How many of you have been watching Virginia Tech this year? The offensive line is all white tackle to tackle. The defense is all black. Point? There may or may not be one.
The Penn State school of medicine published a study quite a few years back that found whites playing football tended to be stronger, pound for pound, than blacks playing football (apologies if I'm remembering this incorrectly.) Is this valid? Who knows?
Then, of course, we've had the studies suggesting that blacks tended to have higher proportions of fast-twitch muscle fibers, giving many blacks a speed advantage. Is this valid? Who knows?
Even if the strength tendencies appear true, there are enough exceptions to question their importance or relevance. Just thinking of offensive linemen, off the top of my head. Larry Allen, Walter Jones, Pace, Larry Little, Gene Upshaw and others were certainly stronger than most of their peers.
Concerning speed, defensive linemen Randy White and Mark Gastineau were in incredibly fast. And WRs Golden Richards and Don Beebe could blow by anybody. Anybody ever catch QB Steve Young from behind?
Now we have a growing influx of mixed-race players and African immigrants to further muddy perceptions.
Using my own eyes, I can't think of one single NFL white player today who I consider fast at the true speed positions of WR, RB, DB or S.
Also using my own eyes and personal experience, Nigerian athletes, in many sports, particularly from the Yoruba tribe, were collectively the best athletes, both in speed and strength, I ever saw and competed against.
None of this means much of anything. Damned near every one of us could care less whether we had an all white or all black team as long as we won for a change.
It's still worthy of discussion.
