Antonio Brown is Right... The NFL is Racist... But That Doesn't Mean He Should Play Football Ever Again

For years and years, I've been the lone wolf in my fantasy football league that every year around this time starts saying what should be obvious to nearly everyone at this point. Now apparently Antonio Brown, recently of the Patriots, no the Raiders, no the Steelers all in the past year, realizes it too. It's quite simple.

The NFL is racist.

There, I've said it. The owners are racist. The fans are racist. The players' union is racist. The history of the game is racist. It's pretty much inevitable for the #1 sport in America, which is a country built on racism and still struggles with it almost 250 years into its existence, to be racist. But that's no excuse. The NBA and Major League Baseball have made major strides in combating their racism. And sure, there is always going to be an argument that this or that thing is racist. I'm sure even someone will read this post and think, "Well, this white guy is saying something about racism. That in itself is racist!"

I'm sure we can all find little threads of racist and sexist hate wherever we look. That's kind of a thing in the US these days. But I think we can all agree that the NFL is egregiously so. I'm sure there are many arguments that one could come up with to justify that statement, but let's start with the obvious.

1. Disparate Sentencing

This one is so ridiculous it comes straight out of the American legal system, which for years instituted a "sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack [which is predominantly used by lower-income African-Americans] carries a minimum 5-year federal prison sentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine [which is predominantly used by middle- and upper-class whites] carries the same 5-year mandatory minimum sentence." That's straight from an ACLU report.

In the NFL, disparate sentencing occurs when black players do something bad that they should get punished for, but when compared to similar malfeasance by white players it nearly always seems a bit unequal, as Antonio Brown so eloquently just put it on his Twitter feed @AB84.

When white New York Giants placekicker Josh Brown came under questioning for domestic abuse of his wife in 2015, the NFL issued a one-game suspension, placing the offense on par with cussing out a referee and less egregious, in the league's eyes, than smoking pot, steroid abuse, drinking and driving, and animal abuse. Ray Rice and Kareem Hunt were caught on video doing their misogyny thing. That makes their issue a little different. As of now, AB is in the same boat as Brown and his old bud Big Ben. It's he-said she-said. But Brown kicked for 2 years after his allegations surfaced, Ben is still on a roster, and AB is out of the league. It truly is a wonder how 45% of NFL fans are women.

What's up with that?

Yep, y'all, that's racist.

2. No Guaranteed Contracts... Still!

Despite being an issue in the almost strike before the 2018 season, the National Football League is the only professional sports league in America that does not fully guarantee its contracts. That's despite making $14 billion per year. That's twice what the NBA and the Premier League each make per year, by the way. Note this tweet from the NFL's own Bitcoin advocate Russell Okung, who just happens to be on the Executive Committee of the NFLPA.

And you wanna know the punchline? There is no reason that the NFL cannot offer guaranteed contracts. They just don't, except in one rare recent case, $84 million guaranteed to Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins.

Of course, he's white.

3. No Minority Representation at Leadership Levels

Despite making up a rule in 2003 specifically to curtail the power of the league's old white men - the Rooney Rule - there are only 3 minority head coaches and one minority general manager in the NFL this year.

That's right. 94% of the shot callers in the NFL are white. Nearly 75% of its players are black. That's not right.

The NFL on the field doesn't look like this:

Does it? That's who the people making the decisions about the #1 league in the land look like, though.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still gonna enjoy my fantasy football. But what Antonio Brown has just gone through (though entirely his own fault mind you. Just brick your phone, dude!) is just another sad tale of the NFL and its racism.

Enjoy your Sunday!

PEACE ✌🏼