A thought experiment for NFL Logos
and RCL Pr24A, sort of.*
Last weekend, I was watching the Sunday afternoon Patriots football game. It wasn’t much of a game. The Patriots are a mess this year. That doesn’t bother me anymore. What was bothering me and was the team logo.
By my count, 38 of the 53 players on the Patriots’ active roster are black. A few more probably identify as people of color. So I don’t think these two Patriot logos make sense.
I’m guessing that these logos don’t make sense either.
The first team to sign a Black player was the LA Rams in 1946. The last team to integrate was the Washington Commanders (then known as the Washington Redskins) in 1962. Today, about 56 percent of the players in the NFL are black. 71 percent identify as people of color or non-white. [Source: NBC News citing a report from the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.]
Most NFL teams have dropped racialized imagery in favor of initials, animals or inanimate objects like stars, a lightning flash or a horseshoe. I think that’s a good thing. But here’s a thought experiment: how would a logo featuring the image of Black man would be received?
* I offer no interpretation of this week’s gospel or paying taxes. I just enjoyed hearing Jesus’s question “Whose image is on this coin?” on the weekend I am asking “whose image is on NFL helmet?”
Next weekend, sadly, we will be attending a Memorial Service for a dear and admired friend. That weekend we will also be celebrating my Beloved’s 70th birthday. That’s a big one! So my “Becoming Anti-racist” camino is paused for the week. But I’ll be back the week after, on Friday November 3.
Thanks for reading.
Excellent observation.