Bleacher Report analysts Chris Simms and Adam Lefkoe treated their listeners to a rousing debate about racism in the NFL on the Thursday broadcast The Simms & Lefkoe Podcast.
When Lamar Jackson came up in discussion, Simms and Lefkoe immediately turned the focus to the amount of melanin in his skin.
“Is Lamar Jackson a project quarterback?” Lefkoe asked Simms.
“I mean, he’s black and he’s fast so we’re gonna throw him in there and he’s gonna around and we’ll keep the read option until he’s ready,” Simms said sarcastically. They went on for about two minutes poking fun at the media for supposedly questioning Lamar Jackson’s ability.
Is referring to Lamar Jackson as a “project” QB a product of racial bias? @SimmsAndLefkoe definitely think so pic.twitter.com/lxP0eGa8H9
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 8, 2018
I didn’t know black players were immune to any sort of analysis or questioning by the media.
Especially the high profile ones.
It’s true that Jackson won the Heisman in 2016. He’s a promising NFL prospect, but he’ll also have work to do. There’s a big difference between the NCAA and the NFL. So I don’t think it’s exactly crazy for the media to wonder how many hours he’ll have to put in outside of game day. Same thing with Josh Allen. Same thing with Baker Mayfield. It’s not racist to question somebody’s ability and judge them on talent alone. It’s fair.
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