Payton34Sayers40
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So I have debated for over a year about whether or not to relay this story but with all the Watson talk, and today being a holiday and all, I decided to go ahead.
First off, I am an Attorney and I am partners with another guy in my own business. I am black/African American. My wife is white. I am no kid but I am still younger than 40. I say all of that to say that I am not a big believer in excuses, conspiracies and I refuse to let race control my thoughts or day to day activities in life. That said, racism does exist and I have been confronted with it many times in my life. Despite all that I have many white friends and I refuse to let race be the first thing to shape my thoughts about another person that I see or meet.
So anyhow, my wife and I had some friends over to watch the game.... eat pizza, nachos, have a few beers and shoot the shit sort of speak. Keep in mind this is a diverse group of people - around eight or so to be precise (all before Covid), comprised of both black and white people - my business partner, and a couple of other lawyers and their wives - and the subject of Mahomes came up and the fact that the Bears could have had him.
So someone mentions, that our beloved Bears could not only have had Mahomes, but we also could have had Watson. So my wife jumps in and says, "you never told me that, what happened.... how did we miss out on these guys?" Her girlfriend then jumps in and says something similar to that. So the guys are all looking at each other, kind of not wanting to go down that rabbit hole. So anyway, a friend of mine chimes in and says, "well, it had something to do with the car Trubisky drove".
So the guys laugh and the ladies (it seemed like in unison) go, what??? You are kidding us right?? I say, "no, no, he is right.... what he said is right. I mean, its a little more complicated than that, Trubisky was highly rated, but word is, the car thing sealed the deal". So one of my wife's friends jumps and says, "so Mahomes and the other guy (Watson) were not highly rated then?" I say, "yes they were, and, in fact, Watson had just come off practically singlehandedly winning the National Championship game in college football. Mahomes and Watson were both highly rated as well".
So my wife's girlfriend (who is white) goes, "so Pace saw himself in Trubisky".
Wow. That landed like a ton of bricks and I never forget it. She nailed it. She took it to a level that I had refused to go to... even in my own mind, I had refused to go there... I did not want to see that. I did not want to believe that. I did not want to go there. But here it is.... this white girl... recognizing it right away. That brought it home for me.
I am not saying that Pace is racist. Let me repeat, I am not saying that Pace is racist. But what I am saying is that Pace let race have some measure or degree of sway on his judgement. And this is flat out wrong. Judge these guys off of their football talent and their character -- not because you see yourself in them... or can possibly envision yourself somehow being best buds with a player. I have hired many people. I have never once let race influence my decision or cause me to choose one candidate over the other. Pace let that happen here.
So that all brings me to my question:
How many of you are now so staunchly against bringing Watson in now because "you cannot see yourself in him" as my wife's white girlfriend put it. Because you believe that you cannot relate to him... or because, in some way, you want to see a white guy (Trubisky or whoever) in that role because you can relate to him/them (a white guy) better on a personal level? I am not calling you racist. But what I am doing is asking you to check deep within yourself and flesh out whether race is having some pull or influence on your thoughts about who should be quarterback for the Chicago Bears.
First off, I am an Attorney and I am partners with another guy in my own business. I am black/African American. My wife is white. I am no kid but I am still younger than 40. I say all of that to say that I am not a big believer in excuses, conspiracies and I refuse to let race control my thoughts or day to day activities in life. That said, racism does exist and I have been confronted with it many times in my life. Despite all that I have many white friends and I refuse to let race be the first thing to shape my thoughts about another person that I see or meet.
So anyhow, my wife and I had some friends over to watch the game.... eat pizza, nachos, have a few beers and shoot the shit sort of speak. Keep in mind this is a diverse group of people - around eight or so to be precise (all before Covid), comprised of both black and white people - my business partner, and a couple of other lawyers and their wives - and the subject of Mahomes came up and the fact that the Bears could have had him.
So someone mentions, that our beloved Bears could not only have had Mahomes, but we also could have had Watson. So my wife jumps in and says, "you never told me that, what happened.... how did we miss out on these guys?" Her girlfriend then jumps in and says something similar to that. So the guys are all looking at each other, kind of not wanting to go down that rabbit hole. So anyway, a friend of mine chimes in and says, "well, it had something to do with the car Trubisky drove".
So the guys laugh and the ladies (it seemed like in unison) go, what??? You are kidding us right?? I say, "no, no, he is right.... what he said is right. I mean, its a little more complicated than that, Trubisky was highly rated, but word is, the car thing sealed the deal". So one of my wife's friends jumps and says, "so Mahomes and the other guy (Watson) were not highly rated then?" I say, "yes they were, and, in fact, Watson had just come off practically singlehandedly winning the National Championship game in college football. Mahomes and Watson were both highly rated as well".
So my wife's girlfriend (who is white) goes, "so Pace saw himself in Trubisky".
Wow. That landed like a ton of bricks and I never forget it. She nailed it. She took it to a level that I had refused to go to... even in my own mind, I had refused to go there... I did not want to see that. I did not want to believe that. I did not want to go there. But here it is.... this white girl... recognizing it right away. That brought it home for me.
I am not saying that Pace is racist. Let me repeat, I am not saying that Pace is racist. But what I am saying is that Pace let race have some measure or degree of sway on his judgement. And this is flat out wrong. Judge these guys off of their football talent and their character -- not because you see yourself in them... or can possibly envision yourself somehow being best buds with a player. I have hired many people. I have never once let race influence my decision or cause me to choose one candidate over the other. Pace let that happen here.
So that all brings me to my question:
How many of you are now so staunchly against bringing Watson in now because "you cannot see yourself in him" as my wife's white girlfriend put it. Because you believe that you cannot relate to him... or because, in some way, you want to see a white guy (Trubisky or whoever) in that role because you can relate to him/them (a white guy) better on a personal level? I am not calling you racist. But what I am doing is asking you to check deep within yourself and flesh out whether race is having some pull or influence on your thoughts about who should be quarterback for the Chicago Bears.
