Sports
Justin Fields, Malik Willis and the Effectiveness of Second Chance for Black Quarterbacks

Earlier this summer, when the NFL released its 2024-25 schedule, the date that caught my eye was September 15: The Pittsburgh Steelers were traveling to Denver to play the Broncos. I immediately circled the date and made plans to attend. It could be Russell Wilson’s rematch.
After 10 seasons in Seattle, including two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win, Wilson was moved to Denver. This was before Sean Payton became the Broncos’ head coach. Wilson and Payton were never on the same page, and Wilson was cut from the lineup with two games remaining in the season.
As it seems, Justin Fields — who was traded from Chicago to Pittsburgh in March — was ultimately expected to begin Sunday’s game against Denver. The Steelers announced Wilson would start this season, but a nagging calf injury catapulted the 25-year-old Fields into the starting lineup.
Fields is 2-0 as a starter, including Sunday’s 13-6 win over the Broncos.
When Fields addressed reporters after Sunday’s game, he mentioned that Wilson had been given a petty game ball. A petty game ball is something Tomlin presents when the Steelers beat a selected player’s previous team.
I believed Wilson was disrespected by the Broncos organization, and by Payton as well. Fields clearly felt the same way. After Sunday’s game in Denver, Fields shared his candid thoughts on what happened to Wilson in Denver. “I think we all know Russ was treated a little unfairly last year,” Fields said. “I know he knows he wants to play in today’s game, but it was awesome to get the win for him.”
Fields makes a robust case for remaining the Steelers starter whilst Wilson is poised to return. He has led Pittsburgh to wins over Atlanta and now Denver in his first two games of the season. But Fields looked as if it would suggest Sunday that he’s more concerned with respect for the elder Wilson, who has achieved a lot for black quarterbacks in the league.
Sunday was one other great day for Fields, who’s returning to form after three controversial years in Chicago, where he was essentially kicked off the team and moved to Pittsburgh to compete with Wilson for a starting spot.

Barry Reeger-USA TODAY Sports
Of all the landing spots listed for Fields, I believed Pittsburgh was the best fit. The Steelers are a solid organization. In Pittsburgh, the 25-year-old Fields wouldn’t only be under the tutelage of the 35-year-old Russell Wilson, but he would even have Mike Tomlin as his head coach. Wilson and Fields are at different stages of their careers and have different missions. Wilson was a Super Bowl winner and a Hall of Famer trying to end his profession on a high note. Fields is just attempting to do what Wilson has already done. In Pittsburgh, either quarterback could reclaim his profession: Wilson as the dignified elder statesman, and Fields as the talented young quarterback who simply needed a second likelihood.
Chicago has change into toxic to Fields, who has faced constant criticism — some of it deserved — because of the normal struggles of learning the game at this complicated position. He still must work on reading defenses and not holding on to the ball too long, but he’s fiddling with confidence.
Now Fields has a fresh start. This could also be one of the underrated points of the emergence of black quarterbacks: the all-important second likelihood, a fresh start in life.

There was a time in the evolution of black quarterbacks where there was barely a primary opportunity, let alone a second, to play the position. The beauty of what we see in the league now’s that there are so many various configurations of black quarterbacks. There are black quarterbacks competing with and supporting other black quarterbacks, and on any given Sunday there will probably be multiple games where two black quarterbacks will face one another.
The theme of recovery and second probabilities was highlighted in Green Bay on Sunday, where Malik Willis, a third-round pick in 2022 by the Tennessee Titans, stepped in and saved the day. Just 19 days after trading Willis, the Packers were forced to begin him in place of Jordan Love, who was injured in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Willis, like Fields, has not had an awesome run with the team that drafted him. In some ways, Willis’ profession has been defined by a disastrous start against the Kansas City Chiefs a couple of years ago, when he was clearly an underdog.
But on Sunday, Willis stepped into the role of quarterback and helped Green Bay to a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts, a team that has its own spectacular black quarterback (Anthony Richardson).
Willis wasn’t spectacular, but he made plays after they needed to be made and used his athleticism to get out of trouble and keep plays alive. Willis accomplished 12 of 14 passes, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt, threw a third-down pass and ran for 41 yards. He didn’t lose the ball or get sacked in the Packers’ win.
After the game, Packers head coach Matt LeFleur praised Willis in a way that black quarterbacks would never have received years ago.
“I don’t think you can appreciate or even comprehend the task that Malik Willis … that guy was given three weeks ago,” he said. “For him to go out there and run our offense — we still had a lot of long decisions, we had substitutions, we had moves, a lot of different running patterns. He had a lot on his plate. And for him to go out there and do what he did today, I think it says a lot about who he is as a person and the work he puts in. I’m just super proud of him.”
Willis will probably be relegated to the bench when Love returns, but he’s in the process of revitalizing his profession. Fields spent three tumultuous years in Chicago before the organization decided it had had enough and shipped him to Pittsburgh. Fields’ rise in Pittsburgh illustrates the depth of black quarterbacks and the existence of a second likelihood to flourish.
When I have a look at the conversations we had about black quarterbacks, I take into consideration the same conversations we had about black middle linebackers and free safeties. Those were the so-called thinker positions that African-Americans supposedly couldn’t play. Over time, there have been so many black linebackers and free safeties that it became ridiculous to count.
Here’s the state of affairs for black quarterbacks in the NFL: There’s depth and there are second probabilities. In Week 1, six black quarterbacks faced one another in five of the NFL’s biggest games: Patrick Mahomes vs. Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts vs. Love, Dak Prescott vs. Deshaun Watson.
This will probably be a trend that can proceed. Only one query stays: When will we stop counting?
Sports
Coach San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich leaves the legacy of expressing injustice

Gregg Popovich, the most important coach of San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich, won the highest and maybe the largest coach in NBA history outside the side line. It also disappeared, but actually not forgotten, Popovich used his platform to talk against racial, social and political injustice.
“He was probably one of the first trainers of the modern generation, who really spoke about politics and social injustice,” said coach Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr, a former guard of Spurs near Popuvich. “One of my favorite trainers is (former basketball coach of men from the University of North Karolina) Dean Smith. Dean Smith in the 1960s. He helped break the racial barriers in the south, refusing to take his team in some places for staying or eating. Coaches who really distinguish me. “
Spurs announced the retirement of Popovich from coaching on May 2 after 33 years as the most important trainer. Naismith Hall of Famer is the NBA leader in the field of coaching victories with 1422 wins in the regular season. The three -time NBA coach led Spurs to 5 championships. The 76-year-old also took third place in winning the playoffs.
Popovich trained the Spurs dynasty, which included the NBA championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, Hall of Famers David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Future Hall of Famer Kawhi Leonard. With the NBA All-Star Center Victor Wembanyama, in its composition, Popovich trained only five matches this season, after which he suffered a stroke in a team facility on November 2, 2024. He never returned out of bord.
Popovich will remain in Spurs as the president of basketball operations and was replaced by Mitch Johnson, who was a short lived team of the team this season.
“It’s a sad day. It’s also an encouraging day,” said Kerr on May 2. “This is a natural transition for him organizationally to go to the next role. He also gives him space and time that he must regain after health problems.
“So I got a lot of mixed emotions … mainly my love for pop. My empathy for what has gone through with the Spurs organization. All of the above. This is a very emotional day for everyone involved. Thank you, pop.”
Coach Houston Rockets, Ime Udoka, former guard of Spurs and assistant coach near Popowicz, said on May 2: “This is a sweet -bitter day, of course, for all of us. But I am glad that he is in the good place. And I am glad that he is good with his family. A special day. A special person. One of the best for it. I am happy that I have a chance to work with him and call him.”
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Popovich also had an impact on the world, undeniably using his platform to speak about injustice. What made his openness much more unique was that he was a white man who spoke about marginalized individuals who didn’t seem like him.
Former San Antonio Spurs Forward Lamarcus Aldridge once described Popovich as “color blindness” to Andcape. Popovich was also known that he normally had an inventory with international talent.
“When you meet him, color doesn’t matter to him,” Aldridge said about Popovich. “It can refer. People can say that he and Stephen Jackson are really close. Stephen Jackson is the opposite of being from Europe. It doesn’t matter who you are. He connects with all people … He is so open to everything.”
Popovich once expressed respect for the playmaker San Francisco 49ers Colin Kapernicka and his national protest. These were the words of a person who attended the American Air Force Academy and obtained a bachelor’s degree in the field of Soviet studies. He served five years of the required lively service in the Air Force and once considered a profession in the CIA.
“A quite good group of people immediately thought that they did not respect the army,” said Popovich once. “It had nothing to do with his protest. In fact, he was able to do what he did because of what the army was doing for us. Most people think about it, but there will always be an element that wants to jump on fashion and this is unfortunate in our country.”
Popovich once took Spurs to the private screening of the film “Chi-raq” with the famous film director Spike Lee. Popovich had a former John Carlos track star, who joined Tommie Smith to get a controversial salut of black power on the podium medal during the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, confer with his team. Popovich gave his players the book “Between the world and me” by Tahisi Coates, who was written as a letter to the writer’s teenage son about reality, emotions and symbolism of being an African American in the United States. Popovich also took his team for the show “The Birth of the Nation”, the film Parker invested about Nat Turner, who managed the historic riot of slaves in 1831 and see the famous art of “Hamilton” in New York.
“It is obvious that the domestic plane of slavery still penetrates our social system in this country,” said Popovich once. “People want to ignore it, they don’t want to talk about it because it is uncomfortable.”
Popovich also described the race in America as “elephant in peace.” He believed that the White Americans didn’t understand the pain and stress related to being an African American. Popovich remembered listening to the black assistants of trainers about how that they had to confer with children about the best way to cope with the police in the event that they were confronted. He said it was something that as a white man never had in common together with his two children.
“It’s easier for white people because we haven’t experienced this experience. For many white people it is difficult to understand the everyday feeling with which many black people are dealing with,” Popovich once said. “I did not talk to my children about how to behave in front of a policeman when you stop. I did not have to do it. All my black friends did it. There is something that is wrong in it and we all know it.”

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Popovich also also talked about what he thinks were injustices in the American government, particularly against President Donald Trump. During October 27, 2024, a press conferencePopovich described Trump as “pathetic” and accused him of supporting the culture of racism and division in America. Popovich also added that he believes that Trump has confirmed racism, which normalized and legitimized discrimination on this process.
Popovich recurrently talked about the control of weapons. In 2023, Popovich gave an unnecessary, nine -minute lobbying lobbying for the laws of weapon control in America and criticizing “cowardly legislators who are selfish” before the match in Dallas. Popovich criticized republican legislators in Texas and Tennessee, and in addition expressed contempt for the expedition of representatives in 2023 Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the Chamber of Representatives in Tennessee. Two black democrats were demonstrating weapons control on the floor of the chamber after a shooting in Nashville. Popovich called the provisions on the resistance of weapon control, an try and “clog all these things (in) the myth of the second amendment.”
“I was wondering because we have a governor and governor governor and prosecutor general, who made it easier to have more weapons,” Popovich said, referring to politicians from Texas. “It was a response to the murder of our children. I just thought it was a bit strange decision. But it’s just me.”
So how did Popovich develop into so conscious, caring and vocal?
The son of a Croatian father and Serbian mother organized naturally about other cultures, growing up in a racially diverse eastern Chicago in Indiana, 18 miles from the Chicago center. According to the universal census of the United States of 2010, Eastern Chicago had 42.9% black, 35.5% white and 19.1% of other races. Popovich attributed his military origin for making him aware of the world. He also learned about the world when he played basketball for the American Basketball Team of the Armed Forces in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
“When you meet him and learn about his upbringing and his origin, raised in (suburbs) Gary, Indian, in a multicultural district …”-said Udoka. “He all the time talked about the neighbors he had – an Italian family, a Jewish family, a black family. Everything around him was immigrants and his.
“This is the core of who it is. It is appropriate, regardless of whether you are black, white or different.”
Kerr also spoke about social injustice, racism, violence with weapons and political problems during the training of warriors. He recognized Popovich for uplifting him to make use of his platform to talk.
“I was 100% inspired by pop for the courage to speak and take the hits you do,” said Kerr. “I met POP after I signed a contract with Spurs in 1999 during the blockade. You can see the sacrifice for his country. A proud air force graduate. From the first national anthem (played in the game Spurs) I saw how he stood on an unusual American flut.
“This is a belief together with, say, the Shenanigans of this country politically – in actual fact all BS began at the moment, at the turn of the century … between social media and Buffoners politically, on this era, wherein everyone screams against one another.
Sports
Why America still makes the black fathers of sports villains

In the sports industry value a billion dollars there isn’t any image more quietly threatening to the system than a robust, engaged black father.
We see it time and again.
Lavar Ball is known as boastful.
Deion Sanders is known as selfish.
Richard Williams was crazy long before the world learned the names Venus and Serena.
Lebron James is in some way criticized for being too publicly supporting his son Brony.
Earl Woods was presented as a controlling character, even when he raised one of the biggest golfers he had ever seen.
Cecil Newton Sr. He met with public control simply following his son CAM.
The plan is evident: when the black father stands at the center of his child’s success – leading, protecting, moving away from exploitation – the media paint him as an issue.
As Egomaniak.
As someone “bothers”.
Why?
Because strong black fathers disturb the narrative.
The system is just not only invested in the talent of black athletes – it invests in controlling them.
A young black athlete without suggestions is less complicated to control. Easier to pay. Easier to face against others. Easier to the brand, profit and reject when it’s comfortable.
A powerful black father changes the terms of the contract.
Requires higher contracts.
He asks about coaching decisions.
It protects the mental health of your child from the franchise.
He reminds the world that his son or daughter is just not only an asset – but a human being along with his family, dreams and dignity.
And that is where real fear lies.
The image of a united black family – not broken, absent, not broken – a challenge of deeply rooted stereotypes on which American society has long been about the justification of inequalities.
A powerful black man standing next to his child and says that he is just not perceived as an act of love, but as an act of revolt.
It is less complicated to submit a father than to confess that the system is designed to make use of athletes, while they’re young, sensitive and isolated.
It is less complicated to make fun of yourself than to confront the truth:
Black families who stick together support one another and are fiercely in favor of their very own, are irrefutable, not a threat.

When Deion Sanders tells his sons that they’re kings, not goods, it worries the old order.
When Richard Williams insists that his daughters are larger than tennis, he prescribes the rules.
When Lavar Ball dreams loudly for his sons, he scares a system that prefers black athletes to be grateful and quiet.
But let’s be clear:
It is just not their trust that threatens the sports industry.
It’s their love.
Their refusal to permission to their children used and rejected to the side.
Their impudence is consider that they deserve sitting at the table – and pull up the chair without not asking for permission.
Black fathers in sport should not villains.
They are architects.
They are defenders.
These are a shield between industries value a billion dollars and kids, otherwise they consumed.
Or possibly this can be a real story that America doesn’t wish to tell.

”
)
Sports
Ball Up Top: Lakers, Fakers, Quakers … Wolves in 5

“Ball Up Top” is a weekly NBA video series in which David Dennis Jr. With AndScape he talks about hot topics in the league and popular culture with special guests in addition to personalities and sejds.
In episode 8, David is joined by a senior author Justin Tinsley to debate Los Angeles Lakers, who was rejected from Playoffs and what to do next. In addition, a really exciting opera clip that David cannot stop enthusiastic about.
Episode 8, 2 May 2025
Host: David Dennis Jr.
Guests: Justin Tinsley
Manufacturers: Charles Abankwa, Ryan Cortes, Rodney Davis, Chris Gavin, Charles Peach
Archives
Episode 1 (March 7, 2025): Quentin Richardson on Phoenix Suns, his moment “Welcome to the NBA” and beef with “Nad edge”
Episode 2 (March 14, 2025): Plus/Minus! Nikola Jokic (not) MVP, whose Knicks and Lakers don’t need to see, asks Cooper Flagg
Episode 3 (March 21, 2025): Danny Green evaluates his pretenders to the Western Conference, members of the Abrevocal Team
Episode 4 (March 28, 2025): Talking Heat Culture after the outbreak of warriors, more plus/minus
Episode 5 (April 4, 2025): The most vital games left in the NBA schedule
Episode 6 (April 17, 2025): Kazeem Famuyide talks NBA Playoffs, Wrestlemania 41, Army X
Episode 7 (April 24, 2025): Which NBA Playoffs teams are cooked/not cooked?
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