When I Grow Up I Want To Own The Oakland Raiders

My grandson is a husky, athletic little fellow who loves football. His favorite teams are Ohio State University and the Cleveland Browns. My favorite team is the Oakland Raiders because during my youth I perceived Al Davis to be a forward thinking coach and owner. The Oakland Raiders were outstanding, too, during my youthful years.

When my grandson grows up will he aspire to be a mathematician like his grandmother, or will he aspire to play professional football? I don't know the answer, but I am looking at the situation, closely.

Now, I hear many parents talking about encouraging their sons (and grandsons) to play football. Why don't I hear more of them encouraging their sons to aspire to own an NFL team?

We talk about limited aspirations, but what role does nature and/or nurture play in setting goals for high achievement in professional football?

Why, then, don't parents, teachers, and counselors encourage young people to aspire to own an NFL team. Is that unlikely?

The first stage of a heightened aspiration would be to encourage them to be the best that they can be in whatever profession they select. You cannot deny, however, that many minority parents see a career in professional football as a way out of the ghetto and into a gated community.

In an article published in 2006, I saw the name of a book which costs $150 when it was first published and released, and I got my copy for $19 on Amazon. It tells the story of racism in the NFL. I have not critiqued the book yet, but I do believe it will broaden my ability to ask good research questions.

In this century, if nothing more, we can certainly raise questions to make people think and to heighten expectations for the next generation. True progress means, to me, that the next generation has a higher expectation and performance level than earlier generations. Do you agree?

After listening to a 24 minute interview of Anthony Prior, who once played pro football for the Vikings and the Raiders, many questions came to mind. We have the opportunity to read, write and ask questions, especially when the data tells a story of possible "perpetual putridity."

In a Jan. 2006 article it says:

"In fact, the biggest reason there has been even a modicum of progress in recent years is because the late Johnnie Cochran and Cyrus Mehri threatened a mass anti-discrimination suit in 2002, when the number of black head coaches stood at two.

"To squelch Cochran and company, the NFL put in place rules that require teams to interview at least one minority candidate for every vacancy. Collinsworth writes that because of Dungy, Lewis, and Smith's success, "those requirements might no longer be necessary."

"But Collinsworth gets it all wrong. The fact is that we need someone to pick up the torch from the late Mr. Cochran and shine light on the fact that NFL's owners have a historic choice in front of them: They can rehire the Mike merry-go-round, or give people like Ted Cottrell, Norm Chow, and Jimmy Raye a shot.

"This decision is about justice, fairness, and basic hiring morality. It's also about putting the best possible product on the field and delivering the NFL from 'perpetual putridity.'"

So if we put some of these ideas in a sequence, we realize that first there must be outstanding professional football players who perform well on winning teams. Next, some of those senior players who are prepared and have some business savvy need to aspire to become coaches. And finally, some of those coaches need to aspire to become owners of NFL teams.

Once this sequence is observed, then we can truly ask the next generation, "When you grow up, would you like to aspire to own an NFL team, say, the Oakland Raiders?"