by Gus Griffin

In high school I remember playing football against a guy named David Craft.

He was not that big or fast.  He was white and be it consciously or subconsciously, I suppose initially that played a role in his being underestimated.  But you did not need multiple chances trying to tackle him to come to realize that David Craft was good….not good for a white boy….good, period!

Watching Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey this year reminded me of Craft.  As a die-hard USC fan, I saw much more of McCaffrey than I cared to see……enough to believe that he should have won the Heisman trophy.

He didn’t and it’s hard to know if the reasoning was SEC bias in favor of Derrick Henry, or regional bias in that all too many voters don’t bother to make it a point to watch the later showing west coast games, or the simple anti-stereotypical reality that McCaffrey is white and voters have a mold of the football running back that he simply can’t accommodate.

What I do know is that even if race did play a role in McCaffrey not winning the award, it is in no way a validation of the existence of reverse racism, and to make such a comparison amounts to a false equivalency on steroids.

Those who make this claim are either being shamefully disingenuous or have a child-like understanding of the concept of racism and more specifically in this case, white privilege.

Simply put, in no way will McCaffrey not winning the Heisman adversely affect his quality of life.  His opportunities going forward as an NFL prospect and Stanford graduate will be there.  Opportunities for his children to get a good education and fulfill other quality of life indicators are not affected.  The same can’t be said for the children of Eric Garner.

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports