He struggled “to catch on with Washington and Pittsburgh in the NFL.”
Those were the words ESPN’s Adam Schefter used when breaking the news of Dwayne Haskins’ tragic death weeks before his 25th birthday in south Florida on April 9.
It wasn’t what he said in a follow-up column, or commentary on the on-field impact his untimely passing will have on the Steelers or other NFL teams in the following days, it came in his very first public announcement of his death. The tweet has since been deleted.
Schefter reportedly recently agreed to a five-year extension with ESPN, worth “at least” $9 million a year.
Haskins represented a lot in the sport of football for Black quarterbacks as someone who had a top-25 season for most passing yards ever in a single college football season with 4,831 yards in 2018 for Ohio State, according to Sports Reference. He was a Heisman candidate for his performance but fell short to Kyler Murray.
Haskins was one of the Black quarterbacks who continued to disintegrate the racist stereotype Black men couldn’t throw accurately enough to be successful quarterbacks at a high level, and could only prosper if they relied on their running and athletic abilities.
The quarterback position relies more on an athlete’s mind more than a lot of roles in sports because you have to remember entire playbooks and recognize opposing defenses in real-time. One CBS reporter, Jim “The Greek” Snyder, infamously stated in 1988 how Black people were bred to be better athletes. He was fired after making those remarks.
Rewarded for his college performance, Haskins defied enormous odds as the Washington Commanders selected him with the No. 15 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. According to the NCAA, only 7.3 percent of the 1 million+ high school football players will play NCAA football and only 1.6 percent of NCAA players will make a major pro league from the NCAA.
Haskins beat out a 1.6 percent chance to make the NFL and signed to earn $17,806,612 on the field in his career.
With the team that drafted him, he threw for 1,365 and 1,439 yards in his first two pro seasons. The team cut him in December 2020 after he appeared in the club maskless, receiving a fine and having his team captain title revoked.
“I take full responsibility for not meeting the standards of an NFL QB and will become a better man and player because of this experience.”
He wasn’t the only NFL player to have an off-week on the field before he turned 25, believe it or not.
Haskins lived the full human experience. He had highs and lows, but most of all, he was a successful Black man who defied the odds and celebrated Black love with his wife, Kalabrya Haskins. Those are the things that matter the most when looking back on his life, not that he had a tough time in his three seasons in the NFL.
Schefter’s comments are a reminder of why Kwame Brown, the 2001 NBA No. 1 draft pick, has been so adamant about denouncing White media members and Stephen A. Smith for making fun of him not becoming a star after getting drafted as a 19-year-old.
At the end of the day, athletes are humans. If they made it to the professional ranks, they have gone further in their youthful aspirations than most. This is not to say celebrities should be only worshipped and excluded from any criticism, but to remind professionals to have some integrity when reporting on sensitive stories.
Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson agrees, tweeting, “@AdamSchefter you lame asf all around grown a– man and can look in the mirror and smile at yourself.”
