Saints quarterback Derek Carr's outbursts shows double standard for Black players

You may have seen New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr repeatedly scream at teammates in the team's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. What you may have missed was the larger significance of his actions. A significance that has greater repercussions than just a player shouting.

Carr publicly expressed dissatisfaction with teammates, even screaming at Chris Olave, who did run a wrong route. Still, Carr's behavior was questionable, at best.

"I’ve been showing my emotion a little bit too much on my sleeve," Carr said. "You know, like, I kind of got to kind of chill out, and that’s me holding myself accountable. Because that’s not going to help anything. And so just trying to be a calming influence in those moments, especially when it’s been a couple time it’s happened, that heightened frustration. I can do a better job as a leader to calm everybody down."

Then Carr added: "There were some things that happened today that led to some pretty big negative plays that should never happen, and I think that’s where my frustration was coming from."

It has to be emphasized how rare it is for quarterbacks to talk and act this way. Most quarterbacks take the blame even when it's not their fault. You don't see Saints players publicly blaming Carr every time he throws a pass into the dirt. Which happens a lot.

This wasn't the first time Carr has publicly gone off on someone. He yelled at his offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael, during a sideline outburst in the fourth quarter of New Orleans' 20-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 15. Carr said he apologized to Carmichael for the outburst that he claims wasn't directed at Carmichael (which it clearly was) and said his anger on Thursday was not aimed at Olave (which it clearly was).

Football players, like other people, will get mad. Teammates will scream at each other. It happens. But what Carr is doing seems extra even in that context.

Yet despite all of that there are few people, particularly in the media, publicly calling Carr selfish or a jerk. I saw him described as a competitor on the NFL Network who just wants to make everyone better. His petulant behavior hasn't led to him being labeled as a bad teammate, either. There was no intense dissection of his actions in the sports talk universe. His transgressions are mostly being ignored.

You understand why, don't you?

White players can act this way with few repercussions. A Black Derek Carr would be obliterated by now (Black Derek Carr is going to be the name of my next fantasy team). Fox News would run segments called "Where Are The Black Fathers?" if Black quarterbacks acted the way Carr consistently does. In some ways, the same goes for Black coaches. They would get pummeled if they yelled at players the way Alabama coach Nick Saban does.

Black athletes have to be flawless. Anything less than a perfect temperament is viewed as problematic. This double standard happens both on and off the field. LeBron James once outlined a hypothetical about the reaction he would get if he was out with his family during dinner and was interrupted by someone wanting a picture, as opposed to if it was Tom Brady and the same thing occurred.

"If it's (Tom) Brady, if it's (Aaron) Rodgers, if it's (Peyton) Manning. And we're doing the same (expletive), the same exact (expletive)," James said. "I'm talking about a phone is out. We're like, 'Yo, get that (expletive) phone out of my face. I'm with my family.'

"If we're out with our family and we say that (expletive) and somebody posts it, and if Aaron Rodgers or one of those guys say that (expletive) and they post it, somebody's going to be like, 'Hey, you guys should respect Aaron Rodgers.'"

This column will make some of you mad and, well, what else is new. But what I'm saying is also accurate. And you know it is.

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Don't confuse things. I'm not saying Black coaches and players never yell. Or don't ever get a pass for behaving like a putz. That's not the point. This is more about the difference in perception when Black players and coaches do what Carr does.

No Black quarterback would be able to act like that without suffering significant media backlash. Carr has gotten some of it but not nearly the same amount if, for example, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson constantly and publicly belittled his teammates. Carr is called a competitor but Jackson would be viewed as a bad teammate and selfish. I know this is true because we've seen this type of thing before.

Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens was constantly called a cancer by the media because of his disputes with teammates. To be sure, Owens could be problematic, but he didn't get into trouble off the field, and was one of the hardest workers of his era. Yet this was once written about him: "There has never been a more selfish player in the history of the NFL than Terrell Owens." Not exactly sure how you measure such a thing.

Former NFL receiver Chad Johnson got the same treatment. So did Odell Beckham. So have other Black athletes and athletes of color over the years. Bleacher Report once did a top 10 list of the most selfish players in sports. You'll notice a pattern with the list. Ring the bell when you see it.

One of the few high-profile times you saw a non-white player catch (mild) heat for pointing fingers at teammates or coaches was when Peyton Manning, in a relatively placid critique, blamed his offensive line. Manning also once got into an infamous shouting match with Jeff Saturday. None of that ever stuck to Manning.

There was an ESPN story recently about the miscommunication between Carr and the receivers, and one of those pass catchers, Michael Thomas, said something interesting.

"It’s not like we’re not trying to communicate," he said. "There’s no guys that are defiant. I just don’t know if everyone’s definition of communication is the same."

Read into that what you want. Or don't. I read a lot into it.

I doubt this will be the last time we see Carr publicly scream at a teammate. But if Carr does it again, he'll be fine. The media criticism will be muted. You know why?

Because he's not Black.