The Slave Side of Sunday
Dave Zirin, The Nation
from http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060206/zirin
posted January 20, 2006 (web only)
For
most sports fans, heaven would be to play in the National Football
League. We see money, fame and no expectations of social
responsibility beyond showing up on Sunday ready to play. In the
mind of the fantasy sports fan, it means a big house, a garage full
of cars and the promise of sexual gratification. The last thing any
fan would believe--or want to believe--is that racism is endemic to
the culture of the NFL.
That's the contention of NFL veteran Anthony Prior, whose new book,
The Slave Side of Sunday, invokes an explosive metaphor to describe
life in the NFL. Prior played six NFL seasons with the New York
Jets, the Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings, and developed a
reputation as a cornerback with blinding speed, if not blinding
stats.
Prior
contends that the NFL is rife with a racism that is both deeply
institutionalized and largely unchallenged. "I was frustrated by not
seeing the truth in print," Prior told me in a recent interview.
"And I believe that if you want to see it, you should write it."
Prior
is a self-published author. In addition to The Slave Side of Sunday,
his publishing house, Stone Hold Books, produced Faith on 40 Yards:
Behind the Silver & Gold of the NFL in 2003. The starting point for
his new book is the much-derided 2003 statement by Tampa Bay all-pro
defensive tackle Warren Sapp that the NFL acts as a "slavemaster" to
its players. Sapp was pilloried for his comments, but Prior argues
that there is a lot more truth to Sapp's statements than meets the
eye.
Prior
knows that, like Sapp, he will receive criticism for his statements.
And on the face of it, his argument does seem ridiculous, if not
offensive: How can people who make mega-salaries and play before
adoring crowds be likened to slaves? Prior's response is that the
answer lies in the lack of control NFL players are allowed to have
in their daily lives and in the mega-industry they have helped
create. He sees this lack of control being intimately tied with a
dynamic where 65 percent of the players are African-American, yet
only 18 percent of coaches, 6 percent of general managers and no
owners are anything other than white.
"Black players have created a billion-dollar market but have no
voice in the industry, no power. That sounds an awful lot like
slavery to me," he says. "On plantations slaves were respected for
their physical skills but were given no respect as thinking beings.
On the football field, we are treated as what appears like gods, but
in fact this is just the 'show and tell' of the management for their
spectators. In reality, what is transpiring is that black athletes
are being treated with disrespect and degradation. As soon as we
take off that uniform, behind the dressing room doors, we are less
than human. We are bought and sold. Traded and drafted, like our
ancestors, and the public views this as a sport, ironically the same
attitude as people had in the slavery era."
Prior
names no names, but he contends that coaches and other authority
figures in the game use racism to bully African-American players in
an effort to instill obedience. "I've heard coaches call players
'boy,' 'porch monkeys,' 'sambos,' " he says. "Players don't get
tested on their athleticism as much as they get tested on their
manhood. Many players rail against this. They say, 'I'm being
treated like a goddamn slave.' However, as soon as the coach is
present, their life becomes doing whatever possible to please this
man.
"The
intimidation is immense...I've seen players benched because a coach
saw them with a white woman, or overheard a criticism of his
incompetence, or because a player didn't go to Bible study. I've
been in film sessions where coaches would try to get a rise out of
players by calling them 'boy' or 'Jemima,' and players are so
conditioned to not jeopardize their place, they just take it. It's
my understanding that management by intimidation is illegal, so why
do we allow this to occur? I believe that due to the nature of the
race of players who are being intimidated, people tend to overlook
this. That is why I wrote this book. People must understand that
this is not just intimidation, this is pure racism."
Prior
says Southern-born athletes are particularly vulnerable. "Southern
Black players call the coach 'boss' or even 'master.' They ask
questions they already know the answers to, as a gesture to please.
They let themselves be abused in all manner to keep their jobs. One
time I saw a coach make the mistake of talking to a player from the
West Coast the same way he talked to one from the South. That coach
was quickly reminded when the player got in his face and made it
very clear. 'I am a man and you will respect me as a man.' Words to
live by."
Another institution that raises Prior's ire is Athletes in Action,
an evangelical Christian group that is a presence in high school,
college athletics and even the professional sports. Before the big
game on Super Bowl Sunday, Athletes in Action is sponsoring an
NFL-sanctioned prayer breakfast in Detroit.
"I
call [them] Hypocrites in Action. Almost every time, the minister is
white, and the subject matter is right off the plantation," Prior
says. "One time I went over to the Bible study and asked, 'What's
the subject matter?' I was told, 'Living in Obedience.' I just said,
'No thank you, I don't want to be brainwashed today.' On some teams,
prayer becomes obligation, and God and Jesus become little more than
a lucky rabbit's foot. Unfortunately, religion is used as a crutch
to prey upon players who intend to be true to their faith but end up
being slaves to it. This is a wrongfully instilled practice. I
wouldn't have issue with this if the tools given were truly in good
nature for the progression of mankind, not the regression of
players."
Neither the NFL nor Athletes in Action returned calls for comment on
Prior's allegations.
Prior
says he has written the book as a way to advance the idea that
African-American players can organize themselves to fight racism
beyond the playing field. "As individuals we must create a
collective. NFL's black players have a tremendous strength. This is
a power we are scared to exercise yet dream to live." He believes
that a workplace action on the eve of the Super Bowl could bring
real change. Certainly, the thought of football players holding the
multibillion-dollar spectacle hostage and making demands on the NFL
ownership to give more back to the impoverished communities that
produce their all-pros is a daring notion. The question is whether
Prior and those who agree with him would risk the fruits of Super
Bowl glory for the greater good of those who will never see an NFL
contract.
