Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has a proposal to revive flagging interest in the NFL’s Pro Bowl: Make it a battle of the races.
In a post on social media deriding Whites’ opinions about and abilities at football, Mr. Mendenhall said such a Pro Bowl would prove Black superiority.
“Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football,” he wrote on X.
I’m sick of average white guys commenting on football. Y’all not even good at football. Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football. I’m better than ur goat.
— Rashard Mendenhall (@R_Mendenhall) December 18, 2023
Whites are so bad at football, he also said, that they shouldn’t be commentators.
“I’m sick of average white guys commenting on football. Y’all not even good at football,” he said. “I’m better than ur goat,” probably referring to retired quarterback Tom Brady.
In a later tweet, he reiterated that “Like me or not, I’m a GREAT in football. This proves my point, u can’t speak on ball alone.”
Some took his Pro Bowl proposal as the occasion for joking and making points about Black and White in America.
Former defensive MVP J.J. Watt reposted Mr. Mendenhall’s tweet and added that his “team” might be in trouble.
“We’d get cooked at corner, not gonna lie. Nobody on our squad is covering Tyreek” Hill, referring to the Miami Dolphins’ speedster receiver who has a shot this year at an NFL record 2,000-yard season.
Sports podcaster Brett Kollmann responded with a point about racial identity.
“Which team gets [Patrick] Mahomes,” he said dryly, referring to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl-MVP quarterback who has a Black father and a White mother.
Others trolled him.
“You fumbled this post like a Super Bowl carry,” wrote one unnamed X user.
Mr. Mendenhall, while he had multiple 1,000-yard seasons as the Steelers featured back, is perhaps “best” remembered among Steelers fans for Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers.
His 4th quarter fumble in Packers territory enabled Green Bay to take a two-score lead and put the game away.
The player who forced the fumble, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, is White.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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