Dr. Alwin Spence
As I watched the Super Bowl game and as I listened to the hype about these two Black ‘ brothers ‘ who are the quarter-backs, I felt, here is a very positive story on which to write.
But as I thought of writing on this exciting and important topic; for me, and Blacks all over the diaspora, I became distracted by many other events happening simultaneously.
Mysterious Flying objects over Canadian and American air spaces, being shot down and investigated, powerful earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, over 30,000 dead, and some may still be alive but are buried under the debris of this shocking disaster.
As I viewed the damage done by the earthquakes, the camera shifted to the destruction in Ukraine, where homes, offices and other buildings are being mercilessly destroyed by Russian bombs used in a war to obtain more land. The situation there is very pathetic, human beings destroying other human beings.
Then the camera again shifted to show Michigan University students frantically running from a lone gunman who killed himself after killing three students. The sadness and suffering that all
these events have caused, I decided to block them out of my mind, and write about the only positive, if I may say, event, Super Bowl 2023.
First, I am not a die-hard fan of Football, but when it comes to the Super Bowl I had to watch it, or at least be present at the party. My friends used the occasion to stage a party, where we ate, drank, betted and often got into heated discussions about Sports and world politics.
At times, with a few drinks we would solve all the world problems. It was never an only
men’s affair. The women/wives were equally represented in all the activities. Some of us only wanted Team A to win because others wanted Team B to win. Statistics on any of the teams and the players were in short supply, and very few of us had sufficient information
to justify one’s choice of a winner. As I said , it was just an occasion to socialize.
This Super Bowl was very different from the others. Most of my friends who attended earlier parties are no longer here, so watching the Super Bowl now is left to individuals and not to any special social group.
I looked forward to this one, because Black History was being made while Black History Month was being celebrated. American and Canadian football teams are to a great extent dominated
by Black players. But it seems that the coveted position of becoming a chosen quarterback has been eluding many Black players.
These Black players, it seems ,have been relegated to support roles and not to leadership positions. These positions were saved for the white players. This directly or indirectly was limiting the potential of these Black players. They were allowed to play with, to win games , but not to lead or direct the game as quarterbacks do.
It is unfortunate that stereotyping has existed for such a long time in the game of football and many other sports. It seems that Black players have truly made a break-through, not with one quarterback
but with two at the same time, whose leadership skills have brought their respective team to the Super Bowl.
They did not just arrive and play, they demonstrated their skills, two evenly talented teams providing such high quality of play to a group of mouth-watering fans at the game and those at home watching on television.
All would agree that it was a super game and both Black quarterbacks
led and contributed to the high quality of the game.
From a distance, I am hearing thousands of young Black football players saying together, ‘ I want to be a quarterback or a manager when I grow up.’ They can aspire , now that the two Black ‘brothers’ , Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of Philadelphia ,Eagles, have suddenly become their heroes and role models.
Two Black Football players making History in the
month of February 2023 cannot be overlooked. There are many more potential great winning Black quarterbacks out there.
The question will soon be asked; ‘ What does it take to get to the Super Bowl? Answer; Get a Black quarterback. This may not be far off.
But as we all know one does not give up power or power positions easily. The fight continues.
