SECTION C


September 8-14, 2010 Franklin: Schembechler said


‘This might be tough’ One-on-one with UM’s first African-American QB


In the Game By Leland Stein III Black quarterbacks


losing ground in NFL? The 2010 NFL season will commence this week


and the re-reflection of the status of the Black quar- terback in the league is worth revisiting.


I count only one starter in the league and that is


Donovan McNabb of the Washington Redskins. What has happened? Are the brothers’ skill sets


plummeting or are they getting less capable? Last year Jamarcus Russell started for the Raid-


ers and flopped. Was it all his fought that the team was in disarray? Probably not, but now he is on the quarterback scrap heap.


Vince Young started the second half of the


season last year, but he is still looked at as a ques- tion mark. Why?


What bothers me somewhat about the entire sit-


uation is McNabb. I just do not get how a team that had been in the NFL toilet for too many years to remember could discard a warrior like McNabb.


McNabb took that Philadelphia franchise to five


National Conference Finals, with what? I cannot name one great receiver that he had during his du- ration to bond with. He had the one year with Terrell Owens and they went to the Super Bowl. However, I can’t recall any other of his receivers that made a lasting impact in the league and really helped ele- vate his game. Also none of his linemen are headed to the NFL Hall of Fame.


By Leland Stein III The University of Michigan has


started its 2010 campaign and two African-American quarter- backs, freshman Devin Gardner and sophomore Denard Robin- son, are battling sophomore Tate Forcier for playing time.


No big deal, right? Well, it has


not always been this way. Recently the Michigan Chron-


icle interviewed Dennis Franklin, who in 1972 became the first Af- rican-American quarterback to start for the Maize & Blue. Since his noteworthy breakthrough, there has not been a steady stream of African-American quar- terbacks running the Wolverines offense.


After Franklin’s ascension


only Demetrius Brown (1986- 1989) and Michael Taylor (1985- 1989) have had any measurable impact at the UM quarterback po- sition.


Franklin, a Massillon, Ohio


native, said during his tenure in Ann Arbor he was always “Mich- igan’s first Black quarterback” in stories and television reports. Eventually, during his three years as a starter (1973 through 1975) with coach Bo Schembechler, he led the Wolverines to a 30-2-1 record. Those two losses were to Ohio State and the tie was also to the Buckeyes.


“Bo was the greatest coach


I’ve ever been associated with,” Franklin said. “His values, what he stood for and his being a disci- plinarian helped him teach young players how to be men. As I look back I see what it meant to be around Bo and you still remem- ber his teachings.


“I was the first Black quar-


terback at Michigan and Bo told me that it was going to be a big deal, because the Wolverines had never started a Black quarterback before.”


Franklin also said he was so Quarterback Donovan McNabb Even if his best days were behind him, I think


he earned the right to be an Eagle. I’m a hopeless romantic and always look for right, but I guess I’m generally wrong — at least in the eyes of the owners who co-sign major decisions in the NFL.


Are the rules of the game different for minority


quarterbacks? Washington QB McNabb said in an interview with


HBO that African-American quarterbacks face more pressure and more criticism than their White coun- terparts.


McNabb went so far as to suggest that African-


American quarterbacks such as himself face added pressure because there are fewer Black quarter- backs, and he added that some still don’t want Black athletes playing the position.


“There’s not that many African-American quar-


terbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra,” McNabb told HBO. “Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn’t want us to play is low, so we do a little extra. Every year I’m part of some criticism. I’ve tried to handle myself with dignity and class. I think sometimes people look to players to act out, speak loudly, pretty much be an idiot. But that’s not me.”


Is what McNabb says true? Many have countered, here we go again with the


race card by McNabb. Others note that he gets hurt and that is why some are down on him. Still others say he has never won the big one.


How many have? Not many! It is an eye-opener to read many of the super neg-


ative retorts generated when a player like McNabb comes out with the real.


Unfortunately, in particular with my White breth-


ren who have blogged on McNabb’s retort, will never accept the fact that when it come to racial issues it seems most will always see things differently.


I say to all that did not agree with McNabb’s point


of view that it does not mean his account of his own personal experiences are not true. Unless the nay- sayers could experience what he has experienced over a potential Hall of Fame career from his view- point, then most reasonable, sound-minded people would at lest respect his point of view.


As Dr. Cornel West said, “Race matters.” As


Americans, we still have difficulties facing up to the truth about our history. We study and teach about our glorious past, but when it comes to our dirty little American secrets, we tell those whose ances- tors have suffered to “get over it.” I do believe that America is still the best country there is, but we must deal with our past, all of it, and teach it in school in total.


I think this inability makes it almost impossible


to truthfully discuss the honest goings-on in the NFL when it pertains to Black quarterbacks. Not that anyone is trying to get someone, only honestly looking at the present situations.


The days of James Harris, Joe Gilliam, Doug Wil-


liams, Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon seem long gone. Even looking at Daunte Culpepper and Air McNair’s recent treatment makes one give cause to pause.


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol. com.


King’s Dennis Norfleet – PSL photo No need to worry. In the 2009


season MLK won the PSL Class A title under Dale Harvel with a 19-17 victory over Cody.


Leading the way was running


back Dennis Norfleet, who made the Michigan Chronicle All-PSL team last year as an underclassman.


As the 2010 season commenced,


Norfleet was honored as the PSL Scholar-Athlete of the Week.


In an interview he said his his fa-


vorite subject fits right in step with his football exploits: “I like math be- cause I like working with big num- bers.”


Who would not like to look at


numbers when one racks them up like Norfleet? The 5’ 8”, 175-pound tailback tore the roof off the stadium as he carried the ball 30 times for 254 yards and five touchdowns in the Crusaders’ 32-19 victory against Birmingham Brother Rice in the 2010 season opener for both teams.


Norfleet’s performance, which


included a two-point conversion run, earned him recognition as the Detroit Public School League’s first


Dennis Franklin – UM photo


thankful to Bo because he be- lieved in him and entrusted him to run his team.


“Bo started me for three years,”


he noted, “but we never went to a bowl game.”


The Wolverines never went to


a bowl game with a three year record of 30-2-1?


Under Franklin’s leadership as


quarterback, Michigan tied with Ohio State for three consecu- tive Big Ten titles from 1972 to 1974. Franklin was a First Team All Big Ten quarterback in 1974 and led the team in passing and total offense every year from 1972 to 1974, becoming the second player at Michigan since Heis- man Trophy winner Tom Harmon to accomplish that feat for three consecutive years. He also fin- ished sixth in the 1974 Heisman Trophy balloting.


“Back in the day a Big Ten


team could only play in the Rose bowl,” Franklin recalled. “I think our team and its plight helped change the Big Ten policy and rule. If we were in today’s world we would have played in a BCS Bowl every year.”


Why didn’t Michigan go to the


Rose Bowl when the Wolverines tied the Buckeyes in the season’s final regular season game and for the Big Ten title?


“The powers that be went to


the Big Ten Athletic Directors and let hem vote on who should go to the Rose Bowl,” Franklin noted, “Had it been a 5 to 5 vote we would have gone to Pasadena. But MSU’s AD voted for his own team making the vote 5-4.


“I would not have mind playing


in this era, because the bowl expe- rience would have been great. My


King’s Norfleet named PSL Proud Strong Learner of the Week


By Leland Stein III Detroit Martin Luther King High


school is the only Public School League (PSL) team to win a Michigan State Football championship.


With the retirement of legend-


ary coach Jim Reynolds because of health concerns, many wondered if the Crusaders would be able stay at the top of the PSL standings.


Proud, Strong, Learner of the Week. “It’s good,’’ Norfleet says of the


honor. “It’s nice to know that we came together as one because I wouldn’t have done it without my team.”


The oneness that enabled King to


come back from a 16-0 deficit against Brother Rice is a spirit that perme- ates throughout the entire school,


teams surely would have played on New Year’s Day. I think the game has gotten so much bigger, with ESPN and all the other sports channels that it is just wonderful for the kids today.”


In the 1973 season Ohio State


had gone to the Rose Bowl the year before, which normally would have given Michigan the tie-breaker edge. But Franklin broke his collarbone in that game many believe that was the decid- ing edge for the AD’s.


After graduating from UM


Franklin was drafted by the De- troit Lions in the 1975 NFL Draft. Of course he was moved to receiv- er because the Lions had Super Star quarterbacks Greg Landry and Bill Munson. His brief NFL career that lasted nine games and totaled six catches over two years.


“I would have loved to have


been given a chance at quarter- back,” Franklin said, “but there just were not many opportunities back then to play that position. I think my skill set could have ad- justed to the pro game.”


Franklin noted that he almost


did not come to Michigan. “Woody (Hayes) really wanted


me to come to Ohio State,” hesaid, “but he put pressure on me to sign early. I told him I wanted to at least feel through things. Bo in turn told me to take all the time I needed to figure things out and it worked out great for me being in Ann Arbor.”


Franklin said he will always be


a Wolverine and he keeps a close eye on how the team is doing.


“I’m disappointed the team


has not been very competitive lately,” he said. “I live in LA now and I have to deal with all these USC people and they wear out the Maize & Blue. Still I think they will turn it around and get back to being competitive.”


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.


Kronk Gym 2nd Annual Foundation Fundraiser


The Kronk Gym 2nd Annual Foundation Fundrasier was held recently at Motor City Casino. – Dan Graschuck photos


Will McElroy (152lbs) beat Jeffy Wilcox (Canada).


Norfleet says. “Being at King, they make you feel


like you’re a family. Nobody’s better than anybody else. Everybody’s the same,” he said.


Harvel sees his junior running


back’s talent and leadership quali- ties in a special light.


“When we were down 16-0 in the


first quarter, he got the team to- gether and told the guys, ‘Let’s go out and get it,’” Harvel said. “And he took it 80 yards (for a TD) on the next play. He just wasn’t going to let us lose. He’s that kind of kid.”


Norfleet was selected ahead of


two other top performers last week- end. Cass Tech quarterback Keith Moore connected on 14 of 18 passes for 208 yards and rushed for two TDs in a 44-42 victory against Ann Arbor Pioneer. Crockett quarterback Brian Blackburn completed 13 of 15 passes for 223 yards and two TDs and ran eight times for 70 yards in the Rockets’ 43-28 victory against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.


Miguel Cotto (right), WBA Super Welterweight World Champ, introduces Emanuel Steward, his trainer.


Kronk Foundation honors past champions and honorees.


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