Only in America — and Las Vegas, apparently — can a white man be the worst person to ever play the most popular position in sports — quarterback — and still be allowed to stick around and “work at this craft.” This is the curious case of Nathan Peterman — arguably the greatest example of white privilege in sports history.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Raiders were releasing Peterman and then re-signing him to their practice squad — which would open up a roster spot. In the past, sites like USA Today, SB Nation, and Bleacher Report have all broken down why my description of Peterman’s play isn’t an opinion, but fact. According to ProFootballReference.com, in 10 career games — only four of which he started — Peterman has completed 71 of 135 pass attempts for a measly 3 touchdowns and a whopping 12 interceptions.
He once threw five first-half interceptions in his debut. His final stat line read like this: 6-14, 66 yards, five picks.
“We can call any play that we want with you. I don’t know if any quarterback in America can pull this off,” Gruden once told Peterman on an old episode of Gruden’s QB Camp.
He followed that up by saying:
“Most importantly, he’ll be able to get in a huddle day one and look at 10 grown men and tell them where to go and what to do.”
No one believes in the underwhelming talents of mediocre white men like other mediocre white men, especially in a place like the NFL, where guys like Peterman always get second, third, and fourth chances. You can set your watch to it — check out this tweet from 2018.
As usual, this is the part where I remind you that Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton are still out there. Some will say that Kaepernick has been out of the league too long, and others will label Newton as “washed.” But, all I know is that they both played in Super Bowls and one of them even won an MVP and started in the NFL last season. Even on their worst days, they were boatloads better than anything Peterman has ever shown us at his best.
Peterman won’t suit up for games, but he’ll be a part of the team. practice squad players do just that — practice. Ironically enough, practice is probably what Nathan Peterman needs the most. However, that doesn’t mean it needs to come at the expense of someone else who would probably utilize that opportunity a lot better than he has — so, cut him.