First and Goal

Last night the NFL 2013 preseason kicked off with the Hall of Fame game from Canton, Ohio. In our household, this is an eagerly anticipated annual event. My wife and I traditionally mark the occasion by shaking hands and wishing each other a good football season. During the course of the game, they showed highlights from the induction speeches. These impassioned remarks invariably relate how football gave these poverty stricken youths a shot at the American Dream.

Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter said, "I love football. I love this game. This game gave me identity. It gave me a sense of purpose. And for an African American man, it’s a great opportunity in America to be able to play football."

Unbidden, the thought came to me, "Is this opportunity or is it exploitation?"

Yes, America will allow fame and fortune to be bestowed upon the black man that can run and jump and sing and dance for our entertainment, because they all got that natural rhythm anyway. Yet bigotry continues to run rampant in our society. Segregation has never been more entrenched. Poverty has never been more systemic.

One of my favorite movies is the 1974 version of "The Longest Yard" starring Burt Reynolds as ex-NFL quarterback Paul "the Wrecking" Crewe. Crewe is recruiting an inmate football team to play against the Warden's team of sadistic guards. He introduces himself to a fellow con:

CREWE: Heard you played some football.
CON: Yeah.
CREWE: Where?
CON: Oklahoma State.
CREWE: Oklahoma State U?
CON: Prison.

This joke, while maybe not politically correct by today's standards, works because it plays off the stereotype that a minority has two options in this country--sports or prison. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe sports does represent an opportunity in the African American community to transcend gangs and drugs as a way of life.

I for one will continue to enjoy professional and college football--the pageantry and pomp, the festive fall and winter weekends, and the amazing on-field athletics. I will continue to hope that sports helps to bridge the gap between peoples until true equal opportunity is the law of the land.

Cris Carter