Racial Issues Today
Today, recent surveys have shown that the NFL is approximately 57–61% non-white, including African Americans, Polynesians (an anomalously high 1.7% of NFL players are American Samoans), non-white Hispanics, Asians, and people of mixed race. This statistic is in contrast to the general population of the United States, which is 34% non-white. A small number of non-whites from outside the United States have also played in the NFL through the years, with notable examples from the past including running backs Rueben Mayes and Tim Biakabutuka (both Black Canadians) and Christian Okoye (Nigerian) and current examples including defensive linemen Israel Idonije (also a Black Canadian), Amobi Okoye (also Nigerian), and Osi Umenyiora (Black British) as well as fullback Jehuu Caulcrick (Liberian). All of these players, except Idonije, played college football in the U.S.; Amobi Okoye and Umenyiora played high school football in Alabama, where their families settled in their preteen years, and Caulcrick played high school football in Clymer, New York. Idonije's first exposure to the American game as a player came in the 2003 East–West Shrine Game, as he had played CIS football under Canadian rules at the University of Manitoba.
In recent years the halfback position has seen a dominance of non-whites, particularly blacks. As of 2012, no white players have secured a starting running back position in the NFL; Peyton Hillis was the only such player in 2010 and 2011, and there were none in 2009. As recently as 2005, no white halfbacks received a single carry, and no white running back rushed for 1,000 rushing yards in a season between Craig James in 1985 and Hillis in 2010. (James rose to prominence thanks to the United States Football League, which James played for as a member of the Washington Federals in 1983.) Brian Leonard and Toby Gerhart have yet to see significant action; Gerhart has alleged race was a factor in why four running backs were drafted ahead of him in the 2010 NFL Draft. There are also allegations that racial profiling exists at the lower levels of the game that discourages white players from playing halfback.
In other skill positions, 26 of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL are white, with only one black starting kicker among the 32 NFL rosters. Whites also slightly outnumber blacks at tight end and offensive line.
Read more about this topic: Black Players In American Professional Football
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