White Quarterbacks at HCBUs: Novelty, Nothing New or In the Way?
Anyone at a historically black college or university has undoubtedly seen them -- the white student who, more often than not, is seen and rarely heard from as they navigate their way through life as a “minority” on campus.
But there are some white students who make their presence felt, getting involved in student government, choirs, bands and athletics. And as black colleges celebrate another season of homecoming activities, it’s not a far stretch to say that your team could be led on the field by a “brother” of the fairer persuasion.
Chris Owens may be a blond, blue-eyed Californian, but he is the type of quarterback any HBCU would covet. Against Tennessee State last month, Owens led Florida A&M University to victory in the Bank of America Atlanta Football Classic, completing 19 of 30 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. The impressive showing was enough to make Owens, a red-shirt freshman, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Week.
While you may do a double take if you see a player who looks like Owens calling the shots for your favorite college team, it’s not as if this is a new trend. Grambling State University, long known as a black college football powerhouse under the venerable Eddie Robinson, had a white quarterback named James Gregory in the 1970s. Gregory, who was believed to have been the first white quarterback at a HBCU, was a second-string QB behind Matthew Reed and never saw much playing time. But his story was enough to inspire a made-for-television movie, “Grambling’s White Tiger,” which starred Bruce Jenner, Harry Belafonte, LeVar Burton and Dennis Haysbert.
Philadelphia Tribune sportswriter Donald Hunt, a graduate of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania commented recently that choosing to play for a HBCU program says a lot about white students like Owens.
“Some people may see it as them taking an opportunity away from a black player, but I don’t have a big problem with it,” said Hunt, who regularly covers black college football for the Tribune, the nation’s oldest continuously-published black newspaper.
“It’s an opportunity for them to play, and if they’re good enough, they should play,” Hunt said, adding that white players aren’t given preferential treatment and, just like black players, have to earn their keep to maintain their spot on a team.
White players are definitely not a new phenomenon, said E. Newton Jackson, interim athletic director at Florida A&M. While he worked at Howard University in the early 1990s, Jackson said whites played several positions on the football team. And no one really blinked when two whites quarterbacked Southern and Grambling universities during a Bayou Classic match-up nearly a decade ago.
“We’re not the first. It’s really about the athlete trying to have an opportunity to play the sport and not just watch the sport,” Jackson commented recently in an interview. “Wherever they are given an opportunity to perform, that’s where it’s going to happen.”
Alvin Hollins, Jr., FAMU’s assistant athletic director for media relations, said the school has probably had one or two white players every season since the 1980s. Many factors are involved in a white student’s decision to enroll in a HBCU.
“We’ve had white kids play here, not in he numbers, but they do come here because we have a great pharmacy school or engineering program,” Hollins stated.“There are some academic aspects that attract them as well.”
Another reason why white students might feel comfortable enough to play at a black college is simply a sign of the times. When integration efforts made the racial makeup of schools more diverse, it was only a matter of time before white and black students began to spend more and more time together, Hollins said.
“It’s not like it would have been in the 50s or 60s. These kids have played together throughout their childhood,” Hollins said.
While Owens is the first white player FAMU recruited, several other white quarterbacks have made their way onto the squad with great success. Ben Dougherty was calling the plays at FAMU last season. A transfer from Iowa State, Dougherty found the playing time he needed to showcase his talents, and he wasted no time in taking advantage of it, Hunt said.
“Ben certainly fit in down there,” Hunt said, recalling how he witnessed Dougherty’s passing ability when FAMU played Temple University in Philadelphia in 2004. With a passing arm reminiscent of former NFL playmaker Randall Cunningham, Dougherty, who graduated this year, could get some looks from professional scouts, according to Hunt.
“There are some pretty good players at this level, and here is an opportunity to show scouts your skills,” Hunt said, adding that keen-eyed NFL scouts visited HBCUs to tap players like Tennessee Titan quarterback Steve McNair (Alcorn State) and New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan (Texas Southern). Former NFL greats such as the late Walter Payton (Jackson State), Doug Williams (Grambling) and the recently retired Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) all demonstrated that HBCU football players have what it takes to succeed amongst the NFL’s elite.
Hollins agreed with Hunt, saying that as more college coaches come to believe that blacks can handle the role of quarterbacking a team, the window gets smaller and smaller for whites.
“Now that you see more black quarterbacks at bigger schools, what’s basically happening is that the white kids who can play are getting squeezed out, so they have to go to a Division I-AA or [smaller programs],” Hollins said, adding that, since 1997, all of FAMUs quarterbacks, both black and white, have gone on to sign a professional contract.
“What makes Florida A&M unique is that we have an offense that is quarterback-oriented with a wide-open professional style,” Hollins said. “When kids start looking at which offense is going to showcase their ability, they look here. It’s the perfect set-up.”
So could Owens, Dougherty and other white players excelling at HBCUs soon become par for the course, especially as more and more blacks like Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick, younger brother of Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick, succeed at top Division I-A programs? Hunt said he isn’t sure, but he’d be interested to see if it develops into a major trend.
“Quite obviously, the kids would [usually] want to play at Division I-A major schools, but maybe they’ll consider an HBCU with a style of play they best fit into and a tradition they respect,” Hunt said, adding that programs like Hampton, Southern, and Alabama A&M universities boast offensive systems that could prepare players for success in the NFL, Canadian Football League, or any other professional league. Add to that a greater interest in HBCU football, especially with ESPN’s new college network broadcasting some black college football games, and white players may very well see a HBCU as a place for them.
Unlike Hunt, Hollins is quick to say that he doesn’t see an influx of white players taking spots on HBCU football rosters. He admits that there are some black college coaches who'd rather keep their schools predominantly black and aren’t quick to recruit white players, as well as alumni who could become vocal if the racial make-up of the team they support changes too dramatically.
“Just as you have some resistance at bigger schools, there are some undertones of that at our schools,” Hollins said, adding that the bottom line is that, when a white student chooses to play for a HBCU, he should always be made to feel like he is truly a part of the team.
“If the kid fits in and feels comfortable and his parents feel comfortable, then great,” Hollins said. “But I know our players have always found that the atmosphere is very hospitable.”
Posted By:
Tuesday, October 11th 2005 at 8:40AM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
