November 27, 2012

How Traditional Values Shape the NFL

By Jack Cashill
On the long Thanksgiving weekend, five regular starting NFL quarterbacks of at least partial African descent took the field for their respective teams.  Beyond their obvious talent, all five share a common background, one that is now rare in the African American community and becoming anomalous in American society writ large: each grew up in a Christian home with a mother and a father.  More so than foot speed or even arm strength, this is the variable that elevates them above their peers. What caused me to pursue this line of inquiry was the fact that I know one of the fathers in question, Ron Freeman, father of Tampa Bay's Josh.  I got to know Ron in 1994 when I did the media for his congressional campaign, and we have remained friends since.  Ron, a former college football star, was running as a conservative Republican in Missouri's heavily Democratic 5th Congressional District.  He won the primary, and although he fell short in the general, he made the...(Read Full Article)