‘Blackup’: Former ESPN Host Says Teams Consider Race When Picking a Backup QB

Former ESPN host Bomani Jones says that NFL teams with a black starting quarterback are highly likely to also have a black backup quarterback, a position Jones referred to as a “blackup.”

Jones made the comments during a conversation on his podcast with ESPN’s Mina Kimes.

The former ESPN analyst justified his reasoning by saying that teams choose black backups to avoid the racial tension of having to bench a black quarterback for a white quarterback.

Jones highlighted the Browns’ recent decision to part ways with Joe Flacco and sign Jameis Winston to backup Deshaun Watson.

“The Browns continued what they’ve been doing, which is signing every Black backup quarterback they can find,” Jones said. “The new blackup is Jameis Winston because you gotta put him behind Deshaun Watson’s nasty a** to stop the fans from asking for something else. They couldn’t bring Joe Flacco back behind him because he will wind up being some form of mutiny.”

“You will notice the New England Patriots. I’m surprised they did this. They went and signed Jacoby Brissett. That’s letting you know Jayden Daniels is coming to town,” Jones said. “If I were Jerod Mayo, I probably would have tried to space this out a little bit.

“I don’t know what white man is going to take responsibility for this, but they’re asking for Boston to get behind the first black quarterback that they’ve ever wanted to have.”

Jones continued, “Look at the Ravens. Every backup the Ravens have picked up since they got Joe Flacco out of town, it’s a roll call.”

Kimes pointed out an exception to Jones’ “blackup” theory by saying that the Colts signed a white quarterback, Gardner Minshew, to back up the black starting quarterback, Anthony Richardson.

“Colts fans, if you were calling for Minshew over Richardson, then I actually think Colts fans are amongst the few people who understand how bad Minshew was last year because they actually watch all the Colts games,” she said.

There are several holes in Jones’ reasoning. First, Trace McSorley, a white quarterback from Penn State, did play for the Ravens in 2020. As for the Browns, Joe Flacco played so much and so well for Cleveland last year that re-signing him would have likely been cost-prohibitive to a team already cash-strapped by the roughly $50 million Deshaun Watson is owed in annual guarantees.

Yes, many would like to see Flacco become the starting QB for the Browns. However, that has more to do with Watson’s crushing disappointment as a player since coming over from Houston and the lingering stain of his two dozen accusations of sexual assault and/or misconduct.

Nor does New England’s signing of Jacoby Brissett necessarily mean that the Patriots will sign Jayden Daniels. Maybe the Patriots will sign Daniels, but anyone who has watched Brissett and Daniels play will quickly point out the real and obvious differences in their playing style. Mayo likely signed Brissett because he remembers him from when he played in New England a few years ago and trusted him.

Regardless, NFL teams have two over-arching concerns when signing a backup QB: Does he mimic the same style as the starter so we won’t have to change our offense? And is he reliable?

If race is a factor, it is a distant third to those first two concerns.