“The Numbers Don’t Lie”

In our previous pieces we have examined the economics of the sports industry, built in large part on the back of the African American athlete, and the lack of impact the sports dollar makes on the African American community. In particular, we considered the lack of meaningful participation by African American professionals in the delivery of goods and services to athletes in general and to sports-related business and enterprise generally, i.e. banking, accounting, advertising, construction, finance & investment, insurance, marketing, and real estate development.

With the football season in full swing and excitement building across the country, I decided to take a look at African Americans in non-playing positions in football. The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears are both undefeated with rosters dominated by African American athletes. The college football season is also in full swing, and Ohio State has a firm grip on its preseason No. 1 ranking. Quarterback Troy Smith and wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., and running back Antonio Pittman, all African Americans, fuel one of the most explosive offensives in the country.

While African American athletes dominate on the playing field at both the college and professional level, the picture for African American head coaches at either level is not so rosy. In the 1997 and 1998 seasons, there were 8 African American head coaches at the 119 Division 1-A colleges and universities. This season, there are 5 African American head coaches in Division 1-A. Nearly 45% of all college football players are African American and the 5 African American head coaches represents a dismal 4% of all head college football coaches.

Nearly 70% of all NFL players are African American, and the 7 African American head coaches represent 22% of all head coaches. Two (2) of the 7 new head coaches in the NFL for the 2006 season are African American: Herman Edwards, of Kansas City, who last year was head coach of the New York Jets, and Art Shell of the Oakland Raiders. Edwards and Shell, along with Dennis Green of the Arizona Cardinals, represent the only African American head coaches in the history of the NFL to be hired to another head coaching position after being fired as head coach. How precarious is the position of head coach for African Americans….Lovie Smith, the 2005 Coach of the Year in the NFL after leading the Chicago Bears to the NFC Divisional Playoff, was nearly fired after the 2004 season, his first season in Chicago. In his third season, he leads the undefeated Bears, and has completely turned around the team’s fortunes after more than a decade of futility.

Some other interesting NFL diversity facts as of the start of the 2006 NFL season…

• There was not a single majority owner of an NFL team of African descent. There are no African Americans in the President or CEO position in the NFL.
• There were 4 African American general managers in the NFL. With the hiring of Rick Smith by the Houston Texans, there are 5 African American general mangers in the NFL or 15%.
• There were 2 African Americans hired in vice president positions of NFL teams bringing the total to 16 or 10% of all vice president positions in the NFL.
• African Americans occupied 14% of all senior administration positions in the NFL, which include directors, assistant general managers, chief legal counsel, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, public relations director and director of community relations.
• 2 African Americans occupied the team physician position in the NFL and 4 African Americans acted as head athletic trainers.
• African Americans fare much better in the assistant coach position, the coaching positions requiring the most day-to-day interaction with the players. The number of African American assistant coaches remains fairly constant at 162 or 34% of all NFL assistant coaches.

The University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport publishes a Racial and Gender Report Card for the NFL and, based on the above numbers, gave the NFL a “solid B+”. You be the judge!

If you have questions or require additional information, please contact Everett L. Glenn, Esq. at eglenn@espsportslawpro.com or call 562.619.8460.