Depicting the Quarterback in Black

and White: A Content Analysis of

College and Professional Football
Broadcast Commentary
Andrew C. Billings
Department of Communication Studies,
Clemson University,
Clemson, South Carolina, USA

Previous scholars (J. Rada, 1996; R. E. Rainville & E. McCormick,

1977) have analyzed televised football, finding that there are stark
differences in the ways that White and Black players are depicted
in terms of innate athletic skill and perceived intelligence. This study
analyzes 162 hours and 3,800 descriptors of White and Black quar-
terbacks in collegiate and professional football games, finding that
although Blacks are still characterized as succeeding because of
athletic skill and Whites are depicted as failing because of their lack
of innate ability, many of the other stereotypes have improved. Using
an 18-item coding scheme, the researchers uncover differences by
ethnicity of athlete and ethnicity of sportscaster, ultimately arguing
that although equality in depictions of athletes has not fully been
achieved, progress in many areas has been found.

KEYWORDS ethnicity, race, sport, television, football

T
here is some debate about when the doors opened for the Black quarterback. Some
say the door opened slightly whenWillieT. Thrower became the NFL’s first Black
quarterback in 1953 (Farmer, 2002); others believe it was Washington Redskins
quarterback Doug Williams’ MVP performance in Super Bowl XXII; still others believe
it was when Atlanta selected MichaelVick as the number one overall pick in the 2001NFL
draft (Chapman, 2001). Regardless of when the floodgates opened, college and profes-
sional football in the 21st century looks quite different than in previous decades, as almost
two dozen different Black quarterbacks are currently on NFL rosters and dozens more
lead prominent college programs. As stated in Ebony magazine (Roquemore, 2001):

Address correspondence to Dr. Andrew C. Billings, 409 Strode Tower,

Department of Communication Studies, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-
0533. E-mail: acbiling@clemson.edu
The HowardJournal of Communications, 15: 2017210, 2004
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc.
ISSN: 1064-6175 print = 1096-4349 online
DOI:10.1080/10646170490521158 201
202 A. C. Billings

Ten years ago, the number of Black quarterbacks in the National Football League could be
counted on your left hand. Nowadays, you need the left hand, right hand and the hands
of a few friends to count the Black quarterbacks on NFL rosters. (p. 38)

The cultural significance of the emergence of the Black quarterback cannot be under-
stated. Saraceno (2002) argued that the Black quarterback helps ‘‘begin the process of
opening closed doors and, yes, even some closed minds’’ (p. 3). Still, the public realizes
that the Black quarterback is uniquely positioned in the discussion of ethnicity within
the sports world
as evidenced by Rush Limbaugh’s 2003 comments that Philadelphia
Eagle All-Pro Quarterback Donovan McNabb was not really very good but that the
public was just ‘‘desirous to see a Black quarterback do well’’ (Hiestand, 2003).
Limbaugh’s comments (and the reaction to them) relate well to the communicative
concept of media stacking (Curtis & Loy, 1978; Goss, 1999). Scholars refer to this practice
when people within a certain identity group are placed within a construct based on stereo-
types (Lavoie & Leonard, 1994). Schneider and Eitzen (1984) found instances of stacking
within football two decades ago, finding that the position a person plays promoted racial
segregation
including, most certainly, the quarterback position, which at that time was
highly relegated toWhite players. Now that Black quarterbacks have achieved at the high-
est levels of the NFL, stacking becomes an interesting basis for this analysis of Black quar-
terbacks in the 21st century.
Until this recent boom, the quarterback position remained the most frequently
stereotyped position in sports. Often, sports teams had predominantly Black players but
usually had a White quarterback directing the offense, fulfilling the two most common
stereotypes of ethnicity in sports: (a) the perceived superiority of White athletes in mea-
sures of intelligence and work ethic (Birrell, 1989; McCarthy & Jones, 1997); and (b) the
presumed athleticism (‘‘born athletes’’) on the part of Black athletes (Jackson, 1989;
Staples & Jones, 1985; Whannel, 1992).
Nonetheless, Black quarterbacks have prospered, finding their way onto myriad
college and professional football rosters. Still, one must ask whether the increased number
of Black quarterbacks has resulted in decreased ethnic stereotyping, as such findings have
particular ramifications within the communicative context of social identity theory
(Tajfel, 1972) and, most certainly, agenda setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). This
study examines the television broadcast commentary within 58 collegiate and profes-
sional football games, contrasting depictions of White and Black quarterbacks to examine
the extent to which implicit sportscaster bias persists in an era in which the Black quarter-
back is now much more common than in the past.

Related Literature

Theoretical Groundwork
Researchers (Billings & Eastman, 2003), have referred to sports media telecasts as
having roots in agenda-setting (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) and framing (Goffman, 1974)
theory. The former media theory argues that media gatekeepers do not necessarily tell a
viewer what to think, but most certainly can tell viewers what to think about. Within the
realm of sports, the theoretical underpinnings of agenda-setting implies that sportscasters
will not explicitly tell a viewer that a Black quarterback is inferior; instead, sportscasters
Analysis of Football Broadcast Commentary 203

will use different types of comments that leave a viewer wondering if that Black quarter-
back is inherently different than others. Goffman’s framing theory adds to this notion,
postulating an argument much more complex than agenda-setting by stating that media
can shape a story or frame as positive or negative. Gitlin (1980) went on to argue that
media frames have three functions: (a) selection (determining who or what is shown),
(b) emphasis (determining how much who or what gets shown), and (c) exclusion (deter-
mining who or what does not get shown). In essence, these three functions of framing the-
ory apply directly to the dilemma of the Black quarterback as studies have indicated that
they are often shown in disproportionate ways in terms of their failures and successes
(Rainville & McCormick, 1977).
Beyond the arguments surrounding framing theory, studies of ethnicity could also be
well-grounded through the implementation of self-categorization theory. As postulated
by sociologists Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, and Wetherell (1987), self-categorization
theory posits that there are times when people view themselves as individuals and other
times when people believe they are part of a group. The theorists argue that these per-
ceived group memberships play integral roles in the formation of self-identity. So, when
viewing football telecasts, Black viewers would hear commentary about their own demo-
graphic group (Black quarterbacks) contrasted with discourse about White quarter-
backs
a group in which they do not demographically identify, with the result being that
self-identity is defined by both what they are (Black) and what they are not (White). Such
differences in categorization status have implications for the commentator (as they may
use different adjectives when describing a person of their own ethnicity) and for the view-
ing audience (as they may make different inferences about the commentary because
of their perceived ‘‘in-group’’ status with a given ethnicity).

Portraying Ethnicity in Televised Sport

The study of ethnic stereotyping in televised sports has been the subject of decades
of research by scholars from multiple disciplines (Birrell, 1989; Davis & Harris, 1998;
Eastman & Billings, 2001). These analyses range from basketball (Denham, Billings,
& Halone, 2002) to the Olympics (Billings & Eastman, 2002) to professional golf (Bill-
ings, 2002). One of the most detailed content analyses that were conducted on ethnic
stereotyping in college football occurred more than a quarter-century ago. Rainville
& McCormick (1977) analyzed professional football coverage on multiple television net-
works, finding that White players were significantly more likely to be praised for strong
play, whereas Black athletes were significantly more likely to be criticized for poor play.
As a result, Blacks were viewed as the ‘‘natural’’athletes who should automatically succeed
because of their ethnicity, whereas White football players were seen as overcoming the
odds when succeeding at football’s highest level.
Regarding stereotypes in print media, Murrell and Curtis (1994) examined the ways
White and Black quarterbacks were depicted in five prominent sports magazines. The
researchers uncovered significant differences in characterizations, most notably that
Blacks were praised for stable, uncontrollable influences (such as being naturally gifted),
whereas Whites were characterized in terms of unstable, controllable instances (such as
hard work overcoming natural shortcomings). They concluded that for Blacks ‘‘perfor-
mance was a function not of what the player does, but what the player is: a natural athlete’’
(Murrell & Curtis, 1994, p. 230).
204 A. C. Billings

In the most recent study of ethnic stereotypes in football, Rada (1996) examined NFL
telecasts, finding that sportscasters had entirely different focal points for commentary
about athletes of different ethnicities. If the player was White, sportscasters placed an
increased focus on the cerebral aspects of the player (e.g., cognitive qualities) but, if the
player was Black, sportscasters placed their focus on describing the body size, type, and
strength of the athletes (e.g., physical qualities). Rada concluded that sportscasters still
use a double-standard when describing athletes of differing ethnic backgrounds.
More recent studies have uncovered the newest trends in differential treatments of
White and Black athletes. Denham et al. (2002) conducted an analysis of the 2000 Men’s
and Women’s Final Four, finding that Black players were still disproportionately praised
for their athleticism and strength.Yet, the researchers also found that there were increased
comments about the Black players’ ability to lead when compared with comments about
Whites’ leadership, much because of the ‘‘team leader’’ role that Michigan State guard
Mateen Cleaves played in its championship run.
In the context of the Olympics, Billings and Eastman (2002) counted adjectival and
adverbial phrases within the 2000 Sydney Summer Games, dividing the comments into
explanations for success, explanations for failure, and personality characteristics. The
researchers found that White athletes were portrayed as succeeding because of commit-
ment, whereas Black athletes succeeded because of innate athletic skills.
Within the context of professional golf, Billings (2002) used the 2001 Grand Slam
events as a vehicle for analyzing how depictions of TigerWoods
one of just two Black gol-
fers in the World’s top 100
differed from those of White golfers. The study found that
when Woods was playing well, he was often portrayed in ways stereotypically fitting a
White athlete, yielding increased comments about his composure and experience. How-
ever, when Woods was not winning a tournament, he was portrayed in ways stereotypi-
cally fitting a Black athlete, yielding increased comments about his lack of composure
and concentration. As a result, commentary about Tiger Woods differed largely along
lines of ethnic stereotypes.

Hypotheses
Previous studies have uncovered differential treatment of White and Black athletes by
on-air commentators both within football (Rada, 1996) and in other sporting venues
(Denham et al., 2002). Perhaps the most pervasive ethnic stereotype of all is the descrip-
tion of the Black athlete as being a‘‘dumb jock’’. Many sports enthusiasts regard the quar-
terback position as the most intellectually challenging position in all sport
creating a
potentially interesting paradox with the concept of the Black quarterback. Given the rela-
tively new phenomenon regarding the increased number of Black quarterbacks at the
college and professional levels, it is important to ascertain whetherWhite and Black quar-
terbacks are treated differently by on-air commentators. As a result, four hypotheses were
composed for this analysis:

H1a: Black quarterbacks will be more likely than White quarterbacks to be

depicted as succeeding because of athletic skill.
H1b: White quarterbacks will be more likely than Black quarterbacks to be
depicted as failing because of athletic skill.
Analysis of Football Broadcast Commentary 205

H2a: Black quarterbacks will be more likely than White quarterbacks to be

depicted as failing for reasons other than athletic skill.
H2b: White quarterbacks will be more likely than Black quarterbacks to be
depicted as succeeding for reasons other than athletic skill.
H3a: Black quarterbacks will be more likely to have personality=physicality
descriptors that focus on their physical attributes.
H3b: White quarterbacks will be more likely to have personality=physicality
descriptors that focus on their mental attributes.
H4: Black announcers will be less likely thanWhite announcers to use traditional
ethnic stereotypes to Black quarterbacks.

Method

Fifty-four games and 162 total hours of professional and collegiate football coverage
was videotaped and analyzed for this study. Preseason and regular season games were
included in the sample because teams often use multiple quarterbacks playing a segment of
the game in the exhibition season, thus creating more breadth of quarterback depictions.
All games were recorded between August15, 2002 and September 23, 2002.While the sam-
ple did skew toward college football (32 games) over professional football (22 games), the
sample did include 93 different football teams and over 100 quarterbacks (approximately
three-quartersWhite and one-quarter Black) with coverage on eight different national tele-
vision networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox SportsNet,TBS).The fact that
the study only encompassed the first month of the football season was viewed as an enhance-
ment to the validity of the study, as the frames sportscasters chose to implement for certain
players are shaped during this time and then likely reinforced throughout the remainder of
the season. No football team was included in more than three games of the sample.
Discourse uttered by network-employed individuals was the only on-air text included in
the analysis. This included color commentators (e.g., Dan Fouts), play-by-play announcers
(e.g., Al Michaels), and field reporters (e.g., Melissa Stark). Comments rendered by players,
coaches, and fans were not included for the purposes of the study. In cases in which a network
employee was interviewing a non-network employee, only half of the conversation was
entered into the database.The focus on network employees was necessary to gauge agenda-
setting and gatekeeping functions that the network may implicitly or overtly use within its
coverage. Discourse that was entered into the database in three ways: (a) pregame forecasts,
(b) halftime analyses, and (c) actual game play.
A 2-hour training session was used to educate 29 student coders on how to conduct
content analysis of the videotaped games. Students were pre-tested on a small sample
of coding before they each coded two games each. In addition, students were also given
contact information of the primary researcher if they came across unique=questionable
situations while coding. Students were asked to record (a) the name of the quarterback
described; (b) the ethnicity of the quarterback (White, Black, other); (c) the ethnicity
of the on-air announcer (White, Black, other); (d) the word-for-word descriptor; and
(e) the level of football game being analyzed (collegiate or professional). Ethnicity was
determined using a compilation of media guides, internet resources, and Lexus-
Nexus databases using the ethnic identification appearing in these sources to code a
persons ethnicity (defined here merely as skin color as opposed to blood=ethnic origin).
206 A. C. Billings

To establish intercoder reliability, the primary researcher coded 5% of the sample (three
games) and compared the results to that of the student coders. Using Cohen’s (1969) for-
mula, results exceeded 87%. Once all tapes were coded and all descriptors were recorded,
coders then used the Billings and Eastman (2002) taxonomy for coding descriptors. By
implementing the 18-item taxonomy, the majority (79.7%) of all quarterback descriptors
was able to be categorized in an area beyond ‘‘other’’. Intercoder reliability was estab-
lished for the coding of each of the 18 categories, with all 18 having a Kappa greater than
90%.
A major issue when evaluating television bias or its absence was to determine what
was fair representation forWhite and Black quarterbacks. This was determined by calcu-
lating the percentage of overall comments devoted to White and Black quarterbacks and
then applying this same percentage as an expected frequency in all of the subcategories
of the analysis. For instance, since 27.3% of all comments were directed to Black quarter-
backs, it was expected that 27.3% of all comments characterizing a quarterbacks’ experi-
ence would be directed at Black quarterbacks as well. Consequently, the expected
frequency in these chi-square analyses was .273.

Results

A total of 3,800 descriptors of quarterbacks were found within the 162 hours of net-
work coverage of collegiate and professional football games. A total of 2,764 (72.7%) were
characterizations of White quarterbacks, whereas 1,036 (27.3%) were depictions of Black
quarterbacks. No quarterbacks were found to be of any other ethnicity besides White or
Black; additionally, none were listed as biracial. The first three hypotheses argued that
there would be differential treatment in the reasons why White and Black quarterbacks
succeeded or failed and also the personality=physicality descriptors ascribed to each.
Table 1 reports the frequencies of comments for White and Black quarterbacks across all
18 items of the descriptor taxonomy.
As shown in Table 1, two significant differences were uncovered
both of which
related to perceived athletic skill. In support of H1a, when Black quarterbacks succeeded
in a play or a game, it was more likely to be contributed to their superior athletic skills,
w2 ¼ 6:69; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :01 (e.g., ‘‘He’s just too talented to stop’’). Contrastingly
and in
support of H1b
when White quarterbacks failed, it was more likely to be their lack of
athletic skill, w2 ¼ 3:91; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :04, that sportscasters would claim as the root of their
downfall (e.g.,‘‘passes have been a couple feet off all day). While there were other differ-
ences in terms of the percentages of comments directly attributable to White and Black
quarterbacks, none were significantly different, rejecting H2a and H2b, which postulated
that there would be differential treatment of Black and White quarterbacks in
success=failure categories other than athletic skill and rejecting H3a and H3b, which
postulated that there would be differential treatment of Black and White quarterbacks in
physicality=personality descriptor categories.
Tables 2 and 3 dealt with potential differential treatment based on the ethnicity of the
sportscaster. These tables were designed to answer H4, predicting that White and Black
announcers would describe the game in different ways.
As shown inTables 2 and 3, only one significant difference was found between the ways
White and Black announcers called the games, with the only two significant differences
Analysis of Football Broadcast Commentary 207

Table 1 Descriptors by Ethnicity of Quarterback (QB)

Code White QB % Black QB % Total
Explanations of athletic success
Concentration 124 75 41 25 165
Athletic skill 756a 68 356a 32 1,112
Composure 190 73 72 27 262
Commitment 112 78 32 22 144
Courage 59 80 15 20 74
Experience 137 78 39 22 176
Explanations of athletic failure
Concentration 111 71 45 29 156
Athletic skill 282b 81 67b 19 349
Composure 120 69 53 31 173
Commitment 7 41 10 59 17
Courage 13 65 7 35 20
Experience 65 63 38 37 103
Personality=physicality descriptors
Outgoing=extroverted 37 82 8 18 45
Modest=introverted 12 86 2 14 14
Emotional 43 84 8 16 51
Attractiveness 25 54 21 46 46
Size=parts of body 91 75 30 25 121
Factual=neutral=other 580 75 192 25 772
Total 2,764 72.7 1,036 27.3 3,800
a 2
w¼ 6:69; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :01.
b 2
w ¼ 3:91; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :04.

being that White announcers were more likely to attribute the success of a Black quarter-
back to superior athletic skill, w2 ¼ 3:86; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :04, and that White quarterbacks
were more likely to be depicted as failing because they lacked this athletic skill,
w2 ¼ 3:91; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :04. Although White quarterbacks still received 69% of the com-
ments regarding athletic success, this was several percentage points less than the expected
frequency (72.7%) and, given that chi-square analyses are based on the size of the sample,
the large number of descriptors in this category (N ¼1,112) made the difference statisti-
cally significant. Other disparities appeared to be larger (such as the 54%=46% split in
the attractiveness category); however the relatively small number of descriptors in these
categories did not result in statistically significant differences. Still, because this was the
only statistically significant difference found within the breakdown of both White and
Black announcers, H4 is largely rejected, as there were only two differences within the
three tables that could be attributed to the ethnicity of the sportscaster.

Discussion

This study tapped into two of the longest-standing ethnic stereotypes within sports:
(a) that Black athletes possess innate athletic skill and (b) thatWhite athletes are more intel-
ligent.The former stereotype was found to be pervasive within the database, as White quar-
terbacks had less comments about their successes based on athletic skill whereas Blacks were
208 A. C. Billings

Table 2 White and Black Quarterback (QB) Descriptors Specifically by

White Announcers
Code White QB % Black QB % Total
Explanations of athletic success
Concentration 110 76 34 24 144
Athletic skill 667a 69 303a 31 970
Composure 163 74 57 26 220
Commitment 90 82 20 18 110
Courage 50 79 13 21 63
Experience 126 80 31 20 157
Explanations of athletic failure
Concentration 103 74 36 26 139
Athletic skill 233 81 56 19 289
Composure 108 70 46 30 154
Commitment 7 50 7 50 14
Courage 7 64 4 36 11
Experience 55 62 34 38 89
Personality=physicality descriptors
Outgoing=extroverted 33 80 8 20 41
Modest=introverted 12 86 2 14 14
Emotional 40 89 5 1 45
Attractiveness 24 63 14 37 38
Size=parts of body 79 77 24 23 103
Factual=neutral=other 516 76 160 24 676
Total 2,423 73.9 854 26.1 3,277
Note. 105 descriptors were not included in this table because the ethnicity of the announcer
could not be determined.
a 2
w ¼ 3:86; df ¼ 1; p ¼ :04.

more likely to fail if they were not superior in regard to innate athletic ability. One would
surmise thatWhite quarterbacks were actuallyof equal athletic skill or they would notbeplay-
ing the quarterback position in nearly three-fourths of all games. However, these athletic skills
thatWhite quarterbacks possess are not yet fully emerging within commentator dialogue.
Regardless, some of the more interesting findings in the study concern what was not
found. Although it may appear that White quarterbacks received more attention in the
majority of the categories, when one takes into account the disproportionate number of
White quarterback comments overall (73%), most of these differences become statistically
insignificant. Although one can never confirm a null, the fact that White and Black quar-
terbacks were not found to be described in markedly different ways in the large majority
of categories should indicate progress. Previous studies (McCarthy & Jones, 1997; Rada,
1996) specifically mentioned that White athletes are more likely to be complemented for
being smarter than Black athletes yet, in this study, Blacks were not found to be portrayed
as inferior in mental skill areas such as concentration. There were other categories that
yielded differences in Olympic analyses of White and Black athletes; nonetheless, this
study did not find these types of differential treatment. The analysis of the comments ren-
dered byWhite and Black quarterbacks proved largely balanced as well. Still, in the most
glaring area
perceived athletic skill
stereotypes still held true, indicating that while
progress appears to have been made, equal treatment certainly has not been reached.
Analysis of Football Broadcast Commentary 209

Table 3 White and Black Quarterback (QB) Descriptors Specifically by

Black Announcers
Code White QB % Black QB % Total
Explanations of athletic success
Concentration 11 73 4 27 15
Athletic skill 82 68 39 32 121
Composure 25 83 5 17 30
Commitment 20 83 4 17 24
Courage 9 100 0 0 9
Experience 10 91 1 9 11
Explanations of athletic failure
Concentration 7 54 6 46 13
Athletic skill 46 85 8 14 54
Composure 10 67 5 33 15
Commitment 0 0 1 100 1
Courage 3 75 1 25 4
Experience 9 82 2 18 11
Personality=physicality descriptors
Outgoing=extroverted 2 100 0 0 2
Modest=introverted 0 0 0 0 0
Emotional 3 75 1 25 4
Attractiveness 1 14 6 86 7
Size=parts of body 11 69 5 31 16
Factual=neutral=other 57 71 23 29 80
Total 306 73.4 111 26.6 417
Note. 105 descriptors were not included in this table because the ethnicity of the announcer
could not be determined.

Additionally, the Billings and Eastman (2002) taxonomy also had utility in regard to
the analysis of football games. With the taxonomy now being used within the Olympics
(Billings & Eastman, 2002) it is evident that while the initial categories of the taxonomy
may need some tweaking (specifically to make athletic skill into smaller subsets), the over-
all structure of the taxonomy appears strong in its ability for analyzing myriad forms
of televised sports. Future research should continue to apply this taxonomy to other
databases to cement areas that need revision and reorganization.
Although this study did find that Blacks were portrayed as having greater athletic
skill than Whites, it does also represent a step forward toward equality in the treatment
of athletes within televised sports.The study found no other major differences attributable
to the ethnicity of the athlete and=or the sportscaster. Such findings have widespread
implications, as the ways in which Whites and Blacks are portrayed within media often
move beyond mere stereotypes to become distorted forms of reality for society. If, as many
scholars have argued, sports are a microcosm of society, then even the smallest steps
toward equal treatment in football games can have widespread implications.Two decades
ago, Jimmy ‘‘The Greek’’ Snyder was rightly fired for arguing that Blacks were better foot-
ball players because they had an extra bone in their foot. If sportscasts continue to move
toward equality in treatment of athletes, comments such as Snyder’s should soon find no
home in the world of broadcast sports.
210 A. C. Billings

References
Billings, A. C. (2002). PortrayingTigerWoods: Characterizations of a‘‘Black’’athlete in a‘‘White’’ sport. Howard
Journal of Communications, 14, 29738.
Billings, A. C. & Eastman, S.T. (2002). Gender, ethnicity, and nationality: Formation of identity in NBC’s 2000
Olympic coverage. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 37, 3497368.
Birrell, S. (1989). Racial relations theories and sport: Suggestions for a more critical analysis. Sociology of Sport
Journal, 6, 2127227.
Chapman, S. (2001). Black QB’s QED: The end of an NFL myth. National Review, 53, 11.
Cohen, J. A. (1960). Coefficient for agreement of nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20,
37746.
Curtis, J. E. & Loy, J. W. (1978). Race=ethnicity and relative centrality of playing positions in team sports. In
M. Hutton (Ed.), Exercise and sport sciences review (pp. 2857313).
Davis, L. R. & Harris, O. (1998). Race and ethnicity in US sports media. In L. A.Wenner, MediaSport (1st ed., pp.
1547169). NewYork: Routledge.
Denham, B. E., Billings, A. C., & Halone, K. K. (2002). Differential accounts of race in broadcast commentary
of the 2000 Mens’and Womens’ Final Four Basketball Tournaments. Sociology of SportJournal, 19, 3157332.
Eastman, S.T. & Billings, A. C. (2001). Biased voices of sports: Racial and gender stereotyping in college basket-
ball announcing. HowardJournal of Communications, 12, 1837202.
Farmer, S. (2002, February 22).WillieThrower, 71; First Black quarterback in the NFL. Los AngelesTimes, 12.
Gitlin, T. (1980). The whole world is watching: Mass media in the making & unmaking of the New Left. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. NewYork: Harper & Row.
Goss, B. D. (1999). Not as simple as black and white: An investigation of alleged stacking practices and the rise of the Latino
population in Major League Baseball, 199271997. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of South-
ern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
Hiestand, M. (2003, Oct. 2). McNabb: Limbaugh comments ‘shocking’. USAToday, 1.
Jackson, D. Z. (1989, January 22). Calling the plays in Black and White. Boston Globe, A30, A33.
Lavoie, M. & Leonard,W. M. (1994). In search of an alternative explanation of stacking in baseball: The uncer-
tainty hypothesis. Sociology of SportJournal, 11(2), 1407154.
McCarthy, D. & Jones, R. L. (1997). Speed, aggression, strength, and tactical naivete. Journal of Sport & Social
Issues, 21, 3487362.
McCombs, M. E. & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36,
1767187.
Murrell, A. J. & Curtis, E. M. (1994). Causal attributions of performance for Black and White quarterbacks in
the NFL. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18, 2247233.
Rada, J. (1996). Color blind-sided: Racial bias in network television’s coverage of professional football games.
The HowardJournal of Communications, 7, 2317240.
Rainville, R. E. & McCormick, E. (1977). Extent of covert racial prejudice in pro football announcers’ speech.
Journalism Quarterly, 54, 20726.
Roquemore, B. (2001, October). Is the NFL’s Black quarterback boom real ? Ebony, 38.
Saraceno, J. (2002, February 6). Briscoe paved way for McNabb to play. USAToday, 3C.
Schneider, J. & Eitzen, D. S. (1984). The perpetuation of racial segregation by playing position in professional
football. In D. S. Eitzen (Ed.), Sport in contemporary society: An anthology (p. 323). NewYork: St. Martin’s Press.
Tajfel, H. (1972). Experiments in a vacuum. In J. Israel & H. Tajfel (Eds.), The context of social psychology: A
critical assessment. London: Academic Press.
Tankard, J. W. (2001). The empirical approach to the study of media framing. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, &
A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Riecher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group:
A self-categorization theory. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Whannel, G. (1992). Fields in vision:Television sport and cultural transformation. London: Routledge.