Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles offered a very refreshing take when asked about the upcoming game between his team and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bowles had the following response to the question of how he felt going up against Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin:
Inject this into my veins. Bowles out here telling the truth!
— Jake Crain (@JakeCrain_) October 13, 2022
It’s hard to pick a favorite part of this clip, but we’ll go with Coach Bowles’ response to the casual soft-bigotry of the “grew up like them” question. From Fox News:
ESPN’s Jenna Laine, who is White, pressed Bowles, asking if he “understands that representation matters” across the league.
“You have aspiring coaches and football players, they see you guys — they see someone that looks like them, maybe grew up like them,” Laine said. “That has to mean something.”
“When you say, ‘see you guys,’ and, ‘look like them,’ and ‘grew up like them,’ it means that we’re oddballs to begin with. And I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well,” Bowles said.
Exactly. The media is relentless in their pursuit to inject race into every aspect of our lives, and sports is no exception. We watch sports to come together, not to be driven apart. It’s a celebration of what we have in common, not what makes us different.
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We will have made real progress when no one thinks to ask this question.
I know black coaches are tired of answering it.— HickstheWriter (@njstatesports) October 14, 2022
No doubt. It has to be incredibly frustrating to reach the pinnacle of your profession only to be questioned about immutable characteristics that have no bearing on your job performance.
Love this. Step #1…. Hire the best person you can. Period. For any job
— Jeremy Wheeler (@Jwheelz007) October 14, 2022
Thanks Coach, just good ole common sense!!
— Tiger DEW (@thetigerdew1) October 14, 2022
Three cheers for good old common sense.
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