No Merit! : Does NFL Player Tradeoffs Exceed Profiteering?

This book challenges the National Football League (NFL)’s claim that Blacks are not systemically discriminated against in the managerial hiring process by the league. The hidden assumption is based on Blacks so-called lacking the intellectual competence needed to competitively improve the performance of NFL teams. This notion is debunked and purely reflects biases justifying the maintenance of slaves on plantations to the advantage of slave masters. Material uncovered support Brian Flores lawsuit and its argument that the “Rooney Rule” is nothing more than a public relations stunt to portray a false image of inclusive access to managerial jobs through the interview process.In the NFL where Black athletes are perceived purely on the basis of their athleticism, owners falsely give an impression that they care about Black Lives and Social Justice. The book reveals the impression of caring is a farce. Black players are left with careers averaging 1.5 years, being strung out on painkillers, lifetime injuries, emotional disabilities, brain trauma, etc. Owners, like antebellum masters and oversteers, accrue exorbitant wealth from labor of these Black players. On average, most of these Black players are bankrupt in 5 years after their careers end, mostly due to cost of unbearable injuries and surgeries. The media, as a culprit, is also exposed for its usage of stereotypes to accrue lavish wealth from marketing and advertisements on their platforms. This entity is seen as exploiting racial stereotypes to justify a modern form of slavery and suppression of Black Americans in the quest to make the game more attractive to the white majority buying the product. In this respect, the media appears to appeal to the bias owners’ business model and greedy intent.The blueprint of how Black NFL players and their communities are treated and its link to plantation slavery is perused. This phenomenon explains why Black NFL players are perceived as being treated no better than “million dollar slaves.” Highlighted is how their lives and communities are reflective of residual wrath of antebellum slavery compared to the “American Dream” experienced by the rest of society. NFL owners are seen as reinforcing racial inequities in their hiring practices, differential treatment, and race-based compensation towards nearly 70 percent of the players and those seeking promotions to head coaches and other management positions. White supremacist politics, highlighted by multi-million dollar donations to Trump’s fascist causes, are reinforced by the owners’ actions. Any attempt to seek justice on the part of Black players will be punished by these owners. Black players have been either “black-balled” from further employment or demoted at their own expense if they contest their master’s desire for personal gain: enormous wealth, power, influence, and self-esteem. Read more