FS1 commentator Shannon Sharpe has accused Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy of using a racist motivational stunt by smashing watermelons in front of his players.
Only a day after news broke that McCarthy had smashed watermelons in front of his team to get them fired up to play the Vikings, FS1 leftist Shannon Sharpe threw in the race card and attacked the coach for using watermelon as a prop in front of black men.
“You’re white America. Any time you have black people in your presence, watermelon has a negative connotation,” Sharpe said on Tuesday’s broadcast of Undisputed.
“Let it go,” Sharpe exclaimed. “Things that were acceptable many, many years ago, even though it wasn’t acceptable, it was tolerated, is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Find another tool, another mechanism to motivate your players.
“Black players: if you need somebody, a white man smashing watermelons to get you motivated, you’re in the wrong line of business. It’s not funny. It’s not cute.
“I don’t know what Mike McCarthy was thinking,” Sharpe concluded.
— Viral Sports (@NotScTop10plays) November 24, 2020
To call the stunt racist, Sharpe had to conveniently ignore earlier reporting that McCarthy was inspired by Canadian comedian Gallagher who has been taking sledgehammers to watermelons for decades as part of his standup comedy shows. McCarthy’s inspiration was reported on Monday by Tom Pelissero.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy on bringing a sledgehammer all the way to Minnesota: “That’s the beauty of flying charter.” He said comedian Gallagher inspired his act, first described here by @TomPelissero. pic.twitter.com/DssHBIbiLu
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) November 23, 2020
McCarthy noted that his attempt to inspire his team to more significant efforts was “well-received” by everyone. The coach set up a series of watermelons with goals and messages written on them and then invited the players to smash the watermelons with the sledgehammer that he brought with him to Minnesota on the team’s charter jet.
According to reports, McCarthy’s opening line was that he wanted the team to focus on “hammering the ball out of (Vikings running back) Dalvin Cook’s hands.” Then he brought out the sledgehammer and watermelons.
“It was just all part of the messaging,” McCarthy said according to ESPN. “We had a number of points of emphasis that we were trying to hit, so a number of guys got to participate, and once again, I’d say it was a lot of fun. It was well-received.”
There are no reports that any member of the Cowboys thought the stunt was “racist.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.