News

The stage is set to make history

  • Published
  • By Col. Michael S. Stough
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Commander
It won't be long before football fans enter hibernation, but for now the excitement's still on the upswing.

We're only two days away from a Super Bowl with a storyline much more interesting than the usual player profiles that normally accompany such events.

For the first time in history, a black coach will take his team to the Super Bowl. In fact, for the first time in history, both teams will be guided by African-American coaches. Which means that for the first time in history, a black coach will win the Super Bowl.

Two weeks ago, Lovie Smith became the first black coach to win an NFL Conference Championship, leading the Chicago Bears to a 39-14 win over the New Orleans Saints.

He was followed just a few hours later by Tony Dungy, whose Indianapolis Colts finally broke the postseason (and New England) curse to beat the Patriots by staging the biggest come-from-behind rally in NFL conference championship history (sorry Tracey).

The stage is now set for more history to be made, and it's only appropriate that it occur during Black History Month.

The NFL continues to make progress in offering leadership opportunities to African Americans.

In 2006, there were seven black head coaches and a record 197 assistant coaches - a far cry from 1980, when there were only 14 black assistant coaches in the entire league.

The recent progress can be traced to an event that occurred roughly five years ago.
A study released by Cyrus Mehri and the late Johnnie Cochran criticized the NFL's minority hiring practices, which prompted then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue to appoint a committee that would address the problem.

Led by Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the committee developed the "Rooney Rule," which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for any vacant head coaching position.

The rule has helped, although a ratio of seven black coaches to 30 teams - in a sport whose players are 70 percent black - reveals that a significant gap still exists.

Another case in point: On the recent Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Jerry Reese became the general manager for the New York Giants - only the third African-American general manager in NFL history.

To its credit, the league's leaders frankly acknowledge the work left undone.
I'll admit that it's hard to believe that blacks are still making history with "firsts" in 2007.
We've come such a long way in our society that I tend to discount race as a factor in anything anymore.

But just as I'm about to engage in self-congratulatory rhetoric, an event like this year's Super Bowl makes me pause and reflect.

I look forward to the day when Black History Month is boring, permeated by a "so what?" attitude that simply accepts equal opportunity and success as givens, regardless of race or gender.

It won't be tomorrow, but this year's Super Bowl tells me we're getting closer to a society that truly offers equal opportunity for all Americans.

I'd say it's about time.