Relationships, Race, and Leadership

With the recent developments with the Washington Redskins and Coach Mike Shanahan, his status with the team, past history with Donovan McNabb, and shutting down Robert Griffin III for the remainder of the season has stirred up a variety of emotions.  The racial component of Shanahan's relationship with McNabb and now RG3 has primarily been on social media websites, blogs, and been the talk in the Washington, DC area, aka “Chocolate City”.  It has been recently discussed by Michael Irvin on NFL Network, Pardon The Interruption and First Take on ESPN.  

Washington, DC and surrounding suburbs are one of the most diverse in the United States.  Washington, Atlanta, and Charlotte have many black fans that attend games and buy merchandise.   Primarily because there is a black middle class that can afford the tickets and merchandise.

Black fans not only come to the stadium to support the team, but also black owned businesses purchase suites at FedEx Field.   Witnessing the relationship between Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb go sour and now apparent issues with Robert Griffin III has raised eyebrows, especially in the black community.

Joe Gibbs and Doug Williams

When it comes to ‘Skins fans this is the city where Doug Williams, the first and only black quarterback won a Super Bowl.   Coach Joe Gibbs called on Williams to lead the team in the playoffs.  Williams only started two games that season, both losses.  But came in to replace Jay Schroeder three times to lead the ‘Skins to victory.

The same Coach Gibbs was his offensive coordinator his rookie season in Tampa Bay when Doug Williams was the only black starting quarterback in the NFL.  Williams was the first black quarterback to be drafted in the first round and finished fourth for the Heisman Trophy in 1977.

When Gibbs was the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay he visited Grambling to scout Williams. The Bucs needed to know if Williams’ abilities were worthy of a high choice and if Williams could handle the scrutiny such a history-making choice would engender. Former personnel man Ken Herock had Gibbs spend the week with Williams.

“Joe comes back after a week and we ask him, ‘What do you think?’” Herock stated. “Gibbs says, ‘All I can tell you is he can do it. He is a number one draft pick and will be a good quarterback.’”  From that a relationship was formed.

Williams went through ups and downs as a professional.  Williams was out of football when the USFL folded and Gibbs was the only coach in the NFL that offered him a position as a backup for the 'Skins to Jay Schroeder in 1986.

This city witnessed a great relationship between a white coach and black quarterback that evolved working together with two franchises.  After winning Super Bowl XXII Williams reflected on his lowest moment as a professional.

"I'll tell you one thing I'll always remember," Williams said. "When I was with Tampa Bay and we lost to Dallas in the (1981) playoffs and I got sacked four times, I got this beautifully wrapped package with a nice bow on top. When I opened it, there was a rotten watermelon inside. The note said, 'If it wasn't for your black ass, Tampa Bay would have won.' You don't forget things like that."

The beautiful thing about sports is that it is a microcosm of society and reveals the good and bad that exist including race relations.  The lack of relationship that Mike Shanahan had with Donovan McNabb and currently with Robert Griffin III have a racial dynamic and speak to the comfort levels that people have when forced to work together. These kinds of topics can fuel different emotions without context because it can strike a nerve.

Looking over Mike Shanahan’s head coaching career he never had a starting black quarterback, an offensive or defensive coordinator, or report to a black general manager as a head coach.  These are all leadership positions. 

Shanahan did not want McNabb because he felt his best years were behind him and Griffin III because of the draft picks it would cost Washington to move up to draft him.  These reasons have merit strictly on football terms.  Once they both were on the roster he had a hard time establishing a relationship with them and in my opinion many factors of those factors were not related to football.

The quarterback position is viewed and expected to be leader on a football team.  Owners/management, coaches, teammates, media, and fans have that expectation.  For the first time in what appears to be in his adult life Mike Shanahan had to deal with two black men in a leadership position even though they reported to him, and that could have been a major contributor to their disconnect.

Donovan McNabb and Mike Shanahan

McNabb and Griffin III have had white coaches and successful relationships their entire football careers prior to Shanahan so the fact that their coach was white was probably irrelevant to them.  Another common thread that McNabb and Griffin III share are two men that grew up in middle class homes, with two parents, well socialized, confident, and outgoing.  From my experiences playing and being around athletics white and black coaches in some instances do not deal with a player with that background well or view them differently.  Very few elite black athletes have that background.

A close friend of mine played college basketball for a black head coach.  The coach’s experience was mostly with young men from the inner city and single parent homes.  My friend had two educated parents and went to private diverse schools.  The coach treated him differently and with some resentment because he didn’t “need” the coach like the other players did.  He did not have the social experiences of dealing with a variety of players in his coaching career and it showed.

During a 4-4 season in 2010 Shanahan pulled McNabb down six points in the final two minutes of a game vs. Detroit for Rex Grossman, whom he explained understood the two-minute offense "terminology" better than McNabb.  A player at the time that felt the tension between McNabb and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and that McNabb's bootleg and play-action talents don't exactly mesh with a meticulous West Coast scheme.

To publicly question McNabb’s understanding of the offense was viewed by many as questioning his intelligence.  With the history of the black quarterback, to publicly insinuate anything of that nature was irresponsible by Shanahan regardless whether it was true or not or knowing what he was attempting to accomplish by revealing it.

Robert Griffin III and Mike Shanahan

This season with Griffin III coming off a major injury and not having as successful a season as his rookie campaign leaks to the media have been about Griffin’s preparation, insecurity about the backup quarterback, and missing reads.  Shanahan made the decision to shut Griffin down the remaining three weeks claiming it was to protect him from injury.

It appears to be self serving to play Kirk Cousins the remaining three weeks.  If Cousins plays well Shanahan could be a candidate for another head coaching position and Shanahan recently mentioned that Cousins talent warranted him be traded for a first round pick.  

Shanahan has never been pleased with a quarterback since John Elway retired.  Former quarterback Jake Plummer, who is white, had his issues with Shanahan in Denver, even after a 13-3 season. 

"It's not a fun situation and I feel for RG3 -- a great kid, a really, really great football player -- he'll bounce back, get healthy and persevere through this,'' Plummer told USA Today. "I see great things in his future. But I think it's going to be with a new coach.”

"[McNabb and Plummer] had our own styles, and it didn't mesh with what Mike wanted. What I see happening there isn't the same, but it is similar," Plummer said. "Mike definitely rubbed me the wrong way in some ways. Also, he did some great things in resurrecting my career. Overall, I was grateful to be coached by him. But I was a square peg in a round hole. I didn't fit what he really wanted me to be, and he moved on to somebody else."

The Washington Redskins fans had to suffer through a season of Rex Grossman and John Beck.  He benched Grossman for Beck then went back to Grossman.  Never through that process were any negative leaks about them to the media.  Playing or not playing them appeared to be just about football.  With McNabb and Griffin III it was different.

For 10 years Donovan McNabb played for Andy Reid in Philadelphia.  They came to Philadelphia together in 1999.  Reid and McNabb had a strong relationship over those years.  Reid took a chance on Michael Vick after being released from prison and Vick had a MVP caliber season in 2010. 

Black quarterbacks have recently been benched, traded, and waived. In most of those instances it was never discussed that race played a role in those decisions and it probably didn’t.  In this situation in Washington it appears to be that a coach, who has a record of poor interpersonal skills, not dealing with a situation he has never been in before well.  That combination was a bad mix.  Quarterbacks are looked at differently.  Shanahan’s relationship with other black players on the team or before his arrival in Washington is not an accurate barometer of how he would deal with a black quarterback.

This season a record nine black quarterbacks has started for NFL teams.  With the other eight franchises besides the Washington Redskins there has not been any discussion about the relationships with their respective coaches.   But all it takes is one situation to stir up conversation on the topic.  Black quarterbacks no longer stand out.   For Mike Shanahan having to coach one was a new experience for him that he did not handle it well.