10/02/00 3:15 p.m.
Remember the Titans
Change on the gridiron.

Robert A. George is an editorial page writer
for the New York Post------------------------------------RAGGEDmail@aol.com

ne of my New York football teams, the New York Giants, got seriously spanked by the Tennessee Titans this weekend. Giants vs. Titans — on its billing — had a mythic sensibility about it. (Ironically, "Titans" — the name that the former Tennessee Oilers (who were formerly the Houston Oilers) took last season — was the name that the other New York football team, the Jets, were known as when they first came into existence as an American Football League team in 1961.) Instead, while the Giants were victimized by a couple of bad officiating calls, the deciding factor was their being manhandled by the Titans' superior offensive and defensive lines.

Oh, yeah, that and the fact that the Titans' quarterback, Steve "Air" McNair played lights-out football. Two weeks ago, McNair had been knocked out of a game with a bruised sternum. He returned the following game to lead a last minute victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. This week, he was all over the field with pin-point passes (a year ago, the question was whether his arm was strong enough to regularly toss the ball downfield) and scurried around to regularly convert third downs.

In many ways, this was not a particularly surprising game. McNair, in many ways, could remind some people of the 49ers retired Steve Young, a threat to score whenever he has the ball, by ground or by air.

What is at once most and least interesting about McNair is an attribute that, just a few short years ago, would have made headlines — his race. McNair is black. Ten years ago, the only regular black starting quarterbacks were Philadelphia's Randall Cunningham and Houston's Warren Moon. A couple years before, Doug Williams had become the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl (leading the Washington Redskins to a blowout victory over the Denver Broncos. But Williams, on the downside of his career was soon to be out of the league. He was seen as more of an anomaly than anything else.

One of the most amazing non-stories of this football season and the last is the proliferation of black quarterbacks in the NFL. The quarterback class of two years ago certainly made noise (three African American QBs were drafted in the first round), but few could have predicted the explosion what's occurred. In addition to McNair, the league today features starters Daunte Culpepper (Minnesota), Tony Banks (Baltimore), Akili Smith (Cincinnati), Jeff Blake (New Orleans), Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia), Charlie Batch (Detroit) and Shaun King (Tampa Bay) plus back-ups/part-time starters Cunningham (Dallas), Moon (Kansas City Chiefs), Kordell Stewart — and Tee Martin! (Pittsburgh), Ray Lucas (New York Jets). That comes to eleven NFL teams either starting a black quarterback or have one in a featured role — a full third of the league. That doesn't include other back-ups who will likely see more limited action this year.

In other words, we've reached a point where black quarterbacks regularly line up against one another — Batch vs. Culpepper vs. King or McNair vs. Stewart (for some odd reason, they seem to be over-represented in the Central Divisions of the respective conferences) — and it's hardly noticed.

Generally speaking, that's the way it should be. No one should care about the color of one's skin. The issues should always be: Can the guy do the job? However, it's not a bad thing to take note when progress does occur. There are many who seem have such a vested interest in showing how bad things are in America when it comes to issues of race, that they choose to ignore how times change. Similarly, as several horrific incidents have hit the league of late ("You can't spell 'f-e-l-o-n-y' without N-F-L), it's not a bad idea to take note of a positive overall trend.

Part of the reason this is happening is that the role of quarterback has begun to change. The classic, drop-back, passer, who has tended to be white — such as Indianapolis' Peyton Manning — is becoming somewhat antiquated (not Manning, but just that specific archetype). The stronger and faster defenses that have been built over the last few years have necessitated that offenses be built around mobile quarterbacks. It has been the tradition that college football quarterbacks who have had to run the "option-type" offenses have tended to be black. None of this is hard-and-fast, of course. Doug Williams was a drop-back passer, while Jacksonville's Mark Brunnell is a great scrambler. However, certain stereotypes can persist. Those critical of the NFL suggested that blacks were seen as less intelligent and thought to be unable to handle the leadership responsibilities at the position.

Well, if that were the case, it's certainly not now. The current needs of the NFL rebound in favor of quarterbacks of mobility. Progress does happen. Next year's number one draft pick is likely to be Virginia Tech's Michael Vick. The next hurdle that has to be addressed is that of head coaches. There are currently only two black head coaches in the NFL — Minnesota's Dennis Green and Tampa Bay's Tony Dungy. The "intelligence" stereotype may come into play here, of course. Though, one could suggest that it is more likely the case that an old-boy's club of sorts does exist — and certain social barriers have to be chipped away.

But, it is an interesting irony that this is all occurring just as actor Denzel Washington opens a movie about how a multi-racial high-school team teaches a society that change and progress are to be embraced. Well, it seems one doesn't have to go to the nearest multiplex and Remember the Titans to learn this lesson. Instead, just check out the Tennessee Titans and more than a handful of other teams all around the league on any given Sunday.