You didn't think that a running back who happens to be white could be a Heisman Trophy finalist and Jason Whitlock wouldn't say something stupid about it, did you?
My friends, that train couldn't possibly be late. On Friday, during an appearance on Fox Sports 1's "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," Whitlock explained why Christian McCaffrey won't win the trophy. He said the Stanford star is up against the media's bias toward the SEC and the East Coast, then added that McCaffrey simply hasn't scored enough touchdowns (12) in comparison to Alabama's Derrick Henry (23).
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Those are all fine points. That's also where Whitlock should have stopped, but of course he couldn't help himself. He also said there is a bias against white running backs, and he topped it all off by comparing McCaffrey to Eminem.
In typical Whitlock fashion, he delivered his baseless points with a smug grin as if he had actually said something insightful.
Let's break down why he was wrong as two left shoes:
1. "There's a bias toward black running backs."
This is classic Whitlock. Make a comment on the role of race in sports, then don't bother to back it with a single example.
If we're dealing in white and black, there simply aren't many white guys starting at running back at Power 5 schools. Why? Well, that's a discussion worth having, and, maybe, Whitlock could've brought it up here, but he didn't. You can't be biased against something that hardly exists. You could also say there's a bias against Asian defensive backs for the Jim Thorpe Award, and it'd make about as much sense. In 2009, Stanford's Toby Gerhart, another Stanford product, finished second to Mark Ingram, another Alabama product, for the Heisman. Gerhart (1,871 yards rushing, 28 touchdowns) put up better numbers than Ingram (1,658 yards rushing, 17 touchdowns) but did so on 72 more carries. Even if you think Gerhart was robbed, that lone example isn't sufficient to make a definitive statement the way Whitlock did. Anyone know of any other white running backs who should've won the Heisman but got jobbed out of it so they could hand it to an undeserving black guy? I'll wait.
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2. "He is Eminem. Eminem, the rapper, had to put out a lot of good music before people were comfortable going, 'Man, he's the best rapper.'"
Again, this is classic Whitlock. Make a rap analogy. You, the sage old black guy, have to be an expert on that. Maybe not.
I'm all for making comparisons between rappers and athletes, but like any analogy they fall apart at some point. This one never had a chance, because it's so inaccurate. Eminem did have to overcome a lot of struggles to gain respect as a white emcee on the Detroit battle scene. A movie, "8 Mile," was made about those experiences. However, he'd been featured in the The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" section and inked a deal with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records before he released his mainstream debut, "The Slim Shady LP." It went platinum in less than a year's time. By the time his second album, "The Marshall Mathers LP," came out in 2000, everybody — black, white and candy stripe — knew the boy could spit with the best of them. That's kind of why the album sold 1.7 million units in its first week.
Art is much more subjective than athletics. Within reason, you can always argue that someone is or isn't the best. McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders' single-season record for all-purpose yards. His statistics and Heisman nomination show he's been the real deal all season. No one's on the fence about that.
Here's Whitlock in all his pompous glory.