Shedeur, Deion and Sports Fathers and Sons

I haven’t watched the NFL draft in years, and I normally just view the results online. The only reason I tuned in was to see when Shedeur Sanders would be drafted and where he would end up going. I didn’t think he was a great QB in college, and I don’t think there were any “can’t miss” QBs in this draft, but I think he certainly had enough potential to get drafted in the lower half of the first round or the second round. It’s very difficult to judge who will be a good quarterback in the NFL and there are always those who either exceed expectations or didn’t live up to them. This list gives the data and you can see Tom Brady going at 199 in the sixth round and Heath Shuler, Tony Banks, Jim Druckenmiller, Tim Couch, Chad Pennington, Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, Sam Bradford, AJ Manuel, Blake Bortles, Jameis Winston, and Mitch Trubisky all QBs who got picked first overall only to later flop in the NFL.

Shedeur sliding until the fifth round was a surprise. The fact that he ended up in Cleveland was an even bigger shock as the team already has four quarterbacks on the roster (including a former overall #1 draft choice in Kenny Pickett). There are other teams, notably the Saints and the Giants, that I think were a better fit for Shedeur, so the question everyone is asking is why did he slide so low in the draft?

Many on the internet, typically white football fans, seemed to take great joy in Shedeur sliding in the draft. Countless memes were created ranging from hilarious to downright stupid. This trolling even included Shedeur being the victim of a prank call orchestrated by the son of an Atlanta Falcons coach. Others pointed to racism being a factor and Dr. Umar Johnson proclaimed that a public lynching had taken place. A blaring and obvious truth is that Shedeur is another example of a Black athlete seen as too flamboyant that many white people love to hate. In this scenario, its never enough to hate on Shedeur, but #1 pick Cam Ward, without his knowledge or cooperation, has to been held up as the “good one”, to offset any allegations of racial bias towards non-Black critics. Shedeur is Ali (albeit kind of a non-political and non-religiously controversial version) and Ward is Frazier.

The answer to why NFL teams took a pass is probably more obvious. People didn’t wanna deal with a media circus, his father, and being second-guessed by Deion at every step. I’m old enough to have watched Deoin Sanders play both in college and the NFL and in a World Series for the Cincinatti Reds. I haven’t followed the reality TV, divorce, and talk show drama in the years after his retirement, but, from my understanding, there is plenty of material. Deion only came back on my radar when he began coaching his sons at Jackson State and later Colorado. While NFL teams don’t mind taking chances on drug users, women beaters, and sometimes even murderers, perhaps the line is drawn at Deoin. If Shedeur was just as flamboyant, but lacked the ability to speak in complete sentences, and didn’t praise God, or a father: but praised and couldn’t wait to sign his wealth over to his mama, OnlyFans girlfriend, and agent, then I’m sure this would’ve created no issues for NFL teams. A father and son that tight in the NFL is the issue. Now the ball will be in Shedeur’s court to get the QB1 spot, prove his haters wrong, and excel.

After the implosion of Shannon Sharpe and the meltdown of Kanye West we could use a story with a happy ending (and not the kind Deshaun Watson is accustomed to).

Boxing and Wrestling Dads

Fathers and sons seem to be having better fortunes in combat sports. The 1990 fight between Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn in Birmingham was one of the biggest fights in British boxing history. The fight wasn’t seen as a major event across the pond. We knew Benn, because he had been televised here, but Eubank was unknown and never became a star in the US. At the time, we basically viewed UK fighters as scrubs. That attitude would be changed in the ensuing decades as British boxing worked to close the gap with the US and began producing some of the best fighters in the world. This past Saturday in London, Chris Eurbank, Jr. and Conor Benn met in the ring to rekindle the rivalry their fathers began. It was a huge event in the UK and packed the house at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The score is now 2-0-1 for house Eubank. It was an entertaining fight, but throughout the night Benn lacked the skill to match his enormous will. I would suggest a new trainer- an American one.

In the world of wrestling, this past week’s US Open saw amazing action. Zahid Valencia being the first American to beat Kyle Dake in eight years. A theme throughout the weekend was sons coached by their dads winning. This includes wins by Jax Forrest, a high school junior and Oklahoma State commit, who won the senior open, and Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State (whose dad is older than me but went to my high school) who beat David Carr in the finals. Forrest, Mesenbrink, Dake, and Carr all being initially coached by their dads.

Popes and White Privilege

As the process to select a new Pope will soon begin, remember this. The Global South is devout, and many are very conservative- especially in Africa. The White West has largely given up on religion, but major players seek to use all major institutions to influence their own societies and the rest of the world to a socially liberal and secular-humanist orientation. Will more conservative and faithful prayer warriors gathering in simple churches win out? Or will the wealthy meeting in beautiful, yet empty churches, win out due to their financial status and historic place of privilege within the church? We will know soon enough. The bills have to be paid; but if there’s no one left in the building for whom are the bills being paid? Tune into the Disagreement Podcast with Father Augustine Wetta and myself as we dig deeper into this topic.