why are there no black kickers/punters??

[grusse]

this has puzzled me for some time.I cannot recall seeing a black kicker or punter in the NFL or CFL, this year or ever!

I don't follow it as closely as many,but I do watch at lwast parts of games, highlights,etc.

Having a few jars of joy with some buds&none of them could recall,either.

I asked my uncle,who's watched football for like forever&he came up with a few names...

1.Cookie Gilchrist, all-star at both fullback&linebacker,plus placekicker for a few CFL teams mid 50's-mid 60's
2.Ed Ulmer all-star db for and punter for Wpg, 60's

these were before the days of the kicker/punter specialists.

3..Merv Fernandez,wr, BC,80's, filled in briefly for Passaglia
4.some punter named Roby, played for Cleveland, 70's or 80's.
this is in over 50 years!!
Now, NFL rosters are,I think, 53 players,of which approx 70% are made up of blacks.
So,out of over 1,100 blacks in the league,NOBODY kicks??

To put it another way,each team has a punter&kicker,so there are 64 positions to fill.
Using the 70%approximation, one might think about 45 of these would be filled by blacks.
Instead there are NONE??

Something is amiss here.

Do black guys not want to kick?If not, why not?
Do coaches not want black guys to kick?If not, why not?

I've never claimed to be the sharpest axe in the woodshed but I'm buggered if I can figure this out.

Perhaps others can cast some light on this?

Thx for any enlightenment.

 

[Man in Submission]

I remember a punter named Reggie Roby who played for Miami was black. I am a NY Jets fan and always had epic divisional battles from Miami so I remember lot of their players. If I am not mistaken he died about 10 years ago, but can probably Google it.

 

[grusse]

I think that's the guy my uncle noted.

Stiil,so few??

 

[buggs312]

The Oakland Raiders punter is african american

 

[1nitestan]

I think physiologically black athletes excel in other areas. Culturally, black athletes are encouraged (by parents, coaches, economics) to pursue skills that do not lend themselves to kicking/punting. American football is such a specialized game.

Look at the Olympics:
Sprinters/ short distance - mostly black
middle distance runners - mostly white
long distance - Kenyan or just small with huge lungs
swimmers/divers - mostly white

 

[vancity_cowboy]

isn't there a rule that kickers/punters aren't allowed to do chicken dances... that might explain it

 

[Hoops]

I'm guessing that many kickers have a soccer background and not as many african american males play soccer.
Also, I wonder if there's a stigma attached to the position that would dissuade an afr amer athlete from trying the position.

 

[manni]

an interesting thread.
could it be because kicking/punting isn't a 'glory' position as say QB/RB/WR?

Reggie Roby was the only one that comes to mind and I do recall he
had a booming punt. at one point, coaching staff started to clock and measure
his punts, and it was nothing short of remarkable.

Not to say that there couldn't be another great black P/K in football but let's face it-
as early as high school, black athletes know that by playing the 'glory' positions gives them a better
chance of athletic scholarships and dates from the campus cuties.

 

[Wasted years]

Justin Medlock was black kicker for the Panthers last year.He was cut though .

 

[sevenofnine]

It might have something to do with genetics. just a guess on my part.
The reason there is no black swimmers in the Olympics is genetics I believe.
Black people can't swim as good as white, a black person can have zero percent body fat, all muscle and bone is hard to stay a float.

I heard somewhere to, black people had a certain type of muscle fiber, that made them natural runners or sprinters and long distance runners.

So body structure or make up might have something to do with it.
Example Tim Tebow there were a few people that criticized him for going into the gym and pumping iron like crazy.
Bulky bulging muscles get in the way of a perfect throwing motion.
So just a guess on my part, but a black person's body might not be suited to kicking, just like they are not suited to swimming.

 

[Aleister Crowley]

isn't there a rule that kickers/punters aren't allowed to do chicken dances... that might explain it

X's two..... i was gonna say same thing , it would be unbearable to watch nfl with a african american kicker doing a jive dance after every kick.
its almost too much now with receivers and tackles.

 

[Tugela]

this has puzzled me for some time.I cannot recall seeing a black kicker or punter in the NFL or CFL, this year or ever!

That is because on average African Americans are bigger and stronger than their counterparts of European/Asian origin. Consequently they dominate in roles that favor players who are bigger and stronger. In football that means most positions. Kicking on the other hand depends more on skill and agility, and everyone is on equal footing in that department. So, although African Americans make up the majority of football players, specialist roles such as the kicker are more representative.

 

[let's review]

Wow. Just wow.

 

[deathreborn]

kind of weird how nfl football is segragated. most qb's, o-lineman, tight ends, punters, kickers are white. most running backs, wideouts, and defensive players are black. if a white guy makes it on defense it's usually as a linebacker. odd exception being jj watt and jared allen both top line white d-ends.

 

[grusse]

thx to all for very thoughtful responses.

seems the soccer background is a factor and maybe the perception of punters/kickers as less macho may come into play.

both deatreborn&BadgerJohn mention how certain positions are more likely to be manned by race.

Badger states, correctly, that, for too many yrs, coaches felt blacks lacked the mental qualifications to be QB.

Looking at the positions more held by whites today....qb(still)center,who must call complex blocking assignments, O-line,who must
understand and carry out the schemes, and , to a lesser extent,but still prob a majority, middle-linebackers,who call defensive signals,makes one wonder
if maybe this lack of confidence on the part of coaches might persist?

As for the chicken dance.....let's leave that nonsense for another thread,lol.