NFL news: Former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Martz is in a bit of trouble right now. This has been brought about by the fact that the 72-year-old recently went on a contentious rant criticizing Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Some folks have now gone as far as accusing the Super Bowl-winning coach of being a racist.
NFL News: Mike Martz’s Lamar Jackson Rant Gets Him Into Trouble
Martz recently guested on a CBS Sports Radio show and during his interview, the tenured play-caller was asked to share his thoughts on Lamar Jackson. He did not hold back:
“I don’t know how good (Jackson is at) processing things,” Martz said (h/t Mike Fisher of FanNation). “and that’s the key, how quick you can process, read and react … I don’t know if he has that.”
“The key to (quarterbacking) is what they see and react to correctly. I don’t know if (Lamar Jackson) has that”@Coach_MikeMartz pic.twitter.com/7upt5Yqx0U
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) July 12, 2023
This isn’t the first time Martz has come out with a hot take, particularly toward an African American quarterback. Much like Jackson, San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance is also considered one of the top signal-callers in the game today. Well, not in Mike Martz’s book:
“I’ve never liked him. I still don’t like him,” Martz said of Lance. “… I’ve never seen anything about this kid that was encouraging at all … He looked like a fullback looking around to stumble trying to run the ball … He’s not a quick-decision guy.”
One could argue that Martz is merely being a straight-shooter with his claims here. However, this is not the view of some folks on Twitter:
Racism remains in football https://t.co/Gi7e6ew4dX
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) July 14, 2023
NFL News: Mike Martz Also Had Harsh Words For Packers’ Rival QB
The Green Bay Packers have a storied rivalry with the Chicago Bears, which is why it wouldn’t be surprising to hear Packers fans go all in on Chicago’s cornerstone quarterback. However, there’s a whole different context to it when it’s Mike Martz who’s putting Justin Fields on blast. The fact that he used to coach Chicago isn’t really the main thing here; it’s mainly because he’s already had a bit of history when it comes to criticizing Black quarterbacks.
This is what Martz previously had to say about Fields:
“I’m just shocked, shocked at the Bears,” Martz said. “… I dunno if I’ve ever seen such a bad performance from a starting quarterback in his opening performance of the season like that. He was just completely awful. … (He’s a) quarterback that can’t do anything like that at all …”
Is Mike Martz really a racist or is he just speaking his truth? I’ll leave the judging to you.
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