Is Race a factor While drafting a Running Back ?
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“There’s no reason I shouldn’t really like him, but I just don’t,” added another AFC personnel executive. “He’s not really shifty, but he gets yards. He’s fast, but it’s a long speed, and not really a quick speed. You want me to compare him to a black guy? How about T.J. Duckett(notes)? There’s a big, fast guy who hasn’t been productive in the NFL.”
Yet others believe Gerhart’s exceptional production at Stanford, a program that was struggling mightily upon his arrival, is indicative of his immense pro potential.
“I love the guy,” says former Cardinals, Rams and 49ers scout David Razzano, who is based on the West Coast and attended several of Gerhart’s games over the past two seasons. “You’ve got to see him live to appreciate him. He’s not just a plodder. He’s deceptively fast, elusive, has quick feet and has great vision at the line of scrimmage. And he’s great in the red zone.
“He’s a bell-cow back. If there’s nothing there, he’ll get four yards. He was productive in high school and in college, and guys like that don’t change – he’ll be productive in the NFL.”
Gerhart, who was flown in for pre-draft visits by the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Browns and San Diego Chargers, says he’d consider playing fullback in the pros “if that’s what it takes to get on the field.” But he bristles at the notion that it might even be a consideration. “Prior to the combine, all I heard was, ‘He’s gonna run in the 4.7s,’ ” Gerhart says. “I read this blog that said, ‘Why was Toby the only running back who had to run under 4.6 to not be classified as a fullback?’ Fifteen other guys ran in the 4.6s at the combine, and nothing was said about them [playing fullback].”
Plenty of Pac-10 defenders wish Gerhart had been typecast as a fullback during his collegiate career – or that the former Cardinal baseball star had chosen to focus on that sport. Certainly, no one at USC was devastated that Gerhart decided not to return for a fourth college season after his epic performance in Stanford’s stunning, 55-21 victory over the Trojans in Los Angeles last November, the high point of an 8-5 season that ended with a narrow Sun Bowl defeat to Oklahoma.
“That’s by far my favorite victory,” Gerhart says of the USC game. “We were up big at the end and hitting ‘em in the mouth – we ran 15 of the last 18 plays from the exact same formation, where we’d motion the tight end one way or the other and I’d run to that side. At one point one of their linebackers yelled, ‘If you guys run ‘Power’ one more time I’m walking off the field.’ It was classic.”
Oh, and here’s some background information of which NFL teams might want to take note: Pete Carroll, USC’s coach at the time, had tried to recruit Gerhart out of high school – as a fullback.
In other words, underestimate him at your own peril, and brace yourself for maximum impact.
From: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Agxx...tereotype042010
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So u guys think the color of ur skin has a subtle effect on draft positions ?
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im not racist but he is the same type of runner as Johnathan Dwyer, only difference being he was more productive, and has significantly better combine times yet i see Dwyer projected as a early to mid 2nd rounder and Gerhart as a 4th...the guy is 100% correct in saying that if Gerhart was black then he would be a first rounder
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im not racist but he is the same type of runner as Johnathan Dwyer, only difference being he was more productive, and has significantly better combine times yet i see Dwyer projected as a early to mid 2nd rounder and Gerhart as a 4th...the guy is 100% correct in saying that if Gerhart was black then he would be a first rounder
im not racist but he is the same type of runner as Johnathan Dwyer, only difference being he was more productive, and has significantly better combine times yet i see Dwyer projected as a early to mid 2nd rounder and Gerhart as a 4th...the guy is 100% correct in saying that if Gerhart was black then he would be a first rounder
I agree, if he were black, he would be much more highly touted.
Although I like him more because he is white. Bring him here, we turned Charlie Frye black!
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I'll bet he gets picked up by the Patriots, he just seems like a prototypical patriot and also fills a big need
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Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
Luck is Tim Couch. Big, Dumb Goofy, slow thinking QB - Ghoolie, 2-28-12 -
Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
That's pretty weak.
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Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
That's pretty weak.
That's pretty weak.
It's a joke, I love making fun of people who take sterotypes seriously.
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Apparently, for a FEW scouts/coaches, who asked the STUPID question about being a "white running back"
perhaps they never heard of Larry Csonka, for just one example.
So very stupid to make a racial point about it.
I'd love for him to be a Cleveland Brown, no matter what color of skin.
Geez. Toby must think sometimes he's surrounded by idiots when asked a doofus racist question like that.
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JUST REMEMBER THESE THREE WORDS...........TOUCHDOWN TOMMY VARDELL. same school same everything. whack.
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He sounds like the guy who played for tampa bay 10 years ago or so but I cannot remember his name. He was a darned good running back
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For a coach or front office to use stereotyping is sad, almost all know that it goes on. To say that a white man cannot run the ball is as bad as saying a black man cannot be a quarterback.
Just maybe it has something to do with the ability to teach the sport by the coaching staff. It happens all of the time. Maybe this guy wil be the first white player to break across the lines and show that white men can play running back.
Dont you get tired of the white man being opressed?
Head or Gut? -
For a coach or front office to use stereotyping is sad, almost all know that it goes on. To say that a white man cannot run the ball is as bad as saying a black man cannot be a quarterback.
Just maybe it has something to do with the ability to teach the sport by the coaching staff. It happens all of the time. Maybe this guy wil be the first white player to break across the lines and show that white men can play running back.
Dont you get tired of the white man being opressed?
For a coach or front office to use stereotyping is sad, almost all know that it goes on. To say that a white man cannot run the ball is as bad as saying a black man cannot be a quarterback.
Just maybe it has something to do with the ability to teach the sport by the coaching staff. It happens all of the time. Maybe this guy wil be the first white player to break across the lines and show that white men can play running back.
Dont you get tired of the white man being opressed?
REVERSE RACISM!!!
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For a coach or front office to use stereotyping is sad, almost all know that it goes on. To say that a white man cannot run the ball is as bad as saying a black man cannot be a quarterback.
Just maybe it has something to do with the ability to teach the sport by the coaching staff. It happens all of the time. Maybe this guy wil be the first white player to break across the lines and show that white men can play running back.
Dont you get tired of the white man being opressed?
-
For a coach or front office to use stereotyping is sad, almost all know that it goes on. To say that a white man cannot run the ball is as bad as saying a black man cannot be a quarterback.
Just maybe it has something to do with the ability to teach the sport by the coaching staff. It happens all of the time. Maybe this guy wil be the first white player to break across the lines and show that white men can play running back.
Dont you get tired of the white man being opressed?
REVERSE RACISM!!!
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He sounds like the guy who played for tampa bay 10 years ago or so but I cannot remember his name. He was a darned good running back
He sounds like the guy who played for tampa bay 10 years ago or so but I cannot remember his name. He was a darned good running back
Mike Alstott!
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Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
While that is not true, Jimmy the Greek was right: the slave owners "bred" their slaves to improve physical prowess. Anyone that doesn't acknowledge that doesn't know history. As bad as it may be, it is still a fact.
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Apparently, for a FEW scouts/coaches, who asked the STUPID question about being a "white running back"
perhaps they never heard of Larry Csonka, for just one example.
So very stupid to make a racial point about it.
I'd love for him to be a Cleveland Brown, no matter what color of skin.
Geez. Toby must think sometimes he's surrounded by idiots when asked a doofus racist question like that.
Apparently, for a FEW scouts/coaches, who asked the STUPID question about being a "white running back"
perhaps they never heard of Larry Csonka, for just one example.
So very stupid to make a racial point about it.
I'd love for him to be a Cleveland Brown, no matter what color of skin.
Geez. Toby must think sometimes he's surrounded by idiots when asked a doofus racist question like that.
It seems to me though that we may have gotten a similar back when we acquired Hillis....yea, they are both white. But I am referring to their speed and versatility.
Fair to say?
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Black people are faster because they had to run from their slave owners, it's common knowledge. It's that simple.
While that is not true, Jimmy the Greek was right: the slave owners "bred" their slaves to improve physical prowess. Anyone that doesn't acknowledge that doesn't know history. As bad as it may be, it is still a fact.
While that is not true, Jimmy the Greek was right: the slave owners "bred" their slaves to improve physical prowess. Anyone that doesn't acknowledge that doesn't know history. As bad as it may be, it is still a fact.
If you want to go there, lets not forget a lot o slave owners raped their slaves, including Thomas Jefferson. Apparently, rape was very profitable. Selling ones own children from rape is so Christian. Not!
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