Anybody seen this video of QB Ryan Fitzpatrick flashing the white power symbol last year?

[MadDAsHell]

This was probably seen by 10x the number of people as the guy at Wrigley. How does he still have an NFL job??



https://bleacherreport.com/post/nfl/34df91d3-5c49-4508-af85-3458c82dd06e

[tblue37]

1. As long as he didn't *kneel*. nt

[zaj]

2. Really?

It's theoretically possible, but that's pretty unfair to assume that motive given the context.

If it were Steven Miller doing that, I would jump to the same conclusion. But Ryan Fitzpatrick?

[jberryhill]

3. Are his African American teammates stupid...

...or does perhaps this signal mean something else in this context?

At this moment, during play, he decides to make a political point?

Why do I doubt that the player standing right next to him, and the player who is going to be setting up the ball for him, are as stupid as you think they are.

[bearsfootball516]

4. It's a game that some people play. It's hard to describe.

The goal of the game is to make someone look at your hand, and for the person not making the hand gesture, the goal is to not fall for it. There are a few people where I work who like to play it.

Like, you’d be walking past someone’s desk, and they’d knock their water bottle off their desk and go “oh no!” And instinctively, you’d look down to see if it spilled. When you look down, he’s making th hand gesture down by the water bottle and you saw it, so he won that round.

Like I said, it’s hard to describe.

[MadDAsHell]

5. I doubt it. I was told during the Wrigley incident that no such game exists.

And it's just an excuse racists make when they're caught.

[bearsfootball516]

6. The only people who participate in the game at my work are black.

They have a blast playing it.

[uponit7771]

13. THIS !!!!

[Baconator]

14. I will absolutely confirm that "the game" has been around for years longer...

... than this trend of ok = White Power.

That's part of the appeal. There are a dozen reasons to make the "ok" sign that are all fine or at least neutral and actual racist trolls use them to get a rise of of folks.

[sharedvalues]

27. Correct. OK still means white power to racists

And because there are other reasons for making the OK sign, racists can troll everyone when they make the sign.

[Turin_C3PO]

25. No, it's a real game.

When I was in high school (1998-2002), students would do that sign on their pants and whoever looked at it got hit. Stupid, yes.

[BlueTsunami2018]

36. Sure it does.

My friends and I were doing this 30 years ago.

[SlogginThroughIt]

39. been around FOREVER

[Tipperary]

21. Is this in a kindergarten classroom?

Wtf?

[Roland99]

7. Oh dear gawd

[Cartoonist]

8. He's calling a play

Or signalling a move. As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[uponit7771]

9. Context counts

[MadDAsHell]

11. Explain to me the contextual difference between this and Wrigley.

Both at sporting events. Both by white guys. Both on camera. Both with a black person standing next to them.

I realize there are still people desperate to excuse this type of behavior but my God I don't expect to see it at DU.

Context does count, and the context is identical in this case. Ban his ass.

[uponit7771]

12. The context is not identical, that's an attempt to justify the Wirgley fans racism. Screw that...

... we don't need that here.

One person is a player making a call the other is an asshole doing stupid shit

[MadDAsHell]

15. What call was it? Nt

[uponit7771]

16. A football play call, are you REALLY tryna say a person using said sign during a play call is the ..

... same as some asshole flashing the sign behind a black broadcaster?

REALLY !?

[MadDAsHell]

17. Interesting. So you're 100% sure this is a play call, yet you can't identify why or what the call is

You sound like a real expert on this subject.

[Downtown Hound]

19. If you knew even the first thing about football, which you obviously don't

You'd know that each team comes up with their own unique hand signals for different plays and keeps that shit under wraps. That way, the other team doesn't know what play they're calling and can't act to counter it.

Jeez, get over it. You're picking a stupid fight here over nothing.

[MadDAsHell]

22. Fair enough. Then it's the coach and GM who came up with that racist shit.

Ban them too.

[Bradshaw3]

26. Give it up

It's just a hand signal. This kind of faux outrage over something that isn't what you claim only makes liberals look stupid.

[sharedvalues]

28. Correct. Rightwing trolls do stuff like this to make liberals look dumb

Rightwing trolls try to find cases where people used the OK sign innocuously and accuse them of racism, in order to deligitimize actual criticism of real racists.


These two situations were different. Context matters. It’s basically a rightwing talking point to claim otherwise.

[Bradshaw3]

29. Ahh but it's hard to resist the faux utrage for some

As you say, we'd be better off if they did.

[Jedi Guy]

38. The longer you cling to this position, the sillier you look. Just sayin'. N/T

[uponit7771]

20. You're kidding right !?!?! Its pre-snap and few if any outside of a team knows their precise ...

... precise pre-snap signaling.

I 100% know the jerk flashing the racist sign wasn't making a presnap football signal 🙄

[brush]

32. You're off base. It's a hand signal known by other team members used in calling a football play.

Nothing to get excited about.

[Downtown Hound]

10. Um, it looked to me like he was calling out a play

Don't be so paranoid that you can't see other possibilities. Now, when the Proud Boys do it marching through Portland, I'm pretty sure it means white power, even though they like to deny it.

[a kennedy]

18. Right, it's a play being called.....damn.....i'm really sure he'd be giving the

Last edited Sun Sep 8, 2019, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

white power sign in that situation. Sorry, just don’t believe that.

[GeorgeGist]

23. Not exactly.

[egduj]

24. He should have been banned a long time ago just for his quarterbacking ability.

[onenote]

30. All i see is a quarterback signaling a play.

But then again, I've played football and maybe the OP hasn't.

[Demonaut]

31. and sometimes it's a game

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Circle%20Game

[Tipperary]

33. Grown up people play this "game?"

How utterly weird.

[Demonaut]

34. they do, usually males

it's also called the 'ball game"

[Tipperary]

35. That is just weird as hell to me.

How is it even a fun thing? Reminds me of something we might have done in elementary school.

[Demonaut]

37. it's just a game like "slug bug" immature in nature but common, just the facts

[SlogginThroughIt]

40. Seems to me

Seems to me that being surroundd by a whole host of African American men of which many are larger by a number of 100+ pounds would be the exact wrong time to flash a white power sign.

Seriously this is the dumbest thing I hope to ever read on here. He may be signaling the route tree of the play. He could be calling out a line assignment or any number of things that a QB does presnap. Get a life and stop falling for this stupid crap.

[4139]

41. This post "Kooky" and should be deleted

[Codeine]

42. You're being quite transparent here. nt

[Blue_true]

43. Tom Brady flashed that sign at the Patriots victory parade in Febuary.

I saw the picture earlier today when reading an article about Antonio Brown engineering his way into New England (looks like Brown was crazy like a fox, he wanted to go to the Patriots, the Steelers REFUSED to trade him to the Patriots for a first round pick, instead trading him to Oakland for less.

Anyway, Brady's sister is (or was married to a Black man) and he often has his niece from that union in all of his Super Bowl family activities.

The symbol has historically been used to signal "A OK", which is a way of indicating that life is good. White supremacists recently hijacked it, instead of trying to take the symbol back from those assholes, people are busy decrying it's use, even when the use has nothing at all to do with white supremacy.

[GulfCoast66]

44. He calling a football play!

Good god! Does no one here watch the sport?!?

Playing QB at any level requires total focus. The amount of focus and attention detail in the NFL required to keep that job is mind boggling. I played it high school and sucked not because I was a bad athlete but because I was not fast enough at making decisions.

Anyone who thinks he decided when at the same time as analyzing the defensive set, his teams set and perhaps signals coming at him from the sidelines he is going to think, ‘how about I flash a racist symbol’ is clueless to the game. Plus, it would totally confuse his offense if it was a random gesture. Every hand signal he makes and every thing he says in that position has a defined meaning.

This OP should be deleted. It makes liberals look silly.

And anyway, most Americans aren’t glued to political sites nor following news that close. Guarantee you most Americans when shown that hand signal would say it means ‘OK’. Which it has meant for decades.