How Mainstream Sports Media Is Tainting Jackie Robinson’s Legacy

Today is a special day in sports history. On April 10, 1947, Jackie Robinson signed his first Major League Baseball contract. Five days later, Robinson would make more history by playing his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the color barrier in baseball.

It is a story, a day, and a reality that should make every sports' fan in America swell with pride. Sports was playing an essential role in rewriting the wrongs of racism our country was plagued by.

Fast-forward 79 years and, according to some sports media members, outlets, and players, you would think that we, as a nation, have made little progress with the issues of prejudice and segregation in sports. 

Unless you live under a rock, you know that ESPN has been hellbent on inserting race into every possible conversation. Whether that be on "First Take," which seems to include some of the most egregious examples, or the now canceled "Around the Horn," it gives you the impression that our country is in trouble racially. 

Here are a few examples to prove this point:

Stephen A. Smith

ESPN's highest paid personality, outside of Pat McAfee, is no stranger to making a sports conversation about race.

• "There's no way around this. This is white privilege," Smith said, speaking about the Nets hiring Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash.
• "We (blacks) don't trust this country in terms of meritocracy… Blacks are underpaid compared to white counterparts." Smith speaking to the 2022 World Series not including any US-born black players.
• "[Brad Stevens] gets the job with the full support of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who, by the way, never insisted that a black candidate be interviewed…" Smith speaking to Brad Stevens getting promoted as Danny Ainge stepped down.
• "They call it Black Monday for a reason… I don't know why they don't call it White Monday." Smith talking about the New England Patriots firing Jerod Mayo after one season.
• "There’s a brother coaching that [Patriots] defense… He’s done a hell of a job…" Smith speaking about New England Patriots' Terrell Williams (brother) during Super Bowl week, who hadn’t coached that season due to prostate cancer. Zak Kuhr, who’s white, was the interim DC.

Ryan Clark

Clark's name has become synonymous with race-baiting on ESPN. He seems to find a strange joy in inserting race into every possible conversation he can on the network and on his podcast, "The Pivot."

• "It is about the fact that the color of [Shedeur Sanders'] skin sometimes at the position can be questioned." Clark insinuating that racism played a factor in Sanders falling in the NFL Draft.
• "One thing we know about RG3 is he’s not having conversations at his home about what black women have to endure in this country." Clark saying Robert Griffin III marrying a white woman prevents him from knowing what black women like Angel Reese go through.
• "This isn’t about racism in football, but the history of this country does play a part in [black coaches not being hired]." Clark speaking about no black head coaches being hired in the NFL this offseason.
• "Sherrone Moore was the first African American head coach at Michigan. Now there's a community of coaches who will be judged because of his action." Clark basically claiming that universities will "discriminate" against black coaching candidates, as if it’s only black coaches that get into sex scandals.

Shedeur Sanders Conversation/Fandom

Another lightning rod for the race-obsessed media was the rise and fall of former Colorado and current Cleveland Browns quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. Many in the media insinuated, or overtly stated, that Shedeur Sanders fell in the NFL Draft due to racism. That racial narrative followed him throughout his rookie campaign. 

• "It smells of racist undertones — of too many white people in charge of this league." Former Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless speaking about Shedeur falling in the Draft.
• "You've only coached three players that I deem ‘cultured’ (black)… It's abundantly clear that you don't want to see Shedeur Sanders win." Former NFL quarterback Cam Newton on his podcast "4th & 1" saying then Browns head Coach Kevin Stefanski was prejudiced toward Sanders.
• "Shedeur Sanders is the most powerful black man since 2009… That's when Obama got elected into office... He (Shedeur) bringing the whole black community together… He's the most powerful black man in sports." Former NBA player and ESPN personality Kendrick Perkins said during the 2025 NFL season.

Jerod Mayo Hiring/Firing

From the outset of the New England Patriots hiring former player and former linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, the conversation was not necessarily about what Mayo could bring to the table as a coach to ensure the Patriots could get back to their winning ways. It was about the color of his skin. Much of his first press conference was focused on his immutable characteristics, rather than his coaching ability, strategy, and other football-related qualifications. 

• "I do see color, because I believe if you don’t see color you can’t see racism... It does matter so we can try to fix the problem we all know we have." Former Patriots head coach Jarod Mayo during his first press conference saying there is a racism problem in America
• "What we know is that black head coaches — if you win 9 games you're likely to get fired. As a white coach, it's 6 games." ESPN personality David Dennis Jr. claiming the NFL, its owners, the Patriots organization, and others in power are racist toward black head coaches.

Clearly, an argument is being made that racism is still a massive issue in sports and America. From the way these sports media personalities talk, you’d think race relations today are not far removed from — if not comparable to — those of 79 years ago, when Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. As for me, I call nonsense.

I could go on at length about why the Rooney Rule — which requires NFL teams to interview a Black or other minority candidate when hiring a head coach or general manager — is, in my view, regressive and even disrespectful. It can put candidates in the position of wondering whether they’re being seriously considered or simply interviewed to check a box based on their skin color, rather than their character and ability to do the job at the highest level.

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes lectured everyone about the NFL’s "lack of diversity" at the head coach position in 2020 during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement. She also had a similar diatribe in 2023, and now sports media is still crying "RaCiSm!" in 2026 because none of the ten head coaching openings went to black coaches, though the league has seen many black head coaches for decades.

ESPN's Peter Schrager said to me in an X exchange, "7 of the 10 teams that didn't hire a minority HC this year have hired minority HCs before. The other three have had minority GMs." So the narrative that racism is an issue in the NFL seems to fall flat.

That hasn't stopped some personalities claiming otherwise, though.

Former Fox Sports personality Emmanuel Acho went as far as saying there is "systemic racism" in the NFL. 

Sports media personality Bomani Jones said, "The NFL has a cancer of racism…"

This victimhood argumentation is so tiresome & nauseating. It's making up a problem where there is none. 

Imagine if I said, "Nearly two decades after the NFL implemented the Rooney Rule, white cornerbacks continue to be largely shut out of starting jobs. And the problem is only getting worse..." I would hope you'd laugh me out of town and call me a clown. 

I mean, just look at the end zones during an NFL game. They say, "End Racism." These leagues want you to believe racism is alive and well.

The NFL's week one games, as well as the Super Bowl, now include an additional National Anthem specifically for black fans. It's racially divisive in my opinion, and doesn't help heal the divide they claim is ravaging our country. 

The NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLS, and other sports leagues are full of black athletes. In many of these leagues, the majority of athletes on the field, court, etc. consist of black players.

Why stop with the examples? Here are a few more showing how race has taken center stage in the sports media conversation and programming over the years, before I get to my final remarks:

WNBA's Jussie Smollett Moment

Bryce Young Got Benched Because He's Black

Only White Sports Can Fight

WNBA Player Claims Caitlin Clark Fans Are Racist 

Caitlin Clark Racially Charged Foul

LeBron James Should Podcast With Black Players Not White Players

Life is Hard For Blacks In America

I could go and on. There's almost too many examples of perceived racism to count. 

Heck, the sports media was screaming from the rooftops about the "historic" number of black QBs starting Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Sixteen to be exact. Then they’re silent. Why? Black QBs were a let-down. More than a third were benched and eleven out of sixteen didn’t make the playoffs. 

If they celebrate someone based solely on their skin color, they should also be able to critique them based on it too.

The sports media’s lack of consistency here is astounding. But hey, they’re consistently inconsistent. I’ll give them that. 

More than anything, we have to stop all of this identity politics nonsense in sports. In my opinion, it devalues Jackie Robinson's legacy. He didn't fight to break the color barrier just so the sports media could create new ones.

I judge quarterbacks and other athletes by their play, not their skin color. After all, sports are about meritocracy; not diversity, equity and inclusion.

RELATED: OutKick's Bobby Burack put together an excellent column today dissecting ESPN's Mark Jones, who has been one of the most racially divisive figures in sports media history.

The sports media is IN LOVE with promoting and elevating black athletes because they either believe the country and/or many of the sports leagues in America are foundationally racist, or they are just obsessed with the victim narrative, in my opinion. 

Do you also notice that almost every single one of these examples is from a black host, reporter, or player? 

Jackie Robinson once said, "The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time."

He went on to say, "Negroes aren’t seeking anything which is not good for the nation as well as ourselves. In order for America to be 100 percent strong — economically, defensively and morally — we cannot afford the waste of having second- and third-class citizens."

There has never been a better time in America to be a black athlete, coach, front office employee, or media member. That's progress. That's what Jackie Robinson fought for, but it doesn't feel like it if you asked many of these media members.

Personally, I believe all of this talk about race only divides us further and is a massive waste of time. Sports should be an outlet away from racial politics, yet it's ingrained in many of the conversations in sports media.

To think that a nation whose most popular and highest paid athletes and sports media personalities are black, whose highest positions of political and corporate power have been held by black folks, is somehow racist, is a bunch of divisive malarkey if you ask me.

This is the beauty of sports: the best athletes play and get rewarded. Fans enjoy watching the best of the best, regardless of skin color. I don’t care what color the cornerback, power forward, coach, or quarterback is, I just want to see the best play the best while cheering with other fans.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said it perfectly when asked about coaching against then head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin: "I think the minute you guys (media) stop making a big deal about [racial representation in coaching], everybody else will." 

If the sports media took Bowles’ statement to heart, we could come together five days from now on Jackie Robinson Day and watch every player in Major League Baseball — Black, white, and everything in between — wear No. 42. We’d be reminded of how sports can drive positive change and unite Americans, just as Jackie Robinson intended.