Stephen A. Smith Believes NFL Star Christian McCaffrey Gets Less Attention Because He’s White

Christian McCaffrey is an undisputed elite running back in the NFL. But according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, McCaffrey’s not getting his due because he’s White.

“How many times do I have to say it,” Smith ranted Thursday on First Take. “I’ve said this about Christian McCaffrey before and I’m gonna say it again. Ladies and gentleman – it’s damn near reverse discrimination! If this brother were Black, we’d be talking about him more. I mean this dude is SPECIAL!”

Smith is right, he has made this claim before, in fact he made the statement as recently as Monday, telling Michael Irvin that McCaffrey “would get more props” if he were Black. But in the NFL world, McCaffrey gets A LOT of respect. He gets a lot of attention outside the NFL world too, landing on the cover of GQ last year.

In a league centered around quarterbacks, running backs will never get the same amount of notice as their pass throwers. And considering McCaffrey hasn’t been to the playoffs since his rookie year and he’s coming off a season where he played just three games, it would be understandable if the league was a little down on him. But they’re not.

Last season, McCaffrey’s jersey sales ranked 30th in the quarterback-driven NFL, which isn’t terrible considering he played in just two games. Ezekiel Elliot led all running backs in jersey sales, ranking 10th overall, undoubtedly helped out by playing for America’s Team the Dallas Cowboys.

In 2019, McCaffrey compiled MVP worthy numbers, but did it for a bad team. If the running back ends up with similar statistics this season and the Panthers are able to keep building off their 2-0 start, an MVP season is certainly on the table for McCaffrey.

Watch above via ESPN

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