Raphael Stevens

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    in Football

    How Trump Lost Sports as a Political Strategy

    After George Floyd’s death, many athletes and sports leagues pushed back more forcefully against the president’s demand for standing during the national anthem, and he shifted away from the issue. More

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    in Soccer

    Greg Clarke, England’s F.A. Chief, Quits After Disastrous Testimony

    LONDON — By the time England’s top soccer official apologized for referring to Black players as “colored,” it was probably too late.The official, Greg Clarke, had already told the British parliamentary committee on sports about how South Asians’ filling up the IT department of England’s soccer federation qualified as a diversity problem. But even that was only one part of a disastrous day of fumbling testimony in which he also called being gay a “life choice” and explained away a lack of female goalkeepers by saying he had been told girls “don’t like the ball kicked at them hard.”Then Kevin Brennan, a member of the committee on sports, asked Clarke, the chairman of the English Football Association, if he would like to withdraw the use of the term “colored people,” which he had used when discussing representation in soccer. Clarke, 63, promptly did.“If I said it, I deeply apologize for it,” Clarke said, before confusingly explaining that he had done so because he had worked for many years in the United States where “I was required to use the term ‘people of color.’”“Sometimes I trip over my words and I apologize,” he added.Before the hearing had ended, a chorus of shock, anger and frustration on social media over Clarke’s testimony had grown to include prominent commentators and anti-discrimination campaigners. One member of Parliament labeled his comments “abhorrent.” Within hours, Clarke’s words had cost him his job.In a statement announcing his resignation later on Tuesday, Clarke said he had been thinking about leaving his post even before his unfortunate choice of words at Tuesday’s hearing.“My unacceptable words in front of Parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it,” he said in comments published on the Football Association’s website. “This has crystallized my resolve to move on.”He added, “I am deeply saddened that I have offended those diverse communities in football that I and others worked so hard to include.”Clarke is also Britain’s representative on FIFA’s governing council, where he is a vice president, and a member of the executive committee of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body. It is expected that he will leave those posts — willingly or not — too.That Clarke has been forced out of his job because of offensive comments, particularly his language around race, was not entirely surprising. He was forced to issue an apology after an appearance before the same committee in 2017 when he described institutionalized racism as “fluff.” But his testimony on Tuesday was remarkable for the breadth of groups that he managed to offend.Trying to answer a question about diversity in British soccer, Clarke tried to explain that the issues were nuanced, but did so using an outdated stereotype that has long been viewed as a racist trope in Britain and beyond.“If you go to the IT Department of the F.A., there’s a lot more South Asians than there are Afro-Caribbeans,” he told the lawmakers. “They have different career interests.”Clarke also seemed to suggest that homosexuality was a lifestyle choice and then referred to an anecdote he said he had heard from a coach who told him schoolgirls did not like playing goalkeeper because they “just don’t like having the ball kicked at them hard.”Clarke, who addressed the committee via a video link from his home, had been called to discuss the state of soccer in the country amid ongoing concerns about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic and plans to overhaul the professional leagues.Sanjay Bhandari, the chief executive of Kick It Out, an organization set up to tackle racism in British soccer, expressed his disbelief and issued a sharp rebuke shortly before Clarke announced he would step down.“His use of outdated language to describe Black and Asian people as ‘colored’ is from decades ago and should remain consigned to the dustbin of history,” Bhandari said.Clarke’s comments came less than two months after his counterpart in France, Noël Le Graët, created an outcry there by declaring racism “did not exist” in French soccer. While Le Graët remained in his post, former players and antiracism campaigners were quick to condemn him.For the English soccer federation, Clarke’s departure will sting. The federation has tried in recent years to show it has made great strides in promoting diversity, and on Monday it released the latest update on its three-year equality, diversity and inclusion strategy that it calls “Pursuit of Progress.”David Bernstein, a previous F.A. chairman forced from office, said he believed Clarke’s comments were “symptomatic of an organization that has just been too slow to reform.”The Football Association said it had named Peter McCormick, a lawyer who sits on its board, as the interim chairman while it begins the process to identify Clarke’s successor. His successor will know to speak more carefully. More

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    in Football

    Jets Fall to New Low, 0-9, With Loss to Patriots

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Joe Flacco and the rest of the Jets could feel it.Their first victory of a brutal season was there for the taking. They had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against a struggling New England Patriots team and all the momentum.But just like that, they blew it. And for the first time in franchise history, the Jets are 0-9 after an agonizing 30-27 defeat Monday night.“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” wide receiver Jamison Crowder said. “That was a tough loss right there. That was a game we should’ve won.”Instead, they found a way to lose.Again.“It hurts,” Coach Adam Gase said. “I thought guys battled. They gave everything they had. We had a few mistakes that really cost us — cost us the game.”Maybe none more than the one by Flacco, who was having a terrific night up until that point while starting for injured Sam Darnold.After Nick Folk’s 29-yard field goal with 6:04 left cut the Patriots’ deficit to 27-20, Flacco tried to put the game away. He launched a deep pass downfield for Denzel Mims, but J.C. Jackson intercepted the ill-advised throw.The Patriots took advantage and marched down the field to tie it on Cam Newton’s 1-yard touchdown run.“I’ve been rattling it around in my head and I don’t think I would have made a different decision in the moment,” Flacco said of the play. “But, obviously, I wish I had that one back.”The Jets went three-and-out for the first time all game on its next drive, giving the Patriots the ball back with 47 seconds left.And that set up Folk’s winning 51-yard field goal as time expired, sending the Jets into their bye-week break in disbelief and searching for answers.“We just need to regroup,” Crowder said, “and learn how to finish the ballgame.”They started this one well, which was definite progress for an offense that ranks last in the N.F.L. in nearly every major statistical category.Flacco, playing with Darnold out due to a shoulder injury, threw touchdown passes to Breshad Perriman and Crowder in the first half. Sergio Castillo, in for injured Sam Ficken, kicked field goals of 35 and 50 yards to give the Jets a 20-10 halftime lead.Even after Rex Burkhead’s 1-yard touchdown run made it a three-point game in the third quarter, the Jets answered right back. Flacco connected with Perriman, his teammate in Baltimore from 2015-17, for a 15-yard TD that again made it a 10-point game with 30 seconds left in the period.But the Jets just couldn’t seal it in the end.“They played their (butts) off,” Gase said. “We’re not finding ways to win.”That will probably cost Gase his job at the end of this season. The heat on him has been turned way up with each loss, but it appears unlikely the Jets will make a coaching change during the bye week.But it still won’t be a comfortable week for the coach, who dropped to 7-18 with the Jets after being hired with great expectations — particularly on offense. That hasn’t panned out at all.Darnold’s future is still unclear, and it’s unknown if he’ll be healthy enough to play in the Jets’ next game at Los Angeles against the Chargers on Nov. 22. This season was supposed to be all about Darnold taking the next step in becoming a franchise quarterback in his third season.Instead, he could end up following Gase out the door.The Jets currently hold the No. 1 pick in the N.F.L. draft next April, a position that actually would have been put in jeopardy with a win Monday night. While frustrated fans dream about potentially landing Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Jets coaches and players just want to walk off the field winners at some point.“There are challenges every single week and right now we’re 0-9, so we’re dealing with a lot of those right now,” Flacco said. “And this is just going to be something that adds to it. I think we’ve done a really good job during the week throughout all of this of keeping our heads up and taking it one day at a time.“It’s going to be the job of the coaches and a few guys on this team to make sure we still have that mind-set going forward, as tough as that might be.” More

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    Tom Brady and the Buccaneers Were Blown Out. Was It an Antonio Brown Curse?

    The matchup had been anticipated all season: Tom Brady and Drew Brees, two sure-shot Hall of Fame quarterbacks nearing the ends of their careers, facing off in prime time on Sunday. The fact that their teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints, are battling for control of the N.F.C. South only raised the stakes.This is the N.F.L., though, where troublesome personalities on the field sometimes steal the show, or at least a lot of the attention. In this case, it was the debut of Antonio Brown with the Buccaneers.Brown, an All-Pro wide receiver returned to the field for the first time in 16 months after tumultuous breakups with three teams, self-destructive explosions on social media and several lawsuits, one of which led to an eight-game suspension. Another one — a civil suit accusing him of sexual assault and rape — may go to trial as soon as next month.If that were not problematic enough, his return to the field came with the full-throated endorsement, if not machinations, by Brady, who had bonded with Brown during a brief stint with the Patriots and is even lending him a room in his Tampa-area mansion.In the end, Tampa needed a receiver and was willing to look past any off-field transgressions, though on Sunday they appeared to need a lot more as the Saints blew them out, 38-3, and Brown caught only three passes.Yet Brown’s return to the N.F.L. — after all his legal troubles, his threats to retire and his bad-mouthing of former employers — raised fresh questions about the league’s tolerance for players who act poorly off the field, particularly when it includes accusations of violence against women, an issue that has dogged the league for years.The N.F.L. professes to hold players accountable when they damage the league’s brand. And, indeed, the league suspended Brown for eight games this season — a hefty penalty by its standards — and Brown could be suspended again depending on what is disclosed during his civil suit.But in allowing Brown to suit up yet again, the league risks tacitly normalizing his behavior, which has included fights with a general manager, livestreaming embarrassing video in his team’s locker room and a grievance over which helmet he could wear.Under the cloak of offering second chances, teams often look past a player’s behavior if he has something to offer on the field. Undeniably, Brown, 32, has been immensely talented. His 68 touchdown receptions since 2013, even after sitting out a season and a half, are still the most among active receivers.Teams want to win championships and bet that fans and sponsors will also look past players with checkered lives. In that light, Brown is simply another hired gun, albeit one with a trail of burned bridges, hired to get the Buccaneers to the promised land. He joins other mercenaries like Brady, who signed a $60 million, two-year contract in March; Brady’s favorite tight end, Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement; and running back Leonard Fournette, who spent three rocky years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.“Discipline in the N.F.L. has an inverse relationship to a player’s talent on the field,” said Nellie Drew, the director of the Center for the Advancement of Sport at the University at Buffalo School of Law.In other words, the more talent, the more likely a team looks the other way.The Buccaneers provided all the usual caveats, some of which required back flips and contortions. Coach Bruce Arians said in March he had no interest in Brown. Now that the team has several injured receivers — and a star quarterback who wanted him — Brown seemed like a better fit. Arians added that there was no inconsistency between his well-deserved record of hiring women and signing a player accused of sexual assault.Arians noted that Brown had not been convicted of any crimes. (Brown pleaded no contest to felony burglary and battery charges after an altercation with a truck driver, an episode that led to his eight-game suspension.) Arians said that Brown was in “great shape,” had been “positive” and was “moving forward.” Arians and other coaches on the Buccaneers know Brown from their days together with the Pittsburgh Steelers and would provide support.Even so, Arians suggested Brown would be on a short leash.“I think let the court system do its job,” Arians said. “I mean allegations, I’ve been around a lot of players facing allegations that weren’t true. Some were. So let the court system handle it, and if it’s found out to be true, he won’t be with us.”In some ways, Brown is getting less scrutiny than he would in a normal season. Because of the pandemic, fewer fans are in stadiums, so there is less chance of Brown being booed.Reporters are not allowed in clubhouses this year, so there are no television cameras camped out at his locker. All interviews are done by video conferencing, and team personnel control who asks questions and how long interviews last.Last week, Brown, who wore a “TB12” cap denoting Brady’s health and wellness company, told reporters that Brady was instrumental in his return and had introduced him to the motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Brown said he has been “working on myself within and without” and “not listening to the naysayers.”Still, he hoped to “win them over in my actions, how I move forward and how I handle my business.”Television broadcasters have a different task when discussing Brown because they have a game to produce, too. “Nothing should really overwhelm the game except the game itself,” said Fred Gaudelli, the producer of ‘Sunday Night Football’ at NBC Sports. “Brown will be covered but not at the expense of the game.”On Sunday night, NBC used its pregame show to delve into Brown’s circumstances because there were no unscripted interruptions that might occur during the game. The pregame show, though, has half and sometimes one-third as many viewers as the game.Mike Tirico, the show’s host, introduced the discussion on Brown as “the latest chapter in a saga that has lasted for nearly two years.” He reeled off a list of Brown’s transgressions and travails, including run-ins with his quarterback in Pittsburgh, injuring his foot in cryotherapy sessions, getting fined tens of thousands of dollars for missing workouts and his release by the New England Patriots after allegations of sexual misconduct.Hosts went on to assess whether the “Antonio Brown experiment” would “work” in Tampa. “This has to work for him or he’s out of chances,” Michael Holley said. “And by the way, he’s staying at Tom Brady’s house. That has to work out, right?”Tony Dungy, a former coach, said that Brady’s sponsoring Brown was critical. “Tom Brady, being your quarterback, a veteran, and he vouches for him, and comes to you and says, ‘Coach, we need this guy,’ that definitely impacts your decision-making.”Rodney Harrison, a former teammate of Brady’s, said the 43-year-old quarterback was “the perfect person to manage Antonio Brown” because he would hold the receiver accountable. Harrison never said what that meant.Before kickoff, the sideline reporter, Michele Tafoya, summed up Brown’s problems again. But then it was on to football. Brown’s troubles were discussed again only before halftime.“We’ll see as we move forward,” said Al Michaels, the announcer. “But Bruce Arians making it pretty clear, he toes the line or that’s the end of that.” More