In the biggest sporting event in the world, with a record number of people watching and on the game's most important play, a black defensive back outsmarted a beloved white quarterback.
I know. That's a truth many of you can't handle. It makes you uncomfortable. You don't even get what I'm really saying. All of us -- white, black and brown -- get so caught up in our stereotypes that we oftentimes miss what is right in front of us.
Tracy Porter outsmarted Peyton Manning and won the Super Bowl for New Orleans. End of story.
I've listened to black and white analysts -- including Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, Cris Carter and others -- point to everything but the truth when it comes to pinpointing the Super Bowl's critical play and affixing blame for it.
Had
John Lynch read
Brett Favre like a book in Super Bowl XXXIII and decided the game with a fourth-quarter pick-six, there wouldn't have been any talk about a sloppy pass route, mistakes made in the first half and an onside kick that led to a three-point third-quarter lead.
Favre was never hailed as the game's smartest player. Lynch, like most white athletes, was always given credit for being "heady."