Black bodies swinging
20th August 2018 · 0 Comments
Even before I knew that 19-year-old Jordan McNair was Black, I knew he was Black.
McNair, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman at the University of Maryland, died from a heat stroke after being pushed beyond his limits.
How did I know he was Black?
Because he died after being pushed beyond his physical limits in late May and his tragic story didn’t become national news until August.
Because we didn’t learn anything from the mainstream media about Jordan’s off-the-field life: Who he was, what he liked to do, what his favorite movie was, what he meant to his loved ones and friends, and what his closest friends and family members thought about him.
Because he died on June 13 and the University of Maryland’s president didn’t issue a public statement accepting “legal and moral responsibility” for his death or an apology to his family until Aug. 14.
He was just a Black football player who died after being exposed to the unforgiving heat of the summer.
Of course, Jordan McNair was much more. He was somebody’s son, somebody’s grandson, somebody’s baby.
He was a living, breathing human being with hopes and dreams, someone who went to college in hopes of making those dreams come true.
It has been reported that the University of Maryland’s football program has an abusive culture that allows bullying, verbal abuse and practices that jeopardize the health and safety of student-athletes. Among those who have made these claims to media organizations, including ESPN, have been former players, coaches and staff members.
When asked about Maryland coach D.J. Durkin, a member of his coaching staff at the University of Florida, current South Carolina coach Will Muschamp attacked those who made anonymous quotes to the media as “gutless” and questioned the integrity of journalists who allowed these sources to make anonymous claims.
Muschamp seemed to be more concerned about defending his buddy than acknowledging the fact that a young man’s life had been tragically cut short because of practices and polices that put him in harm’s way.
Over the years, there have been student-athletes of all races who have died tragically on the practice field, most of them during the grueling weeks of fall camp or during the intensity of football practice.
Jordan died in June, long before the dog days of summer that define fall camp or the actual football season.
There have been unconfirmed reports that suggested that there was a racial component to the bullying and verbal abuse that Jordan McNair was subjected to. If those reports are true, it’s time for the NCAA, the Big 10 Conference and the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and shut down the university’s football program.
Other programs have been suspended for a lot less, including questionable practices in the recruitment of prospective student athletes.
No one is suggesting that Maryland’s coaches and trainers wanted this to happen but it is clear that mistakes were made that cost this young man his life.
Nor does anyone expect coaches and trainers to coddle student-athletes but safeguards can and must be put in place to ensure the safety and health of all players.
According to several media reports, the University of Maryland has a long history of running a brutal college football program, one that led to the death of Charles “Sonny” Lohr in 1959. Like McNair, Lohr was forced to do wind sprints by coaches and trainers and no one bothered to check either athlete’s temperature.
Part of the problem is the enormous pressure to win college football games in order to keep alumni happy and sell football tickets. Coaches often feel pressured to win at any cost, and in this case the cost was the loss of a young life.
I agree wholeheartedly with Jordan’s parents, who are not only calling for the firing of Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin but are also saying that he should not be allowed to be placed in a position of authority over anyone else’s kid.
Durkin needs to go and the entire program needs to be purged from top to bottom of any practices that endanger the lives of these young people.
Many of the young people participating in college athletics today hail from low-income families and are depending on these football programs to give them a shot at a better life. They need to know that they have rights as human beings and that no one has the power or authority to place them in harm’s way.
As a nation, we need to craft a student’ athlete bill of rights and create an organization that can advocate on their behalf similar to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Perhaps the most tragic thing about Jordan McNair’s death is the fact that these kinds of brutal and harsh environments in college football programs are not uncommon and that not enough is being done to protect these young athletes from harm and abuse.
Did I mention that a young man died?
This article originally published in the August 20, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
