The findings of this research ended up sharing some similarities and differences from my original perspectives that I developed from the literature review. The three themes from my findings were “White and Black Back Pedaling;” “Minority Analysts;” and “Parallel Equality.”
Colin Kaepernick, much like Muhammad Ali, was often denied a voice. This resembled incidents with athletes like Muhammad Ali, who were denied the right to express his political voice in sports (Farred 2008). The white quarterback who expressed his voice in politics like Cousins was given more leeway.
Occasionally, Black analysts would focus on the physicality rather than the intelligence of a Black quarterback, thereby reinforcing racial stereotypes. As Black coworkers saw white counterparts as more fit for tasks that required intelligence rather than physical traits (Ashburn-Nardo, & Johnson 2008), findings implicated similar incidents where Black analysts found white quarterbacks more fit for the job than Black quarterbacks due to the stereotypical inherent traits they were labeled to possess. Black athletes tend to be given credit for their success due to the physical traits they inherently possess (Johnson & Romney 2018), rather than intellect or intelligence. findings implicated as well as Black quarterbacks on occasion were given credit success due to the stereotypical inherent traits they were labeled to possess.
I also found a theme of parallel equality, regarding women’s representation of quarterbacks in the media, though this was not covered in the literature review. Women were evenly distributed in the media representation of quarterbacks by racial identity. These findings contradicted Krowe’s study of controversy surrounding athletes; Black athletes were presented by the media in ways that were less favorable to the public than were their white counterparts (Krowe 2020). Female analysts’ inputs provided balanced and equitable representations of these quarterbacks, placing both in better positions with the public. Representation by former players was also evenly distributed, which could pose the question whether biased representation was occurring or point of views were coming from a football perspective.