Oddballs make sports tick. Sure, we appreciate the pure physical dominance of a Dwight Howard, but we love the guile of a Steve Nash. We can relate to the oddball easier—there are a lot more of us who are 6’3”, 178 than 6’11” 265.
Of course the often unspoken element of the “oddball” relatability quotient is race. The NBA is roughly 80% black, but Nash won back-to-back MVP awards in the middle of the last decade, and Dirk Nowitzki was the toast of the sport this past June. Major League Baseball was just 8.5% African-American this year, yet Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Prince Fielder, and Curtis Granderson are all in the MVP conversation in their respective leagues. Even the NHL features two dozen black players and a handful of Asians and Latinos.
With prominent exceptions like Hines Ward and Mark Sanchez, the NFL is predominantly black and white, with over 95% of the players classified as one of those two races (including players like Ward with one black parent). For the most part those races are spread across the positions on the field. The exception? Cornerback and running back.
Two of football’s glamour positions are distinctly lacking in racial “oddballs.” There hasn’t been a white starting cornerback since 2002. Before this past NFL season, when Peyton Hillis (image 1, above) ran for 1,177 yards, the last white running back to rush for over 1,000 was in 1982.
There are fifteen cornerbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and only two are white, Dick LeBeau and Roger Wehrli. LeBeau played for the Detroit Lions in the ‘60s and was overshadowed by Dick “Night Train Lane” and Lem Barney, but LeBeau is the franchise’s all-time interceptions leader (and most famous now for being the Steelers’ defensive coordinator). Wehrli was a 7-time Pro Bowler with the St. Louis Cardinals in the ‘70s, and according to Hall of Fame Cowboys QB Roger Staubach, the term “shutdown corner” was coined to describe him. Another great white cornerback was the Washington Redskin Pat Fischer (image 2, above). Undersized at 5’9” and not the most fleet of foot, Fischer nonetheless held his own in twice annual battles with Harold Carmichael of the Philadelphia Eagles, who was 6’8” and ten years younger.
When it came to oddballs, Jason Sehorn (image 3, above) was the equivalent of a Canadian white guy winning NBA MVP two years in a row in a league dominated by American black men. Nicknamed “The Species,” Sehorn was a lanky, long armed, speedy, and athletic cornerback for the Giants from 1994-2002. Sehorn stood out, because at the height of his career he was the only starting white cornerback out of sixty starting corners in the NFL. Sehorn was both underdog and oddball. He played like the “majority” corners and often times much better. He never made a Pro Bowl but it’s pretty hard to make a Pro Bowl in the same conference as Deion Sanders, Darrell Green and Aeneas Williams. Sehorn retired in 2003 and we haven’t seen a white cornerback since. Technically it’s 2002, because Sehorn played safety in his last season.
The white tailback is slightly less rare, but still an anomaly in the pro game. Last year Hillis was the first white running back since Craig James (image 4, above) in 1982 to run for over 1,000 yards. Along with Peyton Hillis there are still only a few quality white running backs. Danny Woodhead and Toby Gerhart (image 5, above) both saw action last year, but only in specialized or backup roles. The list of all-time white running backs includes names like James, John Riggins (image 6, above), Larry Csonka, Tommy Vardell (image 7, above), and Mike Alstott (image 8, above), with Riggins and Csonka the only members of the Hall of Fame to play after 1970.
So why aren’t there more white cornerbacks and running backs? We talked to coaches and players from college and the pros, and found four answers.
Ryan Kelley October 10th, 2011 at 05:18 PM
First of all, Mark Sanchez isn't "white?" Judging by the United States census sample criteria Sanchez would be white, and with his Mexican father, he would be a "White Hispanic." The fascination with race in football is puzzling to me-- something that isn't expressed nearly to the same extent in in "white"-dominated sports like baseball, hockey, tennis, X-Games etc... Maybe the masculinity or physicality of the sport is what makes race such a hot topic? Anyway... There's no other excuse but racism. Jeff Samardzija and Matt Szur, some of the best non-black wide receivers to have ever set foot on an NCAA football field chose baseball-- both their second-most-proficient sport-- for this exact reason. Positional segregation is blatantly obvious, and sociology has not just the all-white coaching corps to blame but also the fanbase. Positions like quarterback, one of the last predominantly white positions on the field, are threatened by black athletes like Michael Vick, Vince Young, Josh Freeman as well as white QB's that play with a "black QB" style-- Tim Tebo, Steve Young etc... Despite Vince Young making a Pro Bowl in his second full-season and throwing 10 TD vs just 3 INT last season, he was constantly fighting for his job in Tennessee and now was forced to take a back-up job in Philadelphia. It's no secret that fans prefer jerseys that have white QB names on them rather than black ones, and that obviously has a lot to do with it. Who in coaching or management would risk his image and job by starting the less-marketable player whom everyone will jump on upon the most minor failure? Same goes for black QB's like David Garrard, Tavaris Jackson, Byron Leftwich and even Donavan McNabb. Garrard has put up immense passing numbers throughout his career yet always seems to be a bad game or two from handing his job to a rookie. McNabb should be a future Hall of Famer, yet he too has fairly consistently been left out of the top QB's discussion in favor of his white counterparts. A less talked-about highly-segregated positon-- center-- is also white-dominated. Outside of Andre Gurode, there's only one or two other notable none-white centers in the NFL. Because center is considered the most cerebral position on the line of scrimmage, with mental qualifications similar to that of NFL quarterbacks, is there racism at play here? Was Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode shuffled to a back-up position and were many young black centers moved to tackle and guard because racist stereotypes that black people aren't as smart as white people said they couldn't handle the position? How about a black kicker? Despite the many talented black soccer players in FIFA, you'd be hard pressed to find a black kicker or punter in college football much less the NFL. White running back Peyton Hillis recently made the cover of Madden NFL 2012-- the world's most popular (by a massive margin) football videogame. Besides Hillis, the NFL has the likes of Brian Leonard, Toby Gerhart, Danny Woodhead and Jacob Hester as white running backs. However, just like Hillis before them, Leonard, Gerhart, Woodhead and co. have had to fight for roster spots or even their position as coaches have consistently tried to convert them to blocking full backs or have overlooked them altogether. Gerhart, despite leading the NCAA in just about every rushing statistic while leading an otherwise talentless team was cheated out of a Heismann trophy due to his color. Now, after watching his stock fall in to the second round on draft day, he plays junk-yardage duty for the Vikings behind Peterson. Woodhead, before Bill Belichick gave him the opportunity to become a large part of a potent Patriots offense, set an NCAA record (Division II) for rushing yards. Not only was he undrafted but he was cut by the Jets before the Patriots signed him. Like Gerhart, his athleticism rated at the top of NFL scouting lists with sub-4.4 speed and blazing 3-cone times. Brian Leonard, while playing tailback for Rutgers was tabbed by linebacker HB Blades as the "best athlete" he'd ever seen. His phenomenal strength/speed/agility combo allowed him to top all running backs in physical testing, as he outperformed all runningbacks in the bench press while running an exceptional 4.49. At 6'2" and 226 pounds, his 35" vertical leap was almost unbelievable, and he would use his ups to literally jump over tacklers with a move named the "Leonard Leap" by teammates and fans. Leonard, who ranks first in school history in total touchdowns and in the top five every rushing category, and who was named Big East Freshman of the Year (2003), First Team All-Big East 04-05, who was honored as an All-American three times, and who drew strong consideration for a Heismann Trophy, was moved to fullback to block for Ray Rice after his 2006 campaign. Then, in the NFL, after having a 100 yard debut with the Rams, was moved to H-Back/Fullback and has since spent the rest of his career touching the football only sparingly. Hester, a star running back at LSU was moved to fullback almost immediately with the Chargers. Despite Hester's combination of agility, speed and power, he's been limited to catching passes out of the backfield occasionally an doing his best to make an impact on special teams. Like the NFL's other white runners, Hester is clearly battling stereotypes that-- despite their measurable athletic aptitude-- aren't athletic enough to compete with black players.