Is the SEC setting the tone?

[docpoco]

As of right now, I count 4 white tailbacks in the SEC.

LSU - Jacob Hester
Vandy - Jared Hawkins
Auburn - Tre Smith
Arkansas - Peyton Hillis

3 are getting serious playing time. Tre is unfortunately behind a very good back in Kenny Irons.

That means that right now, 1/3rd of the SEC has a white RB, not just on the roster, but with carries.

Surprised me.

 

[Leonardfan]

Not until they start getting serious carries. Smith has been screwed over alot.

 

[docpoco]

Not until they start getting serious carries. Smith has been screwed over alot.

2 things.

#1, the fact that there are 4 white tailbacks on the verge of SEC stardom is huge in itself, even if it could improve.

#2. kenny Irons is one hell of a back. I would like to see Tre get more touches too, but lets not sit back and pretend like Irons wouldn't start for any SEC team.


Anyways, if you can tell me that the fact that 1 out of every 3 SEC (key word) teams are high on white RB's doesn't surprise you, I will be the one thats surprised.

 

[Don Wassall]

There seems to be more white running backs (tailbacks and fullbacks who get to run some) this year than in recent years, not just in the SEC,and they arebeing used at least a little bit more than previous years. It's too early to tell if it's a trend or not. What I think it speaks to, as someone posted on this board recently, is that despite being grossly discriminated against in football for decades now, whites continue to produce very talented players at all positions.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

If they were high on them, more would be on their rosters and playing. We are talking about 4 guys who are it for white SEC TB's. When you consider each team has 3-4, its not much. These are record setters who still aren't getting a fair shot at it.

The surprise is not so much that they aren't starting, considering the anti-white flavor of SEC football, its that there are as many as 4 in the whole conference. If just a couple of SEC coaches were really "high on white RB's" there would be plenty of them in the SEC. There are plenty of great ones to choose from, but they are being systematically discriminated against in high school. It is a wonder that 4 are in the SEC as opposed to 0.

 

[white is right]

I wouldn't really count Vandy they can't turn down any football talent. If an Eskimo could run a 4.4 40 they would have to recruit him...

 

[Colonel_Reb]

What do you mean they can't turn it down? It seems to me Vandy turns down more thuggish blackletes than any SEC school because the have higher academic standards. If you are saying that they aren't "high on white RB's" then I agree with you. I don't know of any SEC coaches who are.Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[white is right]

They have rigourous academic standards. They need any live bodies. It's not like "Massah" Bowden who has his pottery class "students".

 

[docpoco]

You guys are way missing the point.

When I say high on having white RB's, I dont mean as a "trend" I mean high on these specific athletes.

the fact that, in arguably the most athletic conference in the country, at least 4 SEC coaches are giving white RB's a chance... something almost taboo in todays football system, says something.

Hester , Hawkins, and Hillis are all, under normal circumstances, getting significant touches and can expect to see PT every time they go out.

May not be perfect, but a surprising statistic, at least to me, for the SEC.

 

[cslewis1]

That's pretty interesting about the SEC. I didn't know that, because I've basically banned myself from watching ANY SEC games. Good work.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Thanks, cslewis1!

 

[jaxvid]

docpoco very good point about the SEC. Who would have thunk it? It will be interesting to see if it is a trend. Perhaps there is some alumus pressure. It is the "South" and no matter how much they love their black athletes there still is a lot of dislike for the black man there.

Plus a lot of guys who played 20 years ago have sons that kicked ass at local high schools but won't get a look at playing time at their alma mater. That would piss me off for sure.

Also consider the lower income of whites in the south and therefore less opportunities. It's one thing for a white kid in the north to say "screw it" why fight the caste system when he has lots of other options but some of those white kids may be really poor and needing a scholorship and playing time.

Interesting situation. Compare it to the Big Ten and Midwest with white friendly schools like Iowa, OSU, and Notre Dame. Nobody white running with the ball there.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

docpoco

the fact that, in arguably the most athletic conference in the country, at least 4 SEC coaches are giving white RB's a chance... something almost taboo in todays football system, says something.

while it is a greatly welcomed big change from recent decades, only two of these RBs are getting a legitimate chance to run the ball. Tre Smith has been relegated to little more than scout team, and Peyton Hillis is almost exclusively used to block despite possessing the talent of a featured back (at least according to DraftDaddy and his own coaching staff who somehow still never give him the ball except for the occasional pass in the flat or as a punt returner). tell me how many "fullbacks" average well over 10 yards per punt return... none, that's how many. and this year he's averaging close to 13 yards per. but still almost no carries...

Vanderbilt's Jared Hawkins is averaging just 3 carries per game despite averaging nearly 10 yards per carry.

additionally, his talent has repeatedly been downplayed by the coaching staff when questioned by the media about one of his numerous spectacular runs. the coach habitually replies that if the starter had been in there, "he would have done the same thing or maybe even better." not exactly a rousing endorsement...

Hester is the only one of the four who gets both praise from his coaching staff and plenty of opportunities to show that he deserves it. he has a legitimate chance to become a starting tailback next year.

 

[Leonardfan]

Tre Smith ran all over alabama when Brown and Williams were out. Irons was a transfer last year and Smith just got screwed over rather than being given a legit chance. I am somewhat excited about Hester though. He has a chance to make some noise. He is playing great this year.

 

[Triad]

I agree with Mr. Chitwood, Hester is the only one receiving any meaningful PT so far this season. Smith, Hawkins, and Hillis are getting screwed right now just like Leonard.

 

[KG2422]

I saw a White running back playing for Southern Miss. tonight(not the starter). I didn't get a chance to watch much of the game, but it surprised me.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

He's Cole Mason, the backup fullback, KG. They aren't quite as rare as white TBs in the South. The SEC has a great one right now in Georgia's Brannan Southerland. Ole Miss had a great one in Rick Razzano. Arkansas had one in Mark Pierce, and Vandy had one in Jeremy McGrath. Anyway, they are a little surprising these days, but they aren't extinct.

 

[robcat]

There has been no increase in white receivers, white quarterbacks and white defensive players in the SEC. .A few white running backs with only one with a chance to eventually start, is statistically insignicant especially when there is no move to recruit and develop talented white kids at any other positionsbesides their racially slotted positions of kickers, blockers, and a shrinking role at quarterback.

 

[Deus Vult]

LSU has 3 white FBs: Jacob Hester, Shawn Jordan, and Steven Korte. Korte played some last year as a true freshman, but has not played this year. He may be be a medical redshirt(?).

When Hester plays tailback, in some sets, Shawn Jordan comes in at tailback. LSU now -- at times -- has 2 white RBs! Not since 1971!!Edited by: Deus Vult

 

[KG2422]

He's Cole Mason, the backup fullback, KG.

I was confused because he got a carry out of a one back set while I was watching. He also seemed a little smallish for a fullback. Maybe he should be a halfback.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

there are almost ZERO white receivers in the SEC this year. there is usually one or two that are all-conference caliber. i think of Florida's Chris Doering and Travis McGriff, Vandy's Dan Stricker, LSU's Abram Booty (at least for a little while), Kentucky's Derek Abney, etc.

but the only white receiver to be making much of an impact that i'm aware of is Kentucky's Dicky Lyons. he is an exceptional playmaker, but he doesn't receive much pub. but other than him, i see the receiving corps as being very empty... and the secondary is almost laughable.

LSU's Craig Steltz is one of the nation's interceptions leaders but can barely get on the field. Vandy plays a freshman at safety, but are there any other white DBs?

 

[KRooster]

Will Oakley is a pretty good reciever that's seeing quite a bit of time
at Alabama. 3 catches for 33 yards against Ole Miss. That is
considering we rotate a lot of guys though. And of course that we run
the ball every other play.



We've also got some pretty good white LBs. Matt Collins was a starter at OLB. Dunno if he is. We rotate in quite a few too.



Too bad our defense isn't really good this year.

 

[Realistic]

Kentucky has a good white tight end in Jacob Tamme. There's a freshman wide receiver named Michael Strickland who was reportedly catching everything thrown at him in fall camp but hasn't appeared in too many games.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i was watching the Arkansas-Ole Miss game on Saturday, and the announcers were talking about SEC players who could "take it the distance any time they touched it."

Arkansas running backs darren mcfadden and felix jones have earned that reputation, but they were trying to think of other guys in the SEC who could also do that. their list was very, very short, and somehow they didn't include Lyons despite his incredibly high touch-to-TD ratio.

 

[Don Wassall]

Dan Stricker from Vandy, mentioned by Jimmy above, was a very good receiver who deserved to be drafted and given a shot to see if he could play in the NFL just as much as the dozens of black receivers who get drafted every year do. But Stricker wasn't only not drafted, he was forced to go throughthe time-honored ritual of taking a white wide receiver's build and attempting to grotesquely bloat it into an ill-fitting tight end's physique.


Most receivers are on the lean side. Their metabolisms and genetics are not conducive to such a dramatic rebuilding project. Nate Jackson, who had fine potential as a receiver for Denver, was forced to bulk up into a tight end, a move that has gotten him nowhere but buried on the roster as the Broncos third tight end, meaning he'll be lucky to get more than 1 or 2 receptions for the season before being cut during next year's training camp.


John Madsen, the very skinny 6-5 wide receiver from Utah, is now listed as a tight end on the Raiders roster even though he still looks like a receiver. These common ploys to make white wideouts into tight ends is racially motivated and almost never works out well as few wide receivers can suddenly add 40and 50 pounds and retain the skills and quickness they mastered as a receiver.


It's obvious that Al Davis will never again play a white receiver, Fred Belitnikoff apparently being a one-in-a-million years phenomenon to Davis' revisionist thinking. It'd be interested if this country had a free press and the long-time league owners could be pigeon-holed and asked relevant questions about what happened to the many talented white runners, receivers and defensive players who thrived for many years after the NFL became integrated. Now, there is no accountability at all when it comes to those in authority because they will only talk to carefully selected audiences (and journalists) who think basically alike on all the issues. True independent reporters are barred from talking to our masters. Elderly Helen Thomas is probably the closest thing we have to a reporter of conscience inside the Beltway; the rest are pimps and prostitutes in service to power.