Danielson, working the telecast with play-by-play broadcaster Brent Musburger, lavished praise on Smith’s ingenuity and creativity – as much as his strong arm – in leading the Buckeyes to a classic, 25-21, come-from-behind win. By doing so, Danielson gave viewers an overdue break from the tiresome nitpicking that many football analysts have subjected Smith to all season – particularly in questioning his “decision-making ability” as a QB. (Which, let’s face it, is merely a nice code phrase for “intelligence.”)
Not only is Roger Brown playing the race card here, he’s doing it sloppily. He puts in quotes “decision-making ability”…who is he quoting? Himself? Who questioned Troy Smith’s “decision-making ability”? Roger…take it from a guy who’s been in Cleveland politics for a while…if you’re gonna play the race card, you need to come strong with it. Blindly quoting no one doesn’t work.
As for the “tiresome nitpicking” (that’s a real quote of a real person there Roger, in case you’re wondering) of Smith, as someone who has done so a lot, the knock on Smith is that he telegraphs his throws, doesn’t go through his reads, and keys on one receiver. Is that a black thing, Roger? Is it a white thing? Or is it just a stinky QB thing? Smith had a great game against Michigan, and certainly answered his critics, but to wrap it in a race card is simply idiotic.
