“Son, you be prepared to work twice as hard for half the chance.”

- Advice given by my parents to me, circa 1972. Repeated on a regular basis ever since.

It was always about The Chance.

When you grow up black in this country, you recognize that race will always Be There. The Pink Elephant in the room that is America. If you don’t subscribe to being a victim, you also know that you have to you had to acknowledge it.
 

Then ignore it and work twice as hard. Or else the elephant tramples you.

For too many years in the NFL, the relevant pink elephant was whether blacks could be the acknowledged leaders of their teams. That is why centers, middle linebackers and quarterbacks who were black were such rarities. Centers make the line calls. Middle linebackers were the defensive signal callers, and there is no need to explain the quarterback position. First position to fall was the middle linebacker spot, with Willie Lanier leading a vaunted Kansas City defense in the 1960’s and 70’s. Eventually we have now got to the point where no one seriously thinks about switching a Vince Young to receiver.  And that is real progress.  You forget a future Hall Of famer like Warren Moon threw his first NFL pass at age 28.

2005. The elephant is not as pink as before. Smaller too. And maybe the elephant is gone from this corner of society for good. Because only the head coaching spot remains.

It is great to see the success of the Big Game Hunters Marvin Lewis, Lovie Smith, and Tony Dungy. It is easy to forget how hard the road was for each man to travel. For example, Dungy was the youngest defensive coordinator in NFL history at 29 with the Steelers. In his stints with Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Minnesota, Dungy's defenses were always among the NFL's best and most opportunistic. Yet, it took 10 years to get his shot. I mean how can anyone explain that? How in the hell did David Shula – David Freakin Shula - get a five year run in Cincy ahead of Dungy? And when he got his chance, it was with the pathetic Tampa Bay Bucs, the worst franchise in NFL history up to that point. All he did was turn them into a perennial contender.

In two years.  

Half a chance.

Twice as good.

In fact, with the exception of Marvin Lewis, every black coach in NFL history to date has gotten his team to the playoffs within two seasons. Art Shell, Ray Rhodes, Dennis Green, Dungy, Herman Edwards, Lovie Smith all did it in their 1st or 2nd season with their first teams. Only Edwards can be said to have walked into a situation that was not marked “Total Disaster”.   Half a chance.

Cleveland Browns fans should be inspired. 

I’m sure someone will read this and accuse me of bringing up the so-called “Race Card”, as if life is some game of BizzaroWorld game of Texas Hold ‘Em that I can win playing it at any time.

Please.

Don’t be upset with me. If you’re a Lions fan, be upset with Matt Millen because Crennell, Edwards, Smith and Lewis were available, and you got stuck with Marty Morningwheg and Steve Mariucci.

Bills fans, you must be happy with Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey right now. And Bears fans? Oh yeah, the front office got wise and got Lovie.

The tragedy is that the NFL had to mandate interviews just to get a qualified minority candidate in the front door – which met with some criticism. Not surprising, because doing The Right Thing isn’t easy, and seldom painless.

You know, whenever we talk about race in this country, and our efforts to atone – or at least redeem - for past sins, some people usually think it’s about getting even.

It’s never been about that. It’s about starting even. About the simple acknowledgment of The Elephant when it matters. Hell, anyone can acknowledge it 50 years later.

Perhaps acknowledging The Elephant will help Art Shell. The man is still waiting for a second chance - hell he's still waiting for a serious interview - despite a 54-38 (.587) record. You look for reasonable, rational reasons why when Dave Wannstedt goes 82-86 in two tries, and Norv Turner gets two shots to go 58-80-1. Ask yourself why Sherman Lewis never got a chance. I don’t want to look in that dark corner, but when the rational explanations are exhausted, what are you left with? But now, just maybe, we’re seeing an end to an era. It’s why I root for a Colts-Bengals AFC Title Game.

So that when I see it, I can say it. Ding ####. The Elephant is dead. Here’s to The Chance.

Hey peeps, It seemed like a good time to answer a few questions that people have asked me off-line, and in repsonse to blogs.. Coach Of The Year - Honestly, I focused on the AFC. Simple. In the NFC, the only candidates to me are Lovie Smith and Mike Holmgren. Jim Mora Jr. had a chance, but Atlanta can't stay consistent. And I will admit, the Sunday Night Smackdown applied by Da Bears had a big influence on my mythical vote. Seattle is on pace for a 13-3 record, but honestly, Holmgren had underachieved in seasons past. His Super Bowl past is the only reason why he kept his job to this date. I look at this performance as his team FINALLY playing to the level that many expected. And I still question how good his defense is, but when you have a hammer like Stephen Alexander, all things are possible. Which leaves Lovie Smith of Da Bears.

I don't care how weak the NFC North is, when you play as well as they have with Kyle Orton starting your first 12 games, and your 5th overall pick barely getting on the field, that is coaching. Pure and simple, Lovie Smith can coach defense. The Rams haven't been the same since he left. You look at Grossman's injury, a weak passing game, players breaking a teammate's jaw - nothing derail them. Now you can say that this looks a lot like the 2000 Bears team - that team went 13-3, but was clearly not as good as its record. That team also had a smashmouth running game with Anthony Thomas, a limited by careful QB in Jim Miller, and a nasty defense. Time will tell how this Bears team will go, after all, the Vikings still have a chance to steal the division. But there is no doubt that Lovie's bunch can win at least one playoff game in the NFC. All in all he gets my vote for NFC Coach of The Year. But if I had to pick one coach for the the *NFL* CoY, it will be Marvin Lewis. Not just because if the Bengals played the Bears, I think the Bengals would win in convincing fashion. It's because Lewis had to dig this team out of a deeper hole than Lovie Smith (and the Bears weren't exactly a favored destination). The Orange Tigers wasn't just a bad team - the Bengals were a bad organization, and had been for a long time. Cincy plays in a tougher conference and division. Lovie should win a deserving NFC Coach of the Year, but Marvin Lewis gets mine for the AFC/NFL coach. -------------------------------------------