In the midst of great discussion around the NFL about race and equality, former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Sam Acho penned an eye-opening article for The Players’ Tribune about some of the issues of race that exist in the league.
Acho, drafted by the Cardinals in 2011 and who played four seasons for them, did not name names or specific teams, nor did he accuse any one person or organization of anything, but the examples he gave could be tied to the Cardinals.
However, before pointing out potential connections with the Cardinals, I must begin by recognizing that the Cardinals have been recognized for a long time as a team known for promoting diversity.
They were the first NFL team to have a black general manager and coach at the same time back when Rod Graves and Dennis Green held the positions. They hired Steve Wilks in 2018 as head coach. They have a coaching internship designed to give minorities opportunities to begin in the coaching ranks. They were the first NFL team to ever hire a woman to be on their coaching staff when Jen Welter was part of their training camp staff.
The Bidwill family has a longstanding reputation for promoting diversity.
So the following examples Acho gave in his article are not to accuse the Cardinals of racist practices, but simply connect some dots that could be connected to the team in situations that illustrate how minorities in the league face different challenges than many often realize.
Possible Cardinals connection No. 1
This is what Acho wrote about someone who reached out to him.
One guy who reached out to me serves as the director of player engagement (DPE) for an NFL Team. Every team has a DPE, though some teams call it something else. It’s generally considered the lowest management position in an organization — in most places, the DPE’s office is downstairs. Also, like in most places, this DPE was black. If you’re wondering what a DPE does exactly, according to many coaches and GMs I’ve heard speaking, the DPE is a guy who can “relate” to players. For most organizations, the DPEs serve as buffers between black players and white management — between upstairs and downstairs.
“You gotta understand how these guys view y’all,” he told me. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things they say about you guys. It’s appalling.”
This guy has been in the same position with his organization for almost 20 years, without ever having moved up the ladder. This really bothered me. If an employee is good enough to work at your company for nearly two decades, it seems only logical that he’s good enough to be promoted at least once.
This sounds a lot like Anthony Edwards for the Cardinals, who played for them from 1991-1998 and then joined the organization after that. He did hold the position of player engagement for a while. His official title with the team is senior director of player development. The role appears to be roughly the same as what Acho describes.
Again, this is simply something that could be related to the Cardinals Acho describes.
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