What Percentage of NFL Players Are Black?
In recent years, the percentage of black NFL players has been on the rise. But what percentage of NFL players are black? We take a look at the latest statistics.
The NFL’s Racial History
The National Football League has a long and complicated history when it comes to race. For most of its early years, the NFL was an exclusively white league. In the early 1920s, there were a few black players who were able to play in the league, but they were few and far between. It wasn’t until 1946 that the NFL began to seriously integrate.
The NFL’s Jim Crow origins
The National Football League (NFL) was founded in 1920, and for the first decade of its existence it was exclusively a white league. During this time, African American players were relegated to playing in so-called ” Negro Leagues.” In 1933, the NFL finally allowed a black player, Kenny Washington, to join the league. However, it would be another four decades before the NFL began to seriously integrate.
In 1962, the NFL introduced its “Rooney Rule,” named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. This rule requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for every head coaching and senior football operations position. The rule has been credited with increasing the number of black coaches and executives in the NFL.
Today, approximately 70% of NFL players are black. This is a significant increase from 1960, when only 13% of players were black. However, despite this increase, blacks are still underrepresented in coaching and executive positions. As of 2019, only 4% of active NFL head coaches are black.
The NFL’s desegregation
In 1946, the NFL instituted a color barrier that banned black athletes from playing in the league. This policy remained in place until the early 1960s, when African American players began to trickle into the league. In 1967, the NFL implemented a draft lottery system designed to increase the number of black players in the league. The first African American player drafted under this system was Mel Blount, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1970.
The number of black players in the NFL slowly increased throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but it wasn’t until 1989 that they made up more than 20% of the league’s player population. This number has continued to grow in recent years, and as of 2019,African Americans make up 69% of NFL players.
The NFL’s Racial Present
Though a majority of NFL fans are white, the NFL’s racial present is not lily-white. In fact, of the 1,696 NFL players that were active as of September 2018, 58.9% were black, 27.6% were white, 9.4% were Latino, and 4.1% were Asians, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. The NFL’s racial composition has changed a lot over time.
The NFL’s black player population
The National Football League has a long history of racial discrimination, both in terms of the hiring of coaches and staff, as well as the composition of its player population. Although the league has made some strides in recent years to increase diversity, the majority of NFL players are still black.
As of 2020, 58 percent of NFL players were black, according to data from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. This is down slightly from 61 percent in 2009. Meanwhile, the percentage of white players has remained relatively steady, hovering around 30 percent since 2004.
The NFL’s racial makeup is in contrast to that of Major League Baseball, which is majority white (57 percent), and the National Basketball Association, which is majority black (74 percent).
The NFL’s black coaching staffs
The National Football League has made strides in recent years to increase the number of minority hires, but the number of black coaches remains woefully low.
Of the 32 NFL teams, only six have a black head coach. That number has actually declined in recent years, from eight in 2011. The six current black head coaches are:
-Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers
– Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals
– Hue Jackson of the Cleveland Browns
– Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers
– Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos
– Todd Bowles of the New York Jets
The league’s two most prominent black coaches, Lovie Smith and Rex Ryan, were fired after the 2015 season.
There has been some progress made in hiring black assistant coaches, but there is still room for improvement. According to a 2016 study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, African Americans made up 22 percent of NFL assistant coaches, up from 21 percent in 2015. However, that number is still well below the percentage of black players in the league, which was 69 percent in 2016.
The NFL’s black quarterbacks
The reality is that the NFL has only a handful of black quarterbacks playing at any given time. In 2017, that number was eight, just shy of 3 percent of the league’s quarterbacks. This statistic has remained relatively unchanged since 2002, when the league began tracking the ethnicity of its players.
There are a number of factors that have contributed to the lack of diversity among NFL quarterbacks. One is the dearth of quality quarterback coaching at the high school and college levels for black athletes. Another is the stereotype that black athletes are better suited to positions such as running back and wide receiver because of their perceived physical prowess.
Despite these obstacles, there have been a number of successful black quarterbacks in the NFL. Some current examples include Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.
The NFL’s Racial Future
As the NFL season kicks off, fans are tuning in to watch their favorite teams and players. However, some are wondering what the future of the league looks like in terms of race. With the recent protests and movements for racial equality, some are wondering what percentage of NFL players are black. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
The NFL’s Rooney Rule
In order to ensure that minority candidates are given a fair chance at head coaching and senior operations positions, the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule in 2003. The rule requires that NFL teams interview at least one minority candidate for any vacant head coaching or senior operations position.
The intent of the rule is to diversify the league’s coaching ranks, which had been overwhelmingly white. According to an ESPN report, as of 2013, 22 of the NFL’s 32 head coaches were white, while 64 percent of players were black.
Critics of the Rooney Rule argue that it has not been effective in increasing the number of minority coaches hired, and that it puts undue pressure on team owners to interview candidates they may not be serious about hiring. Supporters counter that the rule has caused an increase in the number of minority coaches hired, and argue that it is necessary to level the playing field for qualified candidates who have been passed over for head coaching positions in the past.
The NFL’s Black College pipeline
The percentage of NFL players who are black has been rising steadily for decades, and today, black players make up approximately 70% of the league. While the NFL has been increasingly diverse in recent years, the league’s black players are still disproportionately drawn from a small number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
In 2020, eight of the top 10 schools producing NFL talent were HBCUs. The two non-HBCUs in the top 10 were Notre Dame and USC. This is largely due to the fact that HBCUs have a long history of producing prominent black athletes. Many of the NFL’s most famous players, including legends like Jerry Rice and Jim Brown, attended HBCUs.
The pipeline from HBCUs to the NFL has helped create a more diverse league, but it has also contributed to some of the protests we’ve seen in recent years. A number of prominent black athletes, including Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, have used their platform to draw attention to racial injustice in America. And many believe that the NFL’s ongoing struggles with issues like domestic violence and concussions are also disproportionately affecting black players.
As the percentage of black players in the NFL continues to rise, it’s likely that we will see even more black athletes using their platform to speak out on social issues. And as America continues to grapple with its racially divided past and present, the NFL will play an important role in shaping our nation’s future.
The NFL’s black player retirement rates
There has been a recent surge in the number of black players retiring from the NFL. While the reasons for this are not completely clear, there are a number of theories that have been put forth. One theory is that the increased awareness of the risks of concussions and other head injuries has led black players to retire at a higher rate than white players. Another theory is that black players are simply not as interested in playing in the NFL as they once were.
Whatever the reasons for the increased retirement rate among black players, it is clear that the NFL’s racial makeup is changing. In 2016, black players made up about 70% of the league’s total player population. By 2020, that number is expected to drop to about 60%. This trend is likely to continue in the years to come, meaning that the NFL will become increasingly white.
