Identity Politics Ruined Sports Discourse in America | Bobby Burack

Identity politics is in conflict with the truth.

That fact was clear during the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Immediately after the Bills’ overtime loss to the Broncos, the usual suspects in sports media shifted the conversation to alleged media bias, racism, and Lamar Jackson, a quarterback who did not even reach the postseason.

In a viral post, "Rise of the Black Quarterback" author Jason Reid shared an article accusing the media of giving Josh Allen a pass that it would never give Jackson. USA Today race reporter Mike Freeman echoed the same claim. Former ESPN host Bomani Jones mocked the "big galoot" for losing and accused the media of wanting Allen to succeed "badly." Black Sports Online founder Robert Littal opened the postseason by agreeing with a post that "yt media" wants Allen to win at all costs. 

Former NBA player Nick Young added, "The same way yall talk about Lamar I wanna hear the same shit about Josh Allen."

We could cite dozens of similar examples, but the argument is the same. The claim is that the media protects Josh Allen in ways it does not protect Lamar Jackson.

We do not claim to know everything ever said about the two quarterbacks, but we continue to ask those making this charge for examples. Put simply, we cannot find any meaningful ones. Instead, we find examples of the opposite.

Most of the people accusing the media of pampering Allen are the same people who regularly and passionately defend Jackson. Before the start of the playoffs, Ryan Clark said Allen had "no excuses" and that anything short of a Bills Super Bowl victory would be his fault. Clark has previously argued that Jackson should not be blamed for the Ravens’ failures because football is a team sport.

According to Bomani Jones, Josh Allen "blew" the game on Saturday, but Jackson has never "been the reason the Ravens lost" a playoff game. 

However, that position does not align with the postseason records.

Josh Allen has an eight-and-six playoff record with 4,682 total yards, 36 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 101.4 passer rating. Lamar Jackson has a three-and-five playoff record with 2,394 total yards, 13 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and an 84.6 passer rating. Allen is also 2-0 against Jackson head-to-head in the playoffs.

"No one hates Josh Allen just like no one hated Arch Manning. People hate the media’s glazing and therefore take it out on the player. There is a massive difference," Littal said Sunday while attempting to justify his remarks about Allen.

Oh, really? 

So the question remains: Who is giving Allen a pass?

The most influential voices in sports media are the television commentators at ESPN. On a daily basis, the network’s primary football commentators include Stephen A. Smith, Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky, and more than a dozen former black players. That group does not resemble one inclined toward promoting white quarterbacks at the expense of black ones.

For reference, because examples are important to us, we found several instances during the 2023 playoffs in which ESPN commentators blamed Allen for a loss to the Chiefs while absolving Jackson for his loss to Kansas City, despite the latter’s much poorer performance.

Notably, ESPN analyst Domonique Foxworth said on air that he roots for Allen "to fail" because his followers are patriotic and said the media needs to be "careful" when criticizing Jackson to avoid unfair scrutiny.

The commentators pushing this Allen Jackson narrative fit whom Jason Whitlock describes as the racial idolaters. Many of them have built public personas around racially focused commentary, some successfully, others not. They present their work as a moral obligation and use their platforms to defend black athletes while belittling the white ones. 

Much of the coverage reads as virtue signaling. They want audiences to see them as pro-black and anti-white, as if that's best for their individual brands. Maybe it is.

On Sunday, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud delivered the worst performance of the weekend in a 28-to-16 loss to the Patriots. And yet, Cam Newton and Ryan Clark immediately defended him by citing injuries around him.

Both Newton and Clark previously dismissed injuries as an excuse for Allen, arguing that a starting quarterback is expected to overcome his team’s flaws.

Meanwhile, Andscape writer Andrew Jerrell Jones, a very odd guy who doesn’t seem very bright, criticized ESPN for posting a more negative graphic about Stroud than Allen.

We understand the facts are challenging for Jones, but there is a key difference in Allen and Stroud’s performances. Allen posted a modest passer rating of 90.0. Stroud recorded a horrific 28.0.

Allen was just okay. Stroud was bad.

That is not to say that Allen is blameless for the Bills’ loss on Saturday. He missed open throws and committed a costly fumble before halftime that resulted in three points for Denver in a game decided in overtime.

However, the idea that a road loss against a strong defense is some grand referendum on Allen’s career or race relations in the NFL is manufactured. In fact, his performance was similar to Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Both made big plays that kept their teams in contention, and both lost in overtime after reckless throws.

The difference was the response. Williams received praise. Allen did not.

Allen draws this attention for a reason. On draft night in 2018, old social media posts resurfaced showing him using racial slurs. Since then, he has maintained what he describes as a "country boy" ethos, unlike other white quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, who openly align with progressive causes like abortion.

Drake Maye may face similar treatment as he continues to emerge. Stephen A. Smith and Cam Newton have already personalized their coverage of him. For now, Allen remains the big bad white quarterback.

Amusingly, the attacks have seemingly made Allen more popular because of the disdain fans have for Ryan Clark. Likewise, his fawning defense of Jackson has made the Ravens quarterback less popular.

In reality, Allen, Jackson, and Stroud have never participated in the media-generated race war. They all seem like good people off the field who just want to play football. Thus, the pundits pushing the division should be condemned. Their approach is unnecessarily divisive, hateful, and racist by definition.

Analysts who cannot evaluate players by the same standard should not hold national platforms. ESPN and other networks should not employ people who lack the maturity to cover black and white players equally.

Here are some truths that people don’t want to hear: Josh Allen is the second-best quarterback of this generation, behind Patrick Mahomes. The white quarterbacks don’t have privilege in 2026. The black quarterbacks are. And the demand for white privilege in sports vastly outstrips the supply.

Identity politics ruined sports discourse in America.