On December 2, Bills quarterback Josh Allen emerged as a heavy-betting favorite to win the NFL MVP award. We didn’t buy it.
But not because Allen didn’t deserve frontrunner status. He did. He still does. However, we knew it would not last. We predicted that the sports media would pull out all the cards, including the race card, to cost Allen the award in favor of a black player.
And that is exactly what is happening.
Look no further than “First Take,” ESPN’s flagship daily sports talk program. This week, with Stephen A. Smith on vacation, the show has introduced a cast of commentators to discuss the MVP race. You’d assume a debate show would cast a diverse set of voices to debate who should win the award between Allen and Lamar Jackson.
Nope.
Instead, all seven “First Take” commentators this week were black. As expected, all seven of them campaigned for Jackson to win the MVP over Allen.
The white analysts were not invited to the MVP discussion on First Take. #Diversity.
ESPN made this same programming decision during the summer at the height of the Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese Rookie of the Year debate. Every commentator who had a seat at the table was black, and every one of them sided with Reese (until she missed most of the final month of the season due to injury.)
In fact, the two most notable black commentators to side with Clark, Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, apologized after Black Twitter accused them of “selling out.”
Likewise, very few black commentators will publicly advocate for Josh Allen over Lamar Jackson. Allen is a white player from Wyoming who used the N-word as a teenager on Twitter. Meanwhile, the sports media has long cast Jackson as the face of the current black quarterback. Last year, Ryan Clark awarded Jackson the title of the “first true authentic black quarterback.“
Heck, Clark argued on Friday that Jackson deserves the MVP over Allen because he has “evolutionized” what it means to be a black quarterback.
“Lamar Jackson passed Michael Vick for most all-time rushing yards by a QB, but that’s not a single individual’s accomplishment. It’s a collective win for the evolution of the black QB,” Clark said on “First Take.”
“Before Michael Vick, there was a Randall Cunningham. Vick’s Atlanta run inspired Cam Newton, & that paved the way for Lamar. No change of position, or style of play; just evolution, growth, and success. Now, he has to turn his immeasurable skill into a Chip like Doug Williams.”
How is Jackson the “most underappreciated QB in the NFL” as a two-time MVP? Perhaps Josh Allen, who was voted the “most overrated QB,” before the season, has a case for that award too.
Nonetheless, Elle Duncan and Cam Newton just nodded along in agreement. They would never argue against a black player on First Take. Nor would Bart Scott, who, without any proof or sourcing, claimed that Josh Allen only cares about individual awards and not winning Super Bowls.
“If Josh Allen wins MVP and gets knocked out of the playoffs, he probably sees that as a successful season,” Scott commented on “First Take” Thursday.”
Then again, Blaze columnist Jason Whitlock maintains that adding more diversity to the set wouldn’t have made a difference. He’s probably right. After all, white liberals are just as afraid to upset Black Twitter as Ryan Clark and Elle Duncan are.
“You forgot Jokic vs Embiid,” Whitlock posted on X above my post. “Not sure if the convos would go much different if you added color. They’re all afraid of being labeled sellouts or racist on social media.”
Whitlock references the 2022 NBA MVP debate in which ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins infamously tilted the award toward Joel Embiid over Nikola Jokic after falsely accusing voters of a “white player bias.”
Note: just five white players have ever won the NBA MVP award, compared to 29 different black players. Yet Perkins and ESPN thought five was too many.
Now, we don’t dismiss Jackson as an MVP candidate. Jackson has had another MVP-caliber year. However, the idea that no one at the leading sports network in America will argue for Allen is quite revealing.
Allen’s case is not hard to make. The Kansas City Chiefs, the top seed in the AFC, have lost just one game in the past 12 months. It was against the Bills in October as Allen thoroughly outplayed Patrick Mahomes. He led the Bills to a December victory over the Detroit Lions, the top seed in the NFC, in a 48-42 shootout.
Allen’s team has two more wins than Jackson. Unlike Jackson, he didn’t crumble in marquee games against the Eagles and the first Steelers matchup.
He is also asked to do more with less. Jackson has Derrick Henry in the backfield, a stud wide receiver in Zay Flowers, and two Pro Bowl-caliber tight ends. Allen lost his top receiver, Stefon Diggs, in the offseason and has had to make it work with patchwork receivers as Amari Cooper, Keon Coleman, and Dalton Kincaid have been in and out of the lineup battling injuries.
ESPN Senior NFL Writer Jason Reid, author of “The Rise of the Black Quarterback,” tried to counter my argument this week on X by stating that Jackson “has better numbers” than Allen. That’s true. However, the inverse was true last season when Josh Allen (44) had 15 more total touchdowns than Jackson (29), almost 1,000 more passing yards, and a five-point higher QBR. Yet Jackson still won the MVP award.
“Well, Jackson’s Ravens was the No. 1 seed last season,” Reid responded. That’s correct, and Allen’s Bills were one seed lower. Now, let’s check in on the current standings in the AFC this season:
Oh, awkward. Allen’s team is one seed higher than Jackson’s.
So, either Allen deserved the MVP last year and Jackson didn’t, or ESPN’s NFL commentators are just gaslighting for racial purposes. We lean toward the latter.
But it doesn’t matter who deserves to win the MVP award. (It is Josh Allen, by the way.) What matters is whom voters choose. And we expect them to choose Jackson.
Of course, they will.
Accusations of racism, no matter how weak and fabricated they are, are often a death sentence in sports media. Most NFL voters are not going to want to risk that conviction by casting their ballots for a white quarterback over the black quarterback.
At ESPN, especially “First Take,” the belief is that the MVP should no longer be awarded to the most valuable player, but instead to the most valuable black player.
This season, Lamar Jackson is the MVBP.
As Jackson, the electrifying quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, and Allen, the strong-armed signal caller for the Buffalo Bills, compete for the title of league MVP, ESPN has been criticized for focusing too much on their race rather than their on-field performance.
Many fans and analysts argue that Jackson and Allen should be judged solely on their talent, leadership, and impact on their respective teams, rather than their race. However, ESPN’s coverage has often veered into discussions about their backgrounds, skin color, and the supposed implications of their success on the league and society as a whole.
While race may be a factor in the MVP race, it should not overshadow the incredible feats and accomplishments of both Jackson and Allen. It’s time for ESPN to focus on the football and let their play on the field speak for itself. Let’s hope the MVP race remains a fair and unbiased competition, free from unnecessary distractions and controversies.
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