (of 40) black players on their roster.Jim Brown’s point was that the NFL at that time wasn’t about employing the most talented players.
In my mind, this segregated/quota system gave Brown, one of history’s most supremely gifted athletes, a huge advantage over modern-era running backs.
When LaDanian Tomlinson lines up on Sundays, he looks across the line of scrimmage and sees Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Jason Taylor, Champ Bailey, Dwight Freeney and an assortment of other equally freakish athletes trying to stop the LT express.
I mentioned Urlacher specifically to convey that I’m not stating that black athletes have a lock on freakish athleticism. What I’m trying to convey is that it’s impossible to deny that today’s NFL caters to America’s most gifted athletes regardless of color.
That was not the case when Jim Brown played.When I look at footage of Brown’s exploits, I’m always impressed with Brown’s speed and brute strength. But Brown didn’t set up his blocks as well as Tomlinson does. Brown’s moves weren’t near as nifty as Barry Sanders’ cuts and turns. Brown was no more relentless than Payton and no more powerful than Campbell.
Brown looked like a man among overmatched boys. He looked like a guy who was playing against guys who had never seen anything like Jim Brown. And for the most part, Brown’s competitors hadn’t seen anything like Brown. Brown’s competitors played in segregated high schools and on all-white or token-blacks college teams.
You stick Brown in today’s NFL, and he wouldn’t be near as intimidating. Oh, he’d still be a great player, a Hall of Famer. But he wouldn’t be regarded as head and shoulders above Payton, Campbell, Sanders and Tomlinson. Brown would be on their level or maybe even a cut below.
If Tomlinson remains healthy and keeps scoring touchdowns, he might have a legitimate claim to the throne that was given to Brown.
Consider this: Marty Schottenheimer, LT’s coach and a former linebacker for the Bills, entered professional football during Brown’s final season. Ask Marty how many yards LT would roll up if Tomlinson could face Marty in his prime.
RF23 with portions of Kansas City Star and AOL.com sports Columnist
Jason Whitlock
Okay I am going to suggest some of you old timers take your pills or whatever supplement you take to calm your nerves. It's almost Christmas and I want you to enjoy it with your families and be around to have more dialogue of what it was like in your day, when dinosaurs roamed the jungles in front of your cave...
Kansas City Star sports journalist and AOL Sports columnists Jason Whitlock is suggesting that San Diego Charger running back LaDanian Tomlinson is better than......
Jim Brown.
And I'm inclined to agree with him, as a matter of fact, I think Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Earl Campbell is way better than Brown. And you can throw Tony Dorsett, OJ Simpson (pre double murder days) and Barry Sanders in it too.
Why?
As Whitlock suggests, Brown like other highly revered sports legends didn't play against the best competition. For instance, let's take the example of baseball's single season homerun record. We have purists who rely on statistics to base their opinion of whose the greatest and some of these purists are quick to slam an asterik on players that break these highly heralded records. Take Roger Marist for instance, he broke Babe Ruth's single season homerun record and just because the amount of games in the season increased, Marist's record was unfairly hit with an asterik. And since these purists are quick to slam asteriks, I think it's fair to slam an asterik on the purists favorites such as Ruth. Besides, Marist faced something Ruth had not, minority players. And this is why I am quick to hit baseball's segregated best with an asterik.
Which brings me to this, and this is the pill popping point here, Whitlock submits that the NFL allowed each team to have 8-12 black players on their squads in the 60's, the era Brown played in and solidified his greatness, amongst old timers who were around to see this man do the things he did on the field. But there's a problem, the level of competition. Now like Whitlock, I'm not saying whites are inferior to blacks when it comes to athletics, I'll leave that to Michael Irvin. But when Brown played, what was the percentage probability that he faced a defense that was majority white? How about the high nineties? So all the highlights of Brown running past, dragging and running over defenders would not have happened as often as we've seen, if the playing field and the squads were equal. Even Brown has said so, so what about backs like Tomlinson? who faces competition on a level ground with players who are good enough to compete? Do we place them ahead of Brown?
Maybe so...
Portion of Jason Whitlock's Article:
It’s OK to suggest that LaDanian Tomlinson might be a better running back than Jim Brown.
For years NFL experts have pretended that it’s sacrilege to put any running back on the same pedestal as the great Jim Brown. If you suggest that Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Earl Campbell or even OJ Simpson were just as good – if not better – the people who saw Jim Brown play would label you as a young fool.Out of respect to Brown and fear of being pegged an idiot, I’ve always pretty much abided by the unspoken rule that no running back compares to Brown.
Well, I’m now ready to break free and say what I really think.Jim Brown was the greatest running back/football player of the segregation era. Payton, Campbell, Sanders and Tomlinson were/are as dominant as Brown. They might even all be better than Brown. They’ve certainly all faced much stiffer competition.
When I was a kid, I read a book about Jim Brown. In the book Brown stated that one of the things that bothered him about playing for the Browns is that he knew the team (and the league) had a quota system for the number of black players.
Brown said that when he played for the Browns (1957-65), he knew the team would keep six, eight or 10 black players – an even number so every black player had a roommate for road trips. This week I found a couple of Cleveland team photos from Jim Brown’s playing days. Sure enough, the Browns kept eight (of 36) and 12 (of 40) black players on their roster.Jim Brown’s point was that the NFL at that time wasn’t about employing the most talented players.
In my mind, this segregated/quota system gave Brown, one of history’s most supremely gifted athletes, a huge advantage over modern-era running backs.
When LaDanian Tomlinson lines up on Sundays, he looks across the line of scrimmage and sees Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Jason Taylor, Champ Bailey, Dwight Freeney and an assortment of other equally freakish athletes trying to stop the LT express.
I mentioned Urlacher specifically to convey that I’m not stating that black athletes have a lock on freakish athleticism. What I’m trying to convey is that it’s impossible to deny that today’s NFL caters to America’s most gifted athletes regardless of color.
That was not the case when Jim Brown played.When I look at footage of Brown’s exploits, I’m always impressed with Brown’s speed and brute strength. But Brown didn’t set up his blocks as well as Tomlinson does. Brown’s moves weren’t near as nifty as Barry Sanders’ cuts and turns. Brown was no more relentless than Payton and no more powerful than Campbell.
Brown looked like a man among overmatched boys. He looked like a guy who was playing against guys who had never seen anything like Jim Brown. And for the most part, Brown’s competitors hadn’t seen anything like Brown. Brown’s competitors played in segregated high schools and on all-white or token-blacks college teams.
You stick Brown in today’s NFL, and he wouldn’t be near as intimidating. Oh, he’d still be a great player, a Hall of Famer. But he wouldn’t be regarded as head and shoulders above Payton, Campbell, Sanders and Tomlinson. Brown would be on their level or maybe even a cut below.
If Tomlinson remains healthy and keeps scoring touchdowns, he might have a legitimate claim to the throne that was given to Brown.
Consider this: Marty Schottenheimer, LT’s coach and a former linebacker for the Bills, entered professional football during Brown’s final season. Ask Marty how many yards LT would roll up if Tomlinson could face Marty in his prime.
posted by J.C. "Fanz23" Lewis, Jr | 2:07 PM
<< Home