Post by TheShadow on Feb 19, 2006 9:46:27 GMT -5
nl.newsbank.com
Published on November 6, 1994
© 1994- The Press Democrat
BYLINE: ROBERT RUBINO
I'm Jay Schroeder. Maybe you've heard of me. I'm second-string quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. Except when I'm third string. I was first string for a couple of weeks, but that didn't last. That's life in the NFL. Very insecure. Shoot, this is my fourth team, and I'm not done yet.
Anyway, my name was in the middle of a controversy and we heard from ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Fox's Howie Long, NBC's Ed Markey, the NFL's Joe Browne, the Raiders' Jeff Hostetler and Art Shell, and media pundits from just about everywhere.
Shoot, everybody gave their two-cents worth except me. I figure it's about time.
Now some folks might say hey, this is an old story, let's leave it dead and buried.
Some people might say my timing isn't exactly the best. To those people I say join the crowd. Mervyn Fernandez and Tim Brown didn't think much of my timing, either. The old ``strong arm, weak brain'' rap, which I've heard from college through four pro teams. To that I say sticks and stones, pal, sticks and stones.
OK. My old Raider coach, Art Shell, and my Raider successor at quarterback, Hostetler, got into what looked like a sideline argument on Oct. 16. On ESPN's ``GameDay'' show on Oct. 23, Mortensen reported that Art, who is black, had called Hoss ``another white quarterback, like Schroeder.''
Everybody got nervous because of the word ``white'' coming from a black person, like it's a cuss word or something. Art denied saying it, and Hoss denied hearing it. Browne, the NFL VP of communications, said the league doesn't deem it worthy of an investigation, yet. Howie said the statement can't be verified. The L.A. Times said it can be verified. The L.A. Daily News said everyone is in on some massive media conspiracy.
Whew, this is more confusing than trying to read Buffalo's zone defense in an AFC title game.
Bob Raissman of the N.Y. Daily News said ESPN should have made a much bigger deal of it because ``if Barry Switzer, Bill Parcells, Don Shula or any other high-profile white coach issued a racial slur, the story would've been pumped to the max.''
I don't understand that. Why would Switzer compare Hoss to me? I don't even know the Bootlegger's Boy.
Milton Kent of the Baltimore Sun had an odd take on the situation. He said Art might be getting ``latitude that a white coach dealing with a black player would not be afforded,'' and ``statements such as the one Shell is accused of making are racist and deserve to be exposed and condemned.''
And people say I panic under pressure. I think Mr. Kent heard footsteps, the footsteps of Jimmy the Greek and Al Campanis and Marge Schott.
But then Kent said ``the larger question is: Should anyone take any of these pregame shows seriously in the first place?''
Hmmm. To me, the larger question is: ``Why did Al Davis order me benched in '92 in favor of nude-surfer-doper Todd Marinovich?''
Dave Anderson of the New York Times took a sort of affirmative-action view by saying ``it's a sign of equality. Even if Art Shell said what he was reported to have said, a black coach can be as wrong as the white coaches in other years who uttered racial slurs.''
Hey, I know how wrong white coaches can be. Joe Gibbs benched me in '87 in favor of Doug Williams. OK, so Williams won the Super Bowl for Washington that season, but you know what I say to that? I say hindsight is 20-20, that's what I say.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times said ``it is irresponsible to repeat another organization's report of a slur when that charge is made by unnamed sources.'' He then went on to compare this story's shoddy journalism with that of the the O.J. Simpson case.
Wow. And people say I tend to overthrow my receivers. I think Mr. Sandomir overthrew his readers with that hyperbole.
NBC spokesman Markey said the network ``has no audio of the sideline exchange'' between Art and Hoss.
But I took a lip-reading course when I was at UCLA studying to be a baseball player. And I've looked at the tape of the Art-Hoss conversation, really concentrating on it, just like I used to concentrate on handing off to Bo Jackson, and this is what I've discovered.
Art was praising Hoss. And praising me, too.
See, Art is one of those real stoic guys, so it's hard to tell when he's happy and when he's angry. But I'm telling you he was happy Hoss was changing the plays in the huddle.
Art didn't say ``You're another white quarterback like Schroeder.'' He said ``You're another! Quite a quarterback! Like Schroeder!''
And that makes sense when you think about it.
If Art wanted to insult Hoss, he would have said ``You're another white quarterback, like Marc Wilson!''
Shoot, it doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar like Pat Haden to figure this stuff out.