The NFL Combine and How Sport Imitates Life
On Saturday Night Live and during the Oscars, Charles Barkley and Kobe Bryant used their platforms to criticize Fox News Host Melanie Ingraham’s “shut up and dribble” attack against LeBron James. Ingraham’s words come out of a world of contradiction to protect her political ideology, unless she’s ignorant of the myriad of pro athletes that transitioned to Politics (just Google it). The reality is this—many athletes are able to translate their leadership skills, practical knowledge, and competitive abilities beyond the sports world. So, it’s fair to say that if athletes are not truly “normal” people, that at the least, sport imitates life.
Barkley and Bryant’s commentary occurred the same weekend as the NFL Draft Combine. For those unfamiliar, the combine is the annual event where the most talented college football players interview, run drills, and lift weights to display their intellectual and athletic potential for NFL coaches and scouts before the NFL Draft. What sounds like a sports tryout, however, mirrors many of the least favorable aspects of organizations and society. In case you still disagree, I’ve armed myself to the teeth with research and experiences of others.
The Wonderlic test at the draft parallels issues with secondary school testing and measuring performance in organizations.
Somehow, the Wonderlic is a fantastic, end-all intelligence test that tells us exactly how quickly football players will be able to make decisions. I implore you to break out a pencil and paper and take one yourself. Also, don’t forget, you have 12 minutes to answer these 50 questions. Heck, even Peyton Manning had an average Wonderlic score, and he’s considered the smartest QB of all time. So obviously, the Wonderlic isn’t the end all determinant of intelligence and success.
But that is an issue across the board here in society. We’ve continued to hear the debate if standardized tests in school actually test the aptitude of students. We’ve also heard how questions are skewed to adversely affect underserved communities, which means that we have problems measuring aptitude and testing fairly.
We really don’t get measuring performance for organizations either. In a pair of HBR articles, Michael Malboussin suggests two things: first, we are overconfident in how we measure success in firms, and neglect that success is often part luck, meaning that a successful strategy one time may not always be successful.
These issues also ring true in how we measure performance for people. There are so many subjective measures that may come into play, that promotions aren’t simply judged on objective performance. The “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” adage didn’t come from thin air.
The annual “Black quarterback should be a wide receiver” conversation parallels how we pigeon hole people based on identity.
This conversation is the bane of my existence. This year, we heard cries that Lamar Jackson should have worked out as a WR, despite winning a Heisman in 2016, becoming a finalist for the 2017 season, and otherwise airing the ball out in most games. You’d think after the world downplayed Deshaun Watson last year that we would have learned our lesson. Nope.
But this is something that happens early, and often within organizations. Scholars Lakshmi Ramarajan and Erin Reid suggest that often, our (society’s) past image of a successful worker are resistant to change. Those that don’t fit the image of the successful worker are devalued and stamped with negative stereotypes.
These images of success are also institutionalized in our organizations as well. Demographic faultlines can often occur when jobs and status are separated by demographic differences, to the point that an observer would be able to accurately guess a person’s occupation based on race, and gender. A friend of mine who is a registered nurse has complained about how her coworkers have assumed she is a nursing assistant because she is a person of color. In my last managerial position, I had an employee say, “I didn’t expect you to be Black” when I walked in on the first day.
And for some reason, I swear every person of color has a story where they were asked “do you work here?” when they are shopping. At some point, we have to accept that QBs can be Black, and White men can actually jump.
Shaquem Griffin and Michael Sam: How institutions drive people to conceal parts of their identity.
Amazing story and damn good football player Shaquem Griffin put on a show at the NFL combine. With one hand, he managed to complete 20 reps on the bench press and ran the fastest 40-yard dash for a linebacker prospect in 15 years. Darren Rovell said it best:
But why was it even a question? Griffin had a great season, undoubtedly. But his handicap made us uncomfortable.
Our fear of stigmatized groups is well documented. The Visible Hand study by Jennifer Doleac and Luke Stein suggests Black sellers signaled lower levels of value and trust than that of white sellers. In fact, white tattooed sellers were also valued less than their “unmarked” counterparts. Similar results have been echoed in the selection literature, as Muslim men are less likely to be hired, and women of color experience double jeopardy for mistreatment.
But what about the less visible parts of our identity that people may attach stigma to? The story of Michael Sam comes to mind. Prior to the NFL combine in 2014, Sam publicly announced he identifies as gay, and the NFL flipped. Rather than hearing a narrative about his ability on the field, much of the discourse surrounded how he would fit in an NFL locker room. Coaches and scouts alike pretended like the University of Missouri had a separate locker room just for Sam based on his sexual orientation. But this isn’t the first time the NFL has displayed blatant homophobia by asking players questions about their sexuality. Geno Atkins was asked about his in 2010. Manti Teo in 2013. And this year, Derrius Guice was asked if he was gay, AND if his mother was a prostitute.
I remember listening to some of the talking heads in sports radio suggesting that Sam should have concealed his sexual orientation until he secured his draft status, and his place on an NFL team. I remember having the same conversation in my social and academic circles. It’s disappointing and discouraging, as we pretend society is so progressive. But the reality isn’t far from these discussions. Meister and colleagues suggest that when parts of our identity don’t fit within a group we seek membership with, we are likely to change the things that we can, and have to endure or conceal the parts of our identity that are unfavorable for the group. A recent study on disability suggests that individuals engage in strategy to emphasize or de-emphasize their disabilities when interviewing for jobs.
In short, we are incentivized to “suck it up,” or strategically share parts of our identity, although we are often told to just “be ourselves.”
Athletes have a unique platform to share their views with the world, particularly in the vein of social justice. Pundits who believe athletes should just shut up and play should take off their bias and focus on how many of the disappointing parts of our society permeate sport, which is supposed to be the most glorious occupation.
Hey America, your stigma is showing.
