There are certain things people say about athletes who play certain positions while having certain skin tones. When you hear a player described as a scrappy grinder of a Wes Welker-type, you probably have a mental image of that player without even looking up, due to years of learning what people mean when they use these terms.
From Kansas State’s Texas Bowl win against Texas A&M, a description of KSU QB Jesse Ertz, who led his team in rushing with 1,012 yards and 5.3 per carry:
How is he able to hide it? pic.twitter.com/C1xiVUNmwz
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) December 29, 2016
That’s a great question. Let’s see what the man himself has to say.
Probably because I'm tall and white https://t.co/CHR3Q8sNT9
— Jesse Ertz (@JSisco16) December 30, 2016
I think that’s probably the answer!
Ertz isn’t throwback Darren Sproles out here, but his rushing numbers compare favorably to QBs like Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett, Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly, Virginia Tech’s Jerod Evans, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong Jr., Alabama’s Jalen Hurts, and Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs, meaning there’s more than enough reason to comfortably describe him as a dual-threat athlete of a QB.
This is also one to keep in mind the next time a black QB whose game doesn’t include much running gets hit with the dual-threat label.